CDC Mutual Aid Network

Six months. In six months as "Acting Director," he never held an All-Staff meeting to address CDC workers and rarely made it to CDC campus. (Telework for me but never for thee!)

Mutual Aid Network Portal From Gratitude to Action: The Feb 14 Challenge Help us kick off the new season with strength. We are raising $75,000 by February 14th

💚 Looking for ways to support CDC staff? Check out @cdcmutualaid.bsky.social. In 2025 CDC mutual aid gifted more than $200,000 to nearly 170 CDCers who lost their income. 💚

💵 See here for donations: www.cdcresourceportal.org

🛒 Check out the CDC mutual aid store: cdc-mutual-aid-network.printful.me

📣 Nobody is coming to save us. Nobody is coming to save public health. We must do it ourselves.

Join an organization, find an event, bring friends. Comment your suggestions below 👇

www.mobilize.us/indivisible/
www.fiftyfifty.one/
www.findaprotest.info/map
theblop.org/

#weekinprotest

Welp, here we are again.... another government shutdown. 🫠 This is a good time to share our "Government Shutdown Survival Guide" again... www.cdcresourceportal.org/resources/sh... Let us know if you can think of other resources to add!

A pink shirt on a white background. The image on the shirt is a red heart with a handwritten font inside that says "Love your Community - Vaccinate!"

A white shirt with blue baseball-style sleeves. The text on the front of the shirt says "Public Health Is Love" with a pair of blue hands forming a heart shape with their fingers.

An arm with a grey sweater sleeve reaches into the frame; the hand is holding a white tote bag with yellow straps. The design on the bag says "We Are Public Health in black font; around these words are a word cloud with 70+ public health job roles listed. The design is printed on both sides of the bag.

A blue wall hanging on a wooden dowel is being held up by its hanging string. The blue flag-shaped wall art has black font that reads: "We will live through this drought of values, principles, and facts and again apply our talents to improving global public health and happiness. Do not back down. - Dr. Bill Foege"

New public health merch alert! 3 new designs from CDC artists ("Love your Community - Vaccinate!", "Public Health is Love", and "We Are Public Health" design featuring 70+ public health roles!) as well as CDC Mutual Aid merch & a few items honoring Dr. Foege. cdc-mutual-aid-network.printful.me

In 2025, the CDC Mutual Aid Network Fund received a $10,000 donation from CDC Federal Credit Union (Which we're just now able to announce!) This generous contribution was part of Elan Credit Card's Charitable Giving program. Thank you for investing in our mission! tinyurl.com/2s43t7hf

William H. Foege, Key Figure in the Eradication of Smallpox, Dies at 89

Today, we lost an incredible public health leader: Former CDC Director (1977-1983) William "Bill" Foege. He led CDC's efforts to eradicate Smallpox; he inspired MANY generations of public health workers, and he defended us to the end. ❤️‍🩹 www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/u...

He was one of us. He took the same oath that all CDC and HHS employees take.

"We will live through this drought of values, principles, and facts and again apply our talents to improving global health and happiness. Do not back down." - Bill Foege.

“I see the philosophy of science as breaking down the walls of ignorance to find truth. I see the philosophy of medicine as the ability to apply that truth to your patients. And I see the philosophy of public health is to apply that truth to everybody.” - William (Bill) Foege, Former CDC Director.

We are just a few donations away from reaching 1,000 donations to the CDC Mutual Aid Fund!

To celebrate this milestone, we're giving away a special gift to our 1,000th donor. 🎁

Will your donation be #1000? Visit www.zeffy.com/en-US/donati...!

The Purged Donald Trump’s destruction of the civil service is a tragedy not just for the roughly 300,000 workers who have been discarded, but for an entire nation.

Great story in @theatlantic.com featuring some of our incredible Federal colleagues who have been removed from their jobs this year. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

It's a bad flu season, folks - stay safe out there!

Everywhere we look, we see reasons why improving public health infrastructure and investing in our public health workforce is so important. Novel virus emergence (and re-emergence) is just one of many!

what happens when you fire every tobacco control expert at CDC? email from CDC's MMWR staff person to a tobacco prevention and control author.

Tobacco use is leading cause of preventable disease, disability, & death in USA.

Why did admin fire CDC's tobacco prevention & control experts? Illegal RIFs didn’t just eliminate jobs, they have silenced science. Critical data on tobacco use & its harms are NOT being published through MMWR.

1/2 🧵

If you're looking to max out your charitable contributions for 2025, you have a few hours left to donate to the CDC Mutual Aid Fund. 😀 We're at 86% of our 2025 end-of-year goal! ($215,000 of $250,000)

www.cdcresourceportal.org/donate

We cannot thank you enough for your donations, encouragement, and enthusiasm. And we're looking forward to moving forward together in 2026. 🫶

But perhaps more than just financial support - you've shown these dedicated Federal employees, fellows, and contractors that people *value* their work. You've expressed respect and gratitude at a time that the national discourse is saying something VERY different.

As of this week, we've been able to distribute more than $205,000 in direct financial support to 167 current and former CDC workers.

Practically, this support has helped people feed their families and pay bills despite suddenly losing their incomes after mass firings and the government shutdown.

Dark blue letters spell out "Solidarity, Not Charity" and "CDC MUTUAL AID" underneath, with an image of two bright blue hands clasped together vertically, invoking the idea of lifting someone up. This appears on a golden yellow background.

We're taking a moment to reflect today on everything that has happened this year. One VERY bright spot? We've raised more than $215,000 this year, thanks to all of you.

It's hard to find the words to express the depth of our gratitude for this show of solidarity.

www.cdcresourceportal.org/donate

"At the time of the CDC shooting on August 8, I believed that experience would be the defining trauma of 2025. I was wrong."

This was a sobering reminder of everything that CDC employees have endured this year. Thank you to our anonymous colleague for sharing what many of us have been feeling. ❤️‍🩹

A circular, white ceramic ornament with an umbrella in shades of blue and teal. The umbrella is accompanied by text that reads "Public Health Protects Us All." The ornament appears against a neutral-colored background and is surrounded by slices of orange, cinnamon sticks, and festive-looking holiday decor.

The image features a baby blue colored six-point ceramic ornament. The ornament design is a snowflake made of large and small spoons that converge into a snowflake pattern. The ornament has a gold thread and appears on a white background.

The image features wrapping paper with a baby blue colored background with a snowflake pattern. Upon further examination, the snowflakes are made of large and small spoons that converge into a repeating pattern of small and large snowflakes. The wrapping paper is photographed on a background of a light-colored wood, along with scissors, twine, and a gift tag.

We have some holiday-themed merchandise in our CDC Mutual Aid Fund Store, including ornaments and wrapping paper: cdc-mutual-aid-network.printful.me

She spent over a decade serving the public—responding to outbreaks, supporting global immunization, and telling life-saving stories. When unexpected layoffs and hardship hit her family, the CDC Mutual Aid Fund became a lifeline.

✨ This is why mutual aid matters.
Read her story: tinyurl.com/ykmthcce

While the so-called ACIP meeting this week has been incredibly disheartening and dangerous, the one bright spot was hearing from our current and former CDC scientists who spoke to data and the scientific process and provided compelling public comments. We are proud of you. 🥹

I Left the CDC 100 Days Ago. My Worst Fears About the Agency Are Coming True "Things have not improved," writes Dr. Debra Houry. "They have worsened. And Congress has still failed to act."

It is easy to feel discouraged.

But we want to thank the many public health professionals, like Dr. Deb Houry, who continue to fight. Sharing her powerful op-ed.

And a huge thank to all the current and former CDC career staff who work tirelessly to protect all people. 💚

time.com/7338714/dr-d...

So many important organizations to support today on #GivingTuesday. Please consider supporting @cdcmutualaid.bsky.social 99% of donations go directly to fired/RIFed CDC workers and their families. www.cdcresourceportal.org/donate

This #GivingTuesday, you can support the displaced CDC workers who protected us for years.
99¢ of every dollar goes directly to helping them cover basic needs.
They were there for us; Let's be there for them.

🔗 Donate: bit.ly/4oel9Vr

👕 Shop: cdc-mutual-aid-network.printful.me

A light heather gray t-shirt with the words "Always Thankful for Public Health" printed on the chest in a dark blue font. The font is accompanied by a green olive branch with olives, and an orangey-red oak branch with acorns.

A black cotton grocery bag with the words "Always Thankful for Public Health" printed on both sides. The font is shades of maroon, yellow, and green. The text is accompanied by a green olive branch with olives, and an orangey-red oak branch with acorns.

(...And if you agree with this sentiment, you may be happy to know we just added our "Always Thankful for Public Health" design to our merch store!) 😍 cdc-mutual-aid-network.printful.me

A font-based image that reads "Always Thankful for Public Health" with a green olive branch and a orange-red branch of oak leaves and acorns.

We are ALWAYS thankful for public health, for public health workers, and of course - for all of you!!

CDC Mutual Aid Network aims to ‘save public health’ and provide financial assistance to former and current employees “Closer Look” host Rose Scott talked with guests about the mission of the newly formed CDC Mutual Aid Network that has connected former and current CDC employees to a wide range of resources and distr...

Last week, the founders of @cdcmutualaid.bsky.social and @firedbutfighting.bsky.social, along with a former CDC employee, sat down for an interview with public radio host Rose Scott from WABE. You can listen here: www.wabe.org/cdc-mutual-a...