Contact/Contacto Central NJ Mask Bloc

Central NJ Mask Bloc

we keep each other safe

Central NJ Mask Bloc is a disabled and queer led group promoting community care through mutual aid and education.

What is mutual aid?

Mutual aid is how we work together to meet each other's needs in our community. This comes from an understanding that the state and the oppressive systems we are forced to live under will not meet our needs, and in fact create or worsen the conditions we live in. When the world we live in is unjust, mutual aid is a radical response where we choose to connect with and care for one another and our collective survival. A mask bloc (like ours) is just one example of a mutual aid project.

What do we do?

We distribute free high filtration respirators and covid-19 rapid antigen tests (when available) through deliveries, community mask dispensers, tabling events, and local partnerships. We also provide educational resources to combat public health disinformation, misinformation, and eugenics propaganda.

Why do we do what we do?

Our values are grounded in Sins Invalid's 10 Principles of Disability Justice. We are rooted in community care and collective safety while resisting eugenics, because we believe we keep us safe. We understand the ongoing failed public health response for Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2) has mainstreamed fascist anti-mask propaganda and furthered the US settler colonial project of eugenics and genocide for profit.We are committed to combating and resisting mass death and disablement while keeping each other safe with the resources available to us - masks are one of those resources and they serve multiple purposes. Everyone, not just disabled people, is at increased risk of dying or becoming disabled by Covid-19 and other airborne illnesses. We understand the “vax and relax” rhetoric, the refusal to acknowledge and prevent airborne transmission, overall Covid minimization, sinophobic “lab leak” propaganda, and the end to the Public Health Emergency in the US have been components of a capitalist disinformation campaign to manufacture consent for mass disablement, exploitation, and death, which has been eagerly continued by various arms of the state(regardless of which administration is in charge of institutions like CDC).

Our struggles are all connected!

Our Commitments

These are our current agreements, last updated 7/17/2025

Our members wear masks indoors and outdoors whenever possible, because we practice centering access and those most impacted while working towards mutual liberation. While the public health response to Covid-19 was a systemic failure, we understand that we as individuals have a responsibility to fight the State’s neglect, not perpetuate it. We mask up to protect one another.Our members commit to choosing the action of care as they become (more) informed, rather than the violence of inaction, denialism, or pandemic minimization. We are committed to supporting each other in adapting to and surviving this ongoing and future pandemics, climate disasters, and fascism. We operate at the speed of listening and trusting our bodies and practice collective decision making for sustainability and community building. We know building networks of safety and support for community care is vital to surviving fascism while also honoring our capacities.As fellow community members, workers, patients, students, and caretakers, we believe everyone has the right to access communal spaces safely, including public transportation, workplaces, medical and mental healthcare facilities, grocery stores, and schools, without risking death, disablement, or further debilitation from Covid-19 and other airborne illnesses.Immunocompromised and disabled people deserve community building and connection too, and we know that accessible, safer spaces for everyone are possible. By masking up whenever possible, we make spaces safer and more accessible for everyone, and especially for fellow disabled folks who are unable to wear their own respiratory protection*. We recognize that there will be access friction and we also believe it is possible to meet everyone's access needs without compromising safety. We believe that solidarity with the most impacted, disabled and queer folks of the Global Majority, is necessary for collective liberation.

*_{This may mean being unable to mask sometimes (ex. experiencing nausea due to overheating, needing to eat in an inaccessible space while diabetic, etc.) or not at all (ex. people with trachs, those born without a jaw, neurologically and developmentally disabled folks who can’t tolerate masking, etc.)}

Community Partnerships:
Solidarity in Action

Note: Our request form is always open to individuals needing masks and tests.The below statement is specific to our solidarity expectations with other organizing groups when requesting supplies from our bloc.

Central NJ Mask Bloc is eager to partner with fellow values-aligned organizers and groups to offer our community high-filtration respirators.One of our core values is that we practice centering access and those most impacted while working towards mutual liberation. If we are providing your group masks, then we need your commitment to combating anti-Blackness, promoting community care, and practicing disability justice, demonstrated by the following actions:• Require masks for your event or action.
• Be explicit about this requirement in your communications leading up to it.
• Require your members/volunteers to wear masks at your mutual aid/community tabling.We also understand the exception of folks medically unable to mask - by requiring masks of your members that can mask, you are helping to keep our most vulnerable community members safer!Requesting masks for your group but not committing to these actions doesn't just mean excluding disabled people from the mutual aid you are organizing, but actively endangering them and our entire community! We must fight the eugenics of the state that wants us dead. Public health has failed us and our bloc is doing the most we can to keep our communities safe.We need you to resist with us!We will not decenter the most impacted by providing your group with supplies without this explicit and actionable commitment.

Visit our Resources section to learn how to protect yourself and others from Covid-19! Visita nuestro sección de recursos para aprender como puedes

Get Free Masks
Reciba Mascarillas Gratis

How do I request masks? ¿Cómo puedo solicitar máscaras?

We currently offer mask deliveries, pickups and mailings in these counties. Podemos ofrecer entrega de mascarillas por correo y en persona en estos condados:
Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth & Somerset.

Are you in NJ, but outside of the counties we support? ¿Está usted en Nueva Jersey, pero fuera de estos condados?
We collaborate with Mask Bloc NJ & Mask Bloc Jersey City to support the NJ area! You can also find a list of where there are free mask dispensers here. ¡Puede solicitar máscaras de Mask Bloc NJ o Mask Bloc Jersey City! También puede encontrar aquí una lista de los lugares donde hay canastas de mascarillas gratis.

Available Mask Selection*
Mascarillas Que Tenemos Disponibles*:

Strap style: strapless (for medical procedures)
Estilo de mascarilla: sin elástico (para situaciones médicas)

Strap style: headband
Estilo de mascarilla: con elástico detrás de la cabeza

Strap style: earloop
Estilo de mascarilla: con elástico para las orejas

Covid Tests/Pruebas de Covid:

Test Type/Tipo de Prueba:
Intelliswab Covid-19 Rapid Antigen Test (2 pk)
expires/caduca: 03/31/2026

Test Type: We are out of covid tests.
If we are able to get more we'll update this section!
Tipo de Prueba: No tenemos pruebas de covid en este momento. Compartiremos noticias si conseguimos más.

* A note on expiration dates: Our masks are stored indoors and some may show as past their expiration date. Generally masks last longer than their expiration date!Learn more about expiration dates here
MedSup testing informationUna nota sobre las fechas de caducidad: Nuestras mascarillas se almacenan en interiores y algunas pueden mostrar una fecha de caducidad pasada. Por lo general, las mascarillas duran más que su fecha de caducidad.