Resistance Resources
We update resources as often as we can.
Last update: June 11, 2025
Originally published: November 10, 2024
If a link isn’t working, if you have resources, or if any content is not accessible, please contact hithere at professionalcontrarian dot com.
Table of Contents (under construction)
Helping Others and Volunteering (NEW, NOT VETTED)
Phone Tools (NOT VETTED)
Overall Checklist
Go bags/Emergency Supply Kit (via NWS, educator resources)
Books
Book list to prepare and fight (note this IS an affiliate link; sorry about that)
Communication
Please know how to use the tool before you have to. Here are some features to use on Signal. And some more.
EFF: How to Use Signal
If you are looking to keep your messages private, use apps that have end-to-end encryption. Do not use regular text messaging, Facebook messages (or other social media messengers), etc.
This website provides information on what apps are secure and which are not. Check the changelog to see when it was updated last to make sure the recommendations are up to date.
Consumer Awareness
NOTE: Consumer guides are tricky. It’s not always clear how businesses are vetted, if they’ve self-identified, or if users have contributed their names. There’s also disagreement as to what’s “enough” support and what’s not. Please vet wisely and go with what works best for you.
NEW: Black Iowa Business Directory
They could use volunteer assistance in keeping this updated.
Goods Unite Us: provides a general overview of hundreds of businesses and who they fund. Use this to help you determine safe spaces.
NEW: Latino Freeze Movement: Latine-centric DEI shopping guide
OpenSecrets: Research what companies and their executives are lobbying and funding politicians.
NEW: MAGA-supporting businesses i.e. places we’ve opted not to shop
NEW: Purchase with Purpose subreddit
Dealing with ICE
Digital Safety/Cybersecurity
New Privacy Badger Prevents Google From Mangling More of Your Links and Invading Your Privacy (EFF)
This Privacy Setting Helps Keep IG and FB from Tracking You (CNET)
Erasing metadata from photos and other files that may contain your exact location
We have a cloud document with our emergency contacts, medications, physicians, etc. and we’ve shared that with loved ones.
Emergency and Disaster Prep
If you don’t feel safe contacting law enforcement, this link includes resources for:
Mental health crises
Suicide support
Trans support line
Safe injection resources and overdose protection
How to deal with law enforcement and ICE
Domestic violence hotlines
Prison support
Family Emergency Binder (Smart Money Mamas)
NOTE: My household has this. It’s 100% worth the price.
“How do I prepare for a natural disaster in Iowa? 5 things to know”—DM Reg
Emergency Survival Food | Safety Items | Home Survival Kit - J & L Self Defense Products
Have cash on hand
Have paper AND digital versions of your important documents
Estate Planning
Estate Planning for the LGBTQ+ Community (NOT VETTED YET)
General Resources
“What do do now to prepare for a Trump win” via Reddit
“Next steps” via Reddit
NEW: “How to Survive All This,” scroll down for “An incomplete list of survival resources” from Men Yell At Me
NEW: Auntie Vice’s “Resources for the Apocalypse”
Helping Others and Volunteering (NEW, NOT VETTED)
If you want to help others, especially if you have privilege and aren’t sure what to do with it, use one of these tools to find organizations are actually helpful.
Iowa Organizations that Help
Legal Advice
Quick Guide to Aid Access (Attorney Dave Hellstern)
Contributor S: “I feel confident in recommending him and was also impressed by his willingness to make this FB post public: facebook.com/share/p/14… “
“Legal Protections for LGBTQ+ Iowans Amid Post-Election Uncertainty” (Attorney Breanna L. Young)
Gives discounts to queers needing help with queer centric issues like estate planning and name changes She also shows up at protests as a participant and observer
Updated this month by legal team at Advocates for Trans Equality
Medications, Vaccinations, and Medical Info
Are you up to date on your vaccinations?
Hormone meds
Note from Contributor: “Those taking hormones via injection need to buy a supply of syringes online and stop getting them with their prescription. Huge amount of people still just pick up the exact number with their prescription but as barriers to care increase things like syringes ‘not being in stock’ will become common. Any medical supply store or place selling diabetes supplies will have them and Iowa allows them purchased by anyone.”
O-Pill (over-the-counter/no prescription needed, progesterone-only birth control) has about a 1 year shelf life and can be purchased without a prescription at most pharmacies and on Amazon. Costco also sells a 4 pack (28 days each) for an affordable price (click here).
Emergency contraception
Plan B (“morning after pill” - Levonorgestrel 1.5mg) is available over-the-counter/no prescription needed) at most pharmacies and can be found online. It can have a shelf life of several years.
Plan B can have reduced effectiveness for people who weigh more than 165 lbs. (Source)
An IUD can also be inserted as a form of emergency contraception.
Medical Info
https://www.hipaaguide.net/hipaa-subpoena-for-medical-records/
https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/guidance-materials-for-consumers/index.html
Mental Health
Accessing Mental Health
Inclusive Therapists (database of therapists; “Inclusive Therapists is a social justice and liberation-oriented mental health directory, community, and resource hub.”)
Their website also has many resources, including a list of websites with databases of mental health providers with specific identities, ex, Asian, Chicanx, Latinx, Native, Deaf, etc.)
Open Path Collective (database of therapists offering sliding scale services)
The Loveland Foundation (financial assistance to Black women and girls seeking therapy)
Neurodivergent Therapists (database of therapists who are neurodivergent and primarily serve neurodivergent clients)
Crisis Support Lines
Warm Lines (do not contact law enforcement)
Trans LifeLine (speak with a trans/nonbinary peer operator; doesn’t call law enforcement without consent; Spanish operators available; check website for available hours)
More warm lines information available from Inclusive Therapists (click here)
Crisis Lines (typically will contact law enforcement if an imminent threat to self or others is indicated or a minor or dependent adult is experiencing abuse)
988 is the national suicide and crisis hotline. It is problematic (here are some of the critiques) and may become even more so. Use at your own risk.
The Trevor Project (intended for LGBTQ+ people under 25 years old; has phone, text, and chat services; 24 hrs a day)
The Crisis Text Line (text message based crisis support)
You can typically learn more about the service’s policy about contacting law enforcement on their Privacy Policy page.
Mutual Aid
Mutual Aid Hub (National)
Iowa Mutual Aid Network, which includes the following:
Personal Safety and Defense
Know the Ooda Loop (used in shooter on campus training)
Self-defense instructors (NOT VETTED)
Personal safety devices
I do not have recommendations, so use these resources instead:
This might seem counterintuitive or silly, but these tools can be used both for and against us. It’s a good idea to at least know they exist.
Rechargable flashlight (Amazon, sadly)
Personal security keychain (Amazon, sadly)
Travel security hidden belt (Amazon, sadly)
Air horns (Amazon, sadly)
Survival Kits
I HIGHLY recommend perusing the camping sections of most stores. It will both give you ideas of what you already have and what you might need. Here’s a link to Target’s camping section.
Phone Tools (NOT VETTED)
Set up the personal safety app on your phone now!
Preparing for Tariffs
“An Exhaustive Guide to What to Buy (And What to Thrift) Before Trump's Tariffs Hit” (Bravely Go, paywalled)
Adapted checklist
“I recommend getting your big purchases done by June, 2025.”
Major home renovations
Cars and car repairs
Tech/phones/laptops/smart devices
Food: coffee, tea, beans, lentils, flour, sugar, olive oil, nuts, dried fruit, 10 lbs of frozen meat (if you eat it), frozen veggies.
Birth control
Masks
Privilege and Dealing with it (NOT VETTED)
It’s OK to take breaks, but remember that it’s a privilege to do so.
An open letter to people who want to take a break from politics
White Women: How We Are Perpetuating White Supremacy at Work
The Privilege to Look Away
Reproductive Care & Funds
Broadlawns OBGYN in Des Moines (Dr. Olesen)
Note: The Emma Goldman Clinic in Iowa City & the Planned Parenthood in Ames are the only places in Iowa to access abortions.
Iowa Abortion Access Fund (Financial assistance, including travel assistance, for obtaining abortions)
I Need An A (abortion access information, nationwide)
Plan C (medication abortions through the mail)
“Your medical team cannot tell if you had a self-managed abortion” (Dr. Jen Gunter, OBGYN)
NOTE: Dr. Gunter is a TRUSTED resource.
Plan B (see Medications section)
Safe Spaces (including some in Iowa)
Travel
Various devices recommended by Travel and Leisure (Amazon links)
We stay in hotels a lot, and I’ve been seriously considering buying both of these for a year. Hotel management can enter any room at anytime, no matter how you lock it.
Warnings
Reasoning: Contributor S indicates 4B is popular with trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs).
Thank you to fellow contributors, S and K.
