rumblecrash

Hi! This site is basically broken as of May, 2017. Bummer!

There was a WordPress update and a theme update, and my custom display functions don’t work any more. You can’t read any pages. Bummer!

I’ll fix it, but in the meantime, please visit the Patacara Meals program page, which is where I’m doing my work now.

Thank you for visiting, and I look forward to seeing you soon!

–David B.

Rumblecrash operations are expanding and coming into focus. Here is a photo update on our three kinds of work:

1. Delivering meals to homeless encampments with a “field kitchen,”
2. Garbage collection at unauthorized encampments (with Mark Lloyd and Seattle Camp Stewards), and,
3. Developing styrofoam dwellings (designed by Brother Christopher at Camp United We Stand) to replace tents in authorized encampments.

1) Field Kitchen, 3 versions

For version 1, I grabbed the camping equipment that was in the house and ran out the door with a bag of oatmeal.

In version 2, the basic Coleman camp stove provides good heat and some protection from the wind. Milk crates are vital equipment for transport!

Here’s version 3, with the complete oatmeal setup, including butter, brown sugar, raisins, yogurt, and milk. On a cold, rainy day, nothing’s better than hot, sweet oatmeal! I also serve beef soup over mashed potatoes, which is extremely popular.

2) Garbage Collection

Mark Lloyd (second from left) organizes work parties to clean up trash at Camp Dearborn and other unauthorized encampments. The idea is to fend off “sweeps” by the City which would eject campers from their temporary homes. Mark drops off rakes, shovels, garbage bags, and plastic barrels so the residents can keep the place clean. Seattle Camp Stewards Facebook Group.

Mark Lloyd transporting some of the day’s haul. A good cart is an invaluable tool for cleaning up a large site.

The result of a day’s work. The City of Seattle has agreed to pick up collected garbage at Camp Dearborn. So far, they’ve come through!

Camp Dearborn, looking better and better. There’s still a long way to go, but some progress has been made cleaning up the site.

3) Styrofoam Houses

Here is Brother Christopher constructing the prototype BOB (Built on Blessings) house using 4×8 sheets of rigid foam insulation. His design uses large nails to “stitch” the panels together. The nails are covered with Gorilla Tape to bind the panels and to prevent moisture seeping through the nail holes.

Brother Christopher contemplates his creation. The idea for the BOB (Built on Blessings) house came to Brother Christopher while he was living outside in California. He saw that people on the street need a private, warm, portable dwelling. He conceived the idea that rigid foam insulation board could be the right material to use.

The BOB house is light enough to be moved by a few people. Using a sling fashioned of plastic garbage bags, the completed prototype of a BOB house is carried from the community tent to be set up for an individual camper.

More to come!

I’ve started picking up garbage at “The Field,” a big, disorganized encampment downtown (at Airport Way S & S Royal Brougham Way). The Field is unofficial, a place where people landed after the City closed down “The Jungle.” It’s what’s known as a “low-barrier” encampment, meaning that the people who live there may be doing drugs, or may have profound mental illness or other serious problems. They are not always capable of taking care of themselves or others, and one result is that trash accumulates in piles within the camp.

The City provides two dumpsters at the edge of the camp, and empties them every day of the week except Sunday. The problem is that trash does not get moved from within the camp to where the City can pick it up. Several volunteers, myself included, have spent some time collecting trash into bags and moving it to the dumpster or the street. We are currently in discussion with the City to work out the kinks so that all the collected garbage can be picked up.

There are important reasons to pick up this garbage, beyond the obvious benefits to cleanliness and health. Piles of trash in a place where people live create an atmosphere of chaos, where what is needed is calm and focus. Garbage in the living areas and walkways sends a constant message that no one cares about the place or the people in it. By tending to the place, we tend to the people; we show them that someone does indeed care about them.

This is a very simple project; no thinking is required. The garbage does not belong where it is, so it must be moved. It’s much less stressful than politics!

If you’d like to join me, please watch the Twitter feed (right column of the home page) for dates. Please get some work gloves (leather, or water-proof latex) and some heavy-duty footwear to walk in mud. If you have a snow shovel and a leaf rake (to collect debris from the ground), please bring those. For more information, email david@rumblecrash.org.