Update:
Wow! Can you believe it is 2025 already? It is hard to believe that in a couple of months I will have been working outside the prison for a year.
In the last newsletter I discussed our proposal to create a statewide solution to onsite organic waste management that would include a training facility. We finally got our opportunity to present our proposal to a room full of people including the Department of Ecology, DOC headquarters, SPP, and our special advocates Chuck and Sally. It went really well. I had spent quite a bit of time putting together a Power Point and the local Plant Manager and I presented the idea. It seemed to be really well received and I think there is a good chance we will get some funding to pursue it.
One detail that really impacted me is that in discussing planning and logistics I realize that I probably won't be here to see the actual facility get built - I'll be out!!
KEY POINTS
Point of Perserverance:
Tomas has transferred to Airway Heights and it is always hard to have such complete separation from people that mean so much. One of the sinister parts of long term incarceration is the constant uncertainty of your circumstance. But as we are all getting close it won't be long before we are building together at an EARN site.
Point of Practice:
Just for fun, we decided to grow a monster pumpkin this next spring and summer at the outside facility. Our boss bought some giant pumpkin seeds and we have been prepping the ground where it will grow. We built a vermicompost tea brewer and we are excited to see if we can grow a thousand-pounder!
Point of Peace:
The earth really is the place where I find peace. Being outside the prison and occasionally having the opportunity to go out in the woods or dig in the soil really confirms for me the need to create an oasis for people coming out of prison.
THE PLANET
I haven't mentioned Black Soldier Flies lately but they deserve some space here. When we started working outside the prison at the commercial compost site, we got permission to create a BSF operation. As usual we had to build it with scrap parts but it was an opportunity to do some more R and D on this amazing science. I wont bore you with all the details but it's the middle of winter and we have thousand of flies and enough surplus grubs to feed our flock of 30 chickens about a quart of grubs a day! They basically thrive on a diet of Bokashi treated food waste and grubs. With the price of eggs sky rocketing, our boss is pretty popular with the staff who get free eggs every week. I absolutely love taking something that is a waste product and turning it into something of great value.
I am super excited to take everything I've learned over the past ten years about this amazing little bug and create something on a grand scale!
BIG IDEA
The legislation to expand Graduated Reentry we discussed last time is now HB 1239. There is a separate bill in the Senate that does much the same - SB5219.
We had to negotiate a little bit and so instead of 24 months it is 18 months. But the great news is that it is a big win for people who are coming out of prison after long sentences and it also plays well into our vision for EARN which is to provide 18 months of intense services. If that could be GRE time, it would be amazing. The fact that it is coming from both the House and Senate makes it much more likely to succeed. Please go online and sign up to support this legislation. If you want more info join the Facebook group: Information for change--Washington.
FINAL THOUGHTS...
We are getting close! If this legislation passes I could be at work release this November and Juan about a year after me. Tomas is scheduled for a clemency hearing this year. After all these years of planning our dream, we are right around the corner from hitting the ground and actually building it.
As I have expressed so many times, I am filled with gratitude for the amazing community of support that you all have been for us. Thank you all!!