brubaker

LIBERTADKORPS

BUTCH AND CORY BRUBAKER
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

NICKELSVILLE INTERVIEWS
by Tom Hastings � 2008

Butch and Cory Brubaker have two kids and a big chocolate dog living with them at Nickelsville. Their son is in 6th grade; their daughter is in 7th grade. They also have a 16-year-old daughter currently staying with friends. Butch is African American; Cory is white. Their kids appear to be well-adjusted and happy. And Spud Brubaker is the perfect camp dog who seems to be everyone�s best friend.

BUTCH AND CORY BRUBAKER

CORY: We�re currently the only family with kids in Nickelsville�. Our oldest daughter is 16 and she is currently living with friends and doing fine�. Alexandra just turned 13 and is in 7th grade. Matthew is 11 and is in 6th grade. They go to school in Bellevue. They get picked up by taxi every morning. The taxi drops them back here around 4:30 or 5:00.

BUTCH: Bellevue School District pays for Yellow Cab to shuttle them�. We were supposed to get an apartment in Factoria so we enrolled at a school in Clyde Hill, a very good neighborhood near Bill Gates� house. It�s a really excellent school, with money for computer labs and all that.

C: Bellevue School District has money. Seattle Public School District has no money. This year at least they get to stay in a good Bellevue school�. See, it is not against State law to be homeless, but it is against State law to keep your kids out of school. So the State makes sure the school pays cab fare�. But next year when we get permanent housing, we must put our kids in the school district where we live.

B: We�ve been homeless for one year and two days�. We started couch-surfing with friends, but sometimes their other half didn�t want us there. So we stayed in our Dodge Caravan minivan and our Chevy Blazer. We preferred the Blazer but the engine�s blown right now. We wanted to buy a travel trailer and park in an RV park to have a stable place for our kids. But that was not to be. So we wound up at Nickelsville, where everyone just said, �Hey, welcome home!�

C: In rural North Bend no one messes with you. We would park and sleep at a truck stop. But North Bend was so far away, the gas for the commute was just horrendous and our kids missed a lot of school. It just wasn�t working�. We drove here and I said, �Let�s just check this place out!� Butch was very pessimistic. But something inside just told me, just go up to these people and talk to them. And they just said to me, �Sure we accept families! Welcome home!�

B: Yeah, her women�s intuition. I was pessimistic, looking at all these funny-looking pink tents, thinking well this sure is some different trip! I thought maybe they wouldn�t like families with kids and a dog. But they welcomed us and we�ve been here over a month now.

C: Spud�s been with us all along. I got Spud on my birthday. He was my birthday present.

B: We were homeless. We were thinking we might wind up living in a tent in the woods God knows where. So we thought a big dog would protect the kids. Cory said she wanted a puppy for her birthday. At any campsite he could bark and be our alarm. We got him as a puppy. Spud is only nine and a half months old. He�s a chocolate lab mix: his dad was chocolate lab and weimaraner and his mom was black lab. Got a nice white star on his chest, I think it�s shaped more like a phoenix bird. Hello Steven! How are you? We�re doing a little interview here�

STEVEN: Sorry to interrupt but I just came out here to tell you I cannot rent you my house sorry.

B: Sorry, that�s alright, thanks.

C: Um, Spud�s now the camp dog. Ah, a lot of shelters and apartments don�t want to deal with kids or dogs. So we had a family meeting. The kids take part in our decisions. We asked them if they wanted to give up the dog so it would be easier for us to get a shelter or apartment. Our kids said no way, we must stick together as a family, and Spud is now part of our family.

B: Spud�s an excellent dog. He is everything I hoped a dog would be for my family, and more. Everyone here knows he is our dog. But Spud loves everybody. Dogs reflect their owners. I have no fear, so my dog has no fear.

C: We tell our kids the truth about everything. They understand our situation; they know the score. They seem to like it here so far. They even like helping us do chores and security shifts�. We stay warm in sleeping bags. Our two kids share our tent with our dog. Spud sleeps with all of us, back and forth throughout the night.

B: We go to the Burke Museum of Natural History across the street on the free days�. University YMCA gave us passes so now our kids can exercise and shower there. We�re really grateful for that�. DSHS, DFS, CPS, King County Sheriff, Public Health nurses, they all have assessed us and examined our kids, and they conclude our kids are among the most well-adjusted kids they ever saw�. We�ll keep trying to get indoor housing before the January snow and ice. But if we�re here, we�re here. We�ll get sub-zero sleeping bags and tough it out with everyone else. We�ll cope and survive.

C: THIS COMMUNITY EXPERIENCE MAY BENEFIT OUR KIDS. AND OUR KIDS BENEFIT PEOPLE LIVING HERE. Sometimes all it takes is one act of kindness to reduce stress and help someone stay stable and healthy.

B: Sometimes one act of kindness can turn around someone�s life, especially if no one has ever showed them kindness�. I don�t fear anyone here. Even mentally unbalanced people chill out just by having kids and dogs around. That�s why they recommend dogs for the elderly. Something about kids and dogs! Something to be said for stepping outside yourself, to recognize someone else, to take care of kids and dogs�. That�s what Nickelsville is all about after all: We all have a vote and take part in decisions and have empowerment and solve problems�. WE ALL TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER.

C: WE�RE ALL FAMILY HERE. Sure we�d prefer to be living indoors. But so far so good.

B: Cool thing about Nickelsville is that everyone here helps and guides our kids. People even behave themselves and act better in front of the kids, you know, no cursing, so our kids help people here to bring out the best in themselves. Living together like this is therapeutic. We solve our own problems here, so that people from the outside don�t need to come in and solve problems for us�. NICKELSVILLE IS A STRONG COMMUNITY AND A GOOD PLACE TO RAISE KIDS. If we didn�t think so, we�d still be living in our minivan!

Spud Brubaker, Aaron Colyer

Local Hero Spud Brubaker, with Cory and Butch Brubaker

Spud and Matthew Brubaker