Page 10
News
Street Roots • May 5-11, 2017
Goodwill
hutching
How the Alberta Free Hutch
went from being ju st an
unruly free box to keeping
the spirit o f guerilla
activism alive
BY EMILLY PRADO
S T A F F W R IT E R
etween the brunch lines and boutique
stores that have taken over Alberta
Street stands a vivid roofed structure
filled to the brim with clothing, tchotchkes,
books and more, all open for taking and
eager to find their new homes. Known as
The Alberta Free Hutch, the entirely pro
bono project was founded by Joseph Drushal
and Lydia Grijalva in 2014. With the help of
a team of volunteers, the Free Hutch houses
a rotating selection of donated goods as a
form of resistance against the gentrification
of the neighborhood and as a means to
destigmatize need.
When we meet to talk, Drushal and
Grijalva are proud to note that the sturdy
P H O T O S B Y E M IL L Y P R A D O
wooden pillars of the Free Hutch have
Above, a customer checks out the wares at
recently received a fresh coat of paint.
the Alberta Free Hutch, fo r years a
“One of the things we did a while ago was
com m unity treasure on Alberta Street. A t
choosing to use really bright colors to go
right, the curators fo r the hutch, Lydia
against the minimalist Scandinavian design
Grijalva and Joseph Drushal.
that has come to be synonymous with
gentrification,” said Grijalva, who uses they/
them pronouns. Plus, the lime green and
sherbet hues of pink remind them of their
building a structure to keep items organized
Mexican heritage.
and safe from inevitable rain damage. After
Although the pair moved here separately
gathering the donated materials, designing a
in 2013, they both came to Portland ready to layout, and working with a carpenter friend
apply their urgent sense of activism -
to build it, the Alberta Free Hutch was fully
reinvigorated by the nationwide Occupy
installed and functioning by July 2014.
movement - into their new community. The
As it turns out, the set up was only the
two became acquainted while living in an
beginning.
alternative higher education program called
“I didn’t consider how much more stuff
Community Supported Everything. The
would come through [and] how much more
CommuniVersity was a self-directed
work it would be on a daily basis,” Drushal
residency in which mentors guided students
said. “Living there (made it) really easy to
in moving from ideas to actualization in the
maintain because I would leave the house
pursuit of community-based endeavors.
and fix it up, and come back and fix it up,
Grijalva worked on self-publishing a zine
and everyone there was actively involved
called Fiidizine that compiled resources and
too. I didn’t think about how much stuff
stories about accessing food for people
we’d have to recycle or throw away. It was a
experiencing poverty stemming from their
learning experience from day one: Like OK,
own experiences growing up poor. While
now I have to design a recycling program
Drushal researched alternative economies
and sorting program. Do I have storage
like gifting circles and time banking, an
capacity? All of these new questions.”
exchange based on hours of service in which
When the lease at Community Supported
everyone’s skills are ranked equally.
Everything expired and Grijalva and Drushal
“About halfway through the program, (the moved to the St. John’s neighborhood, they
mentors) really encouraged me to do
simply couldn’t handle the twice-daily
something hands on and less conceptual,”
commutes necessitated by the Free Hutch’s
Drushal said.
upkeep. The pair somberly hung up a simple
Around the same time, the neighborhood
goodbye poster thanking the community for
free pile on the corner of their street had
their support and announcing that their
grown increasingly out of hand, so Drushal
time had come to an end. The community,
decided to solve the problem head on by
however, wouldn’t accept defeat without a
B
fight. After all, where else could one snag
the complete Lord of the Rings audiobook
on cassette or a giant stuffed panda at no
cost?
As neighbors and Free Hutch enthusiasts
pleaded for Grijalva and Drushal to
reconsider, the pair put out a request for
volunteers only half-expecting it to work.
Almost overnight, nearly a dozen folks
offered their time. A year and half later, they
have a team of 10, “people in the
neighborhood who are committed to coming
once a week or more and cleaning up,” said
Grijalva.
“It makes me so happy,” said Grijalva,
“because we almost closed down and didn’t
exist. But people were like ‘No. You cannot
do that.’”
Like many nonprofits, the Alberta Free
Hutch is creating the infrastructure as they
go along. They’ve since secured a car, which
has significantly helped in simplifying the
time-consuming recycling process. It was
instrumental when a recent major sorting
effort allowed them to donate a total of 500
pounds of clothing to local shelters. They’re
now under the umbrella of The City Repair
Project and are working on to secure grants
to further support their project.
See HUTCH, page 11