Huckleberry Hollow Got Robbed!

The Huckleberry Hollow is a collective land project purchased in 2016, in Shelton, WA.

When purchased, the land was abandoned and left trashed by the previous owner. With the help of many hands, we hauled literal tons of garbage out from the property and began our journey to becoming a self-sustaining community that we could share with others.

We started with hand tools, and as our community grew, we have been able to buy generators and create a solar electrical system to build and power living structures, a shop, a communal kitchen, and a massive garden and have been able to provide a home for many folks from many walks of life: organic farmers, home builders, Evergreeners, herbalists, carpenters, blacksmiths, mead and winemakers, painters, tall ship sailors, musicians, and folks who just needed a safe place to stay.

The Huckleberry Hollows has been a haven to many of us for years, and with so much hard work put into it, it has been transformed from a forgotten place to a very involved and lush home.

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While the core group of us was away this winter, someone came onto our property and robbed us. They kicked open our locked doors and grabbed whatever they could find. They tore apart our solar panel structure, wrecking our electrical system and ruining our lithium batteries. That system powered our communal kitchen, water pump, and charging stations, and was used in many other ways.

They broke into our workshop that houses our metal shop, carpentry shop, leather working shop, and mechanic shop. They took multiple generators that power all of our machinery that helps make the land a livable space. Many of us also depend on these workshops to make a living. While they were at it, the thieves grabbed all of our chainsaws, raided the tool chests, and stole countless hand tools.

They also broke into two of our personal living spaces. One of these structures is a geodesic dome that started as a dream, was made possible by many hands, and has become a beautiful home. It was ransacked, the dome’s electrical system was stolen, and an innumerable amount of personal and sentimental belongings were taken. The other living space that was broken into was a tiny house and personal belongings including tools and instruments were rifled through and taken.

They didn’t stop there.

They stole a beloved 1984 Toyota truck that is a daily driver. We think they loaded a bunch of things into it and drove away with a ridiculous amount of our hard work.

After punching the numbers, it’s about $11,000 of goods we know FOR SURE were stolen - NOT including the value of the stolen vehicle and things we haven't found out about yet.

We thought we were safe out there, and while I’m so thankful none of our community was physically harmed, the emotional and mental hit is immense.

We can’t continue without power. We can’t continue without our tools. We can’t be stopped, though. This is why we need your help.

Please help us rebuild and donate what you can. Anything helps, and we’ve worked entirely too hard to give up now.

Warmly,

The Huckleberries