Trickle Down Town

Biernacki explained his motivation behind the making of Trickle Down Town,  his first effort at a film. “Both my wife Jasmine and I come from poverty or near poverty. Although neither of us have ever been homeless we both have come close a time or two in our younger days. My parents struggled hard, and if they split or had any issues were was a very strong chance we would have been homeless.  I feel I was extremely lucky to basically stumble into a untapped industry back in the mid 90's that allowed me to get into the middle class and perhaps a bit beyond. I'm fully aware how insanely lucky I was and how the road to adulthood for underprivileged kids is a minefield.  In my profession I have seen first hand how the uber rich live, what they do with all that money, and the kind of profits their companies generate. I have watched the homeless crisis grow exponentially over the past 10 years in Seattle. In the process of researching the project I have discovered that most people have uneducated, knee jerk reactions and false beliefs and facts about the homeless. They see the tents, the RV’s the addicted people who have untreated mental and physical health issues and instead of doing something to help their neighbors they degrade, cast away, and add insult to injury, they mislead and "re-tweet" false information.

I want people to see that there are concrete simple steps people can take everyday to help the situation. I want this film to speak to ordinary folks that don’t have the experience or the know-how and who are are afraid to try. Im one of these folks. It's going to have to be a grassroots effort as it became pretty clear recently we can't rely the "1%" to just fix this. One fact I have come to accept is that for some of us, this film will not make a damn difference in what we think of the homeless. There is a long held myth in our country that bad things don't happen to good people, that we are completely in control of our destiny. That if you "fell off the wagon " it's your own damn fault. To that I'd like to say don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. For every one aggressive drunk or meth head who does not want to get help there are 100 people trying desperately to get out.”

In the film you come to understand the range of people whose life paths led them to what is an often rootless existence. But Biernacki also interviews those who are seeking solutions.

Emilee

Emilee lives in a RV on harbor ave. Its one of the nicer kept RV's and she takes great pride in taking care of it as if it was her home (she sees herself as a homeowner) she came to Seattle 3-4 years ago with a girlfriend. 

Mark and Kathy

Mark and Kathy are the leaders from Alki Congregational Church who are leading the charge of building the tiny houses. Mark is a electrical aviation engineer and has developed a production line system to build the homes.They could use more donations and volunteers to join them on the weekend. Its a open door policy, any skill level welcome. The camp is located at 9701 Myers Way South.

Others interviewed and featured in Trickle Down Town are, ”Mr. Blue"  who has lived in his RV on Harbor for about 17 years,  "Mr. Green" who lives in a family minivan that he somewhat retrofitted to his needs. He comes and goes between Harbor Ave and a nearby church lot. "Mr. White" a eastern european immigrant who lives in a RV on Harbor ave and works pretty much all the time as a handyman. "Mrs. Rainbow" Mrs. Rainbow was a married man, had a family and worked in the food industry. He worked for the Bernie Sanders campaign. Shortly after that he came out as transgender. Her life spiraled out of control due to that. Wife and kids left, lost job, depression, drugs, heavy drugs. Up until recently she has been living with a "roommate" in one of the RV's On Harbor Ave. SW.

You can learn more about Tomasz and his film on his website here http://www.pechara.com/ 

Stories of Us

In March 2016 Raebyne received the Right Now Today Humanitarian Award for her work on a film about domestic violence called Asylum, her first film. It was awarded Best Narrative Short at the 2018 Cinema On The Bayou Film Festival. She served as the Event Director with the Seattle Latino Film Festival in 2013 and 2014. During the Summer of 2016, she was asked to be a filmmaker mentor for Tacoma’s Grand Cinema Film Camp.  Currently, Melinda is working on two projects; “Stories of Us” and “For Sale”.  “Stories of Us” is a collection of stories from people who make up the landscape of America. The hope is to build a bridge of compassion to show how we connected to one another through like experiences. In 2017 Melinda was one of the recipient of the WA State GAP grant. The money from the grant will go to help fund “For Sale”, an exhibit that invites viewers into the life of a person who’s a victim of human trafficking with the goal of bring to light of this issue that has infested the US and other countries all over the world.

Raebyne said, “When the audience feels the story you are telling, they become a part of it, vested in it, and even motivated to take action.”

Her background is as an actress whose decade of work in other people’s films taught her a lot about the craft but also motivated her to find her own cinematic voice. She said she is interested in making films that examine important social issues while giving a voice for those who are suffering from the pain of social injustices.

Making Stories of Us: Camp Second Chance proved to be a technical as well as emotional challenge. Raebyne works with a four person crew using a mix of iPhone and higher end camera gear. The result is both very personal and polished. “Ultimately, our goal was to encourage people to open up to us on camera. We wanted to capture an overview of the homeless camp, but our focus is on individuals. Originally the plan was to find about 3 personal stories to film however we were overwhelmed with how many people wanted to share their personal journeys. We now have 12 people in the film.  The importance of this documentary is their stories, not just the conditions they are living in.”

“Stories of Us” wants to put a face to the homeless demographic. Homeless people are, at the very heart of this, “people.” “In giving a voice to their stories we hope to humanize them, so people in our society can identify more readily with this nameless, faceless population that is our neighbor. We hope, with this documentary, to build a bridge of similarity by showing how much more we are connected to one another we are through like experiences. In our world today, compassion and understanding are precious and fostering this is a crucial element to our project.

If we understand who we are, where we come from, and how our strife resembles that of others, then we can see that common thread more clearly. Seeing that common thread can give us a deeper compassion for those we didn’t think we knew.  The path to a more united society begins with understanding how we are all connected. For me, they have become my friends and not just subject matter for my documentary.  I typically go back and visit about every 3 months or so. I even celebrated my birthday with them. They had a party for me."

in her film she profiles 12 people, among them are:

Chris B

He was working (and still is) when he made the decision to become homeless. With mounting bills and only an income that could go so far he felt it was the best option for him.

William and Lee-Lee

Their rent went up as new owners took over where they were living and with both of them being in between jobs their only option was the streets.

Mark

Mark was 52 the first time he was homeless. His disability hindered him in securing a job that would allow him to earn enough money for rent. He and his wife were out on the street for the first time during one of Seattle's horrific winter months. Currently, Mark is heartbroken as he is going through a divorce.

What's next?

Biernacki said his original goal was to submit the film to PBS,  but he may submit it to film festivals, show it at the Admiral Theater as a fundraiser or eventually just release the entire film free on the internet, saying, "the more people we can attract to this cause the better."

Stay in touch with Tomasz and his film via his website www.pechara.com.

Raebyne is also considering the film festival route or possibly offering it to public broadcasting. 

You can keep up with Camp Second Chance on Facebook.

Both films are expected to be completed in the next couple of months.