Hard Water

This is something that was always looming on the horizon but when faced with the reality of it there really was no way to prepare for it emotionally.

The collective amount of all these people’s lives getting turned upside down is very hard to grapple with.

The main encampment of unhoused that we serve was swept today and everyone on the property was taken to jail. As of right now about twenty people are unaccounted for.

This is devastating.

One of them had just started a job last week, we gave him a bike to get to work on.

Sadly, some people continue to do weird things on e-bikes well into their 40’s 😩

I’m dying to know what people think when they see the water trike rolling ⚡️😎💧

It’s absolutely heartbreaking to see the impact across the board from small orgs all the way to the public health budget.

It just feels like everyone is on the back foot right now.

There’s at least a couple ministries that do unhoused outreach. Mosaic, and sunrise.

What I’ve found to be key for cycling in Austin is a wide brimmed hat and a long sleeve fishing shirt.

And of course plenty of water 😎

There’s an even scarier one off 183 near ed bluestein blvd.

It truly is, especially up north where we operate and the roads are much faster.

There has never been a better time to integrate e-bikes into your mutual aid program.

A lot of organizing opportunity since the space has cleared out some maybe?

I miss my virtual space.

This is really interesting. I got into VR before the pando and during the peak while trying to upgrade my rig myself bricked it 😩

But a 1070 and an OG vive is a fine machine, I think a lot about how many old rigs are just languishing, collecting dust.

Not sure of the specifics but we are looking to connect with other mutual aid orgs operating in Austin generally but specifically ones active on Bluesky.

Especially CC ones 😷

Trust me, as an org doing very targeted mutual aid in ATX we get enough guff from the people in our neighborhood about helping people without getting more of it from folks in blue states 😩

The only good ice is the stuff we distribute twice weekly on our mutual aid trike!

Fellow revolutionaries. Torch of Texas’ main goal is to help out the community especially those who are already or will be impacted by the current administration. One of these projects we are working on is putting together and providing free emergency kits for those in need. (More in comments)

This is a group based out of Austin, Texas doing the good work by feeding the community. They operate on donations and mutual aid efforts. Meet ATX Free Fridge Project opencollective.com/atx-free-fri...

A very large red tricycle in a back yard loaded to the gills with eight five gallon water cooler bottles and a ice chest containing 25 gallons sized ice blocks

We’ve upgraded the pedicab’s brakes, wheels and built a rack so that it can accommodate 65 gallons of ice and water at 520lbs!!! This is meaningful amounts of cooling hydration for our unhoused neighbors in ATX.

The mutual aid trike project is finally off the ground

#mutualaid #cargobike #ebike

This is exactly what we’re talking about. We’d love to make it down for a distro sometime but our work in north Austin keeps us close to home.

www.austinmutualaid.org

YouTube video by hard water atx Mutual aid hydration support in ATX!!!

It’s true!

And you’d be surprised what you can accomplish with an e-bike, a yard cart, some old bike tubes and 30 gallons of water containers.

youtu.be/wl687AxSPkc

We are on our second year of doing this work on a shoestring budget, if anyone wants to pick our brains don’t hesitate to reach out.

YouTube video by hard water atx Mutual aid hydration support in ATX!!!

Thank you for working to organize water delivery!

Our “secret” recipe for this survival essential in ATX is to fill one five gallon insulated cooler with three gallons of ice and two of water. That will keep cold for days even in 100° heat.

youtu.be/wl687AxSPkc

Big props to PDX councilor Green for recognizing the importance of this often overlooked necessity.

The Hard Water e-bike pulling a trailer loaded with salads and sandwiches. Chaos garden in the background

The Hard Water e-bike with 160lbs of ice in two coolers in the trailer. 8lb ice bricks for maximum cooling.

We don’t do just do water, brought out 30 sandwiches, salads and snack packs to the north Austin community on Tuesday then 160lbs of hard water (ice😉) later that day.

Today? 40lbs of pastries donated by Carol’s Kindness food pantry to 30 people.

7 hygiene kits from the Covid cautious community.

Home - Carol's Kindness Carol's Kindness is a nonprofit organization rescuing food from grocery stores, restaurants, warehouses and serving it to food insecure people in East Austin, Texas every Saturday at a food pantry eve...

Big thanks to Carol from Carol’s Kindness food pantry which opens its doors every Saturday from noon to 1pm at the Gus Garcia recreation center on East Rundberg Lane.

We’ve been volunteering there for years and was a big step towards doing camp support mutual aid.

www.carolskindness.org

The Hard Water e-bike pulling a trailer loaded with salads and sandwiches. Chaos garden in the background

The Hard Water e-bike with 160lbs of ice in two coolers in the trailer. 8lb ice bricks for maximum cooling.

We don’t do just do water, brought out 30 sandwiches, salads and snack packs to the north Austin community on Tuesday then 160lbs of hard water (ice😉) later that day.

Today? 40lbs of pastries donated by Carol’s Kindness food pantry to 30 people.

7 hygiene kits from the Covid cautious community.

It’s hard to do good

This is an incredible project to support!

🙏

A cool and important mutual aid project:

A small group of people using e-bikes to delivering life-saving ice and water to the unhoused community in Austin, Texas, and building the related hydration and cooling infrastructure.

If you are in the Austin area and have thirsty neighbors who could use help with this survival essential or wish to contribute materially please reach out to us at hardwateratx@gmail.com