Bryan Hein For The Democratic Nominee For President
We Can Do Better!
My Story
Childhood -
I'm the oldest of 4. My parents divorced when I was 5 or so. My grandmother was very influential on me, teaching me about Gandhi, MLK, The Golden Rule as well as house repair and maintenance as we regularly watched This Old House together. Raised by my mother until I was 16. She was a waitress and a house cleaner, worked very hard to care for all of us and instilled her work ethic in me. I started working as soon as I was legally able at 14 at a nearby gas station. I grew up in a verbally abusive household as my mothers on and off boyfriend loved to yell and curse at all of us. When I was 16, he threatened to assault my 14 year old brother to which I told him that I would assault him. My mother sided with her boyfriend and told me to be ok with them getting married and him moving in or I would need to move out. I choose to move out to my aunt and uncles. At my aunt and uncles house we cleared a corner of the basement and built a bedroom for my brother and myself. We learned how to use power tools and to build a bedroom from scratch. The safety, love and needs they provided for me paved the way for me to strive to help others a decade later.
Young Adult -
I moved out at 19. First to an apartment in Florida and then back to NY to split a house amongst some friends.
I married a woman when I was 22 and divorced her 3 years later after she cheated on me and performed the magic act of making all of our money disappear. She informed me we were 3 months behind on all of our bills and that we had no money. She moved out and I went into damage control. I caught up on the water, electric and my work van bills but lost the house as it was the start of the great recession and I couldn't find enough work to pay for it being in Florida and working construction.
Cross Country Walk/Fundraiser -
In 2012 I decided Florida was not for me and that I needed to walk across the country to raise money for Eden Plan. I set out from Cocoa Beach, Florida on September 1st, 2012. I started by myself, carrying all of my supplies(food, water, tent etc.) I was on a tight budget and trying to keep my pack weight down so I purchased a child's tent from Walmart that weighed about 2lbs but didn't quite fit me. I can still remember sleeping diagonally across it with my head against the walls in one corner and my feet stuffed into the other haha. 3 weeks into the walk, my buddy informed me that my girlfriend at the time could no longer stay in his backyard and live out of my van with our dog. This threw a monkey wrench in our plans as she was planning to stay there and work while I walked and soon she would have nowhere to live. We decided she should join me. She picked me up from Tallahassee and brought me back to Orlando for the day where we got all of our things in order and were back in Tallahassee the following day. Her and our yellow lab Bella joining me helped make some things easier. I no longer had to carry everything on my back or sleep in a child's tent that did not fit me.
Along our route we found some wonderful people and churches that allowed us to park in their driveways and parking lots. One day while resupplying at a Walmart in Louisiana we saw a puppy chasing cars and birds in the rain. We brought her in the van as we feared she'd get hit by a car and she became a part of the family in no time. Thankfully, she lived under the futon and didn't take up any additional space inside the van. At this point there were 2 people and 2 dogs living in there, which was tight but we made it work.
It was a fun and exhausting experience. I walked over 1000 miles to raise money for programs I believe in to help those in need. I would've walked over 3000 and across the country, if not for some hiccups that led to a desperate situation for me and my family. I made it to Texas but unfortunately was spending more on food and gas than I was receiving in donations, so on November 6th I decided to end my walk across the country and focus on my family's need for food and housing as we were living out of my van.
Eden -
We made it to California and with our last hundred dollars in the gas tank landed on a farm doing a work exchange for food and a place to stay. My girlfriend and I went our separate ways, I kept the dogs and started a handyman business in Sacramento. I advertised that all money went to my non profit Eden Plan and was quickly busier than I could handle. I eventually had enough money saved to flip homes. I would fix the cheapest and ugliest of houses and this is where the bulk of the money to start Eden came from.
I met a wonderful Vietnamese woman whom I eventually married. She helped me flip homes and work on building Eden Plan but eventually and understandably so, divorced me because of the time and energy I put into Eden Plan.
After flipping 5 homes and countless handyman projects Eden Plan had roughly half a million dollars in the bank. I was able to purchase 38 acres on Hawaii Island, build 6 tiny homes, a community kitchen/restroom area, off grid power, water catchment, 2 industrial sized greenhouses and grow more food than we can eat with the help of some wonderful volunteers.
We're actively looking for young adults aging out of the foster care system so that we can help support them in all of their needs through building homes and growing food for and with them as well as supporting them in any other ways that are necessary, be it getting a license, car, school, employment, mentally, physically etc.
I find myself very driven and passionate in my desire to help others and make the world a better place. I believe how much good I'm able to accomplish will be a direct result of how much effort I put in.
Presidential Aspirations -
To be clear, this isn't something that I want to do. I dislike public speaking and a lot of what comes with this type of position but it has become increasingly clear to me that the government has policies that although they help some people, they enable and hurt others. It is also clear to me that I have better ideas and can do better for our country than those who are in or seeking power. I find myself morally obligated to do this.
My interest started when I feared Biden would lose to Trump and now that he has dropped out, I fear Kamala will lose to him. Keeping Trump out of the White House is a top priority as is accomplishing all of the incredible goals I have for our nation.
My Purpose -
I am here to be of service to you and this nation to the best of my ability. To spend my time, money and energy teaching and helping people who need and want it most. I live a life of voluntary poverty so that I can have as much time and money available to help as many people as possible. I enjoy living a minimalist lifestyle and using my time and money on others needs as fulfilling their needs has become my biggest want.
I spend most of my time and money on Eden Plan, a non profit I started many years ago. I raised about a half million dollars through flipping houses and put that into building a community that will build homes and grow food for and with foster kids as they age out of the system. This project will become an example for governments and people struggling everywhere as to what can be accomplished when tools, knowledge and real support is put in the hands of those that need and want them.
I opened my doors to survivors of the Camp fire that burned Paradise, CA in 2018.
I opened my doors again to survivors of the Lahaina fire in Maui last year.
I'm a carpenter and jack of all trades type person. I do roofing, plumbing, electrical both on and off grid, farming, welding, auto mechanics, masonry, doors, windows, flooring, hunting(to feed my family, not sport - I'm a vegetarian), butchering, beekeeper, human and animal rescuing. I'm proficient with an axe as well as a chainsaw. I also fix and maintain all of my tools and vehicles.
A Normal Day -
My day to day life usually consists of waking before sunrise, 5ish in my 8' x 16' tiny home. I do some stretching, calisthenics and go for a run. Then breakfast and mind games/exercises. After that I'm of service to whatever my community needs - fixing cars, taking care of bees, building houses, growing food, hauling manure etc. Then lunch and back to work until dark. I line up my to-do list for the next day, spend time with my loved ones and am in bed by 10.
For Those That Need A Near-Death Experience In Order To Choose A President -
I was almost killed recently(7/17/24) by my neighbor when he turned his tractor towards me and then dropped the arm of the bucket, striking my hands and narrowly missing my head.
I understand police abuse and brutality as well as government threats and overreach -
As a child I was handcuffed to a table and assaulted by a police officer. On another occasion, 2 carloads of friends and myself were forced to drive home drunk by the police. On the first occasion I was 16 and drinking. Around 6pm I walked into my old elementary school with a friend, the lights were on and the door was open and we were going to say hi to an old teacher. The janitor yelled at us and we ran out of the building. My friend and I split up as we each went home. I was stopped by the police and taken to the precinct for trespassing. I was handcuffed to the table and told I would be spending the night in a cell as I was intoxicated. The arresting officer dialed my mothers number, put me on the phone with her and left the room. I was there alone, handcuffed to the table. I told her the situation and when the call was over I could not hang up the corded phone as I was cuffed. The phone started making a very loud and annoying noise that most kids today probably have no idea what it is haha. I calmly and properly disconnected the wire from the phone and placed it on the table so that the noise would stop. The arresting officer came back in and was yelling and cursing for quite some time about how I ruined his phone and wiretapping of the line. I'm certain I caused the phone no damage from a physical perspective, as for the wiretapping, I have no clue as I'm not familiar with such things. When he finally stopped cursing at me, I calmly said to him "sir, you're a d**k." He responded by punching me in the face. The next day my eye was swollen and black and blue. Times were different then as rather than take pics, sue the precinct and the officer as most would probably do today, my mother told me, "you're lucky it wasn't worse." Years later as an adult I called to file a complaint against the officer but after months of runarounds and deadends was told that there is no record of my arrest or what happened that night. I know many people who can vouch for me and every part of this story. I had celebrity status in highschool for a moment as the kid who was handcuffed to a table and punched in the face by a cop.
In the second instance I was 18-19 and at a drive up campground with some friends. We were all drinking out of red cups and keeping a low profile around the campfire. The police drove through the area, which was normal as they had a station nearby. They stopped and came up to us as we dumped our beer. They repeatedly asked us where the alcohol was and we said we didn't have any. They told us that if we gave them the alcohol that they wouldn't kick us out of the campgrounds or cite us for the alcohol so we opened the trunk of one of our cars and gave all of our beer to them. An hour or two later they came back demanding weed. They repeatedly demanded it and we told them we didn't have any. They told us that they would kick us out of the campground if we didn't give them weed and when we didn't, they forced two car loads of us to drive home under the influence of alcohol.
None of this is meant to imply that I'm anti-police. I love the police, the good ones that is. I'm all for firing and prosecuting the bad ones and praising and promoting the good ones.
