Block Captain Humberto Roots Community Connections in Trinidad
Humberto Camarena may have grown up in the suburbs of Chicago, but after stints in cities across the country, he’s found his home, and his garden, in DC’s Trinidad neighborhood in Ward 5. A self-described “beginner gardener,” his path to planting started during a year of volunteer service in Denver, where he composted for the first time and helped tend a small vegetable garden with fellow volunteers deeply connected to the earth. Now, he brings that same enthusiasm to his role as a DC Natives block captain, along with a deep love of monarch butterflies and a genuine talent for striking up conversations with neighbors. We caught up with Humberto and asked him some questions about gardening, community building, and more.
Q: What’s your favorite pollinator?
A: My favorite pollinators are monarch butterflies. They hold a lot of significance to me for their migratory patterns and what they represent as they move. They really represent the critical, existential threat we are facing with climate change and the reduction of habitat. They are just so gorgeous and so critical, a nice reminder of why we need to protect our habitats. I have a big monarch butterfly poster in my living room, and one of the things I was really excited about was planting milkweed to support the butterfly population.
Q: At what point did you realize you were a gardener?
A: I feel like I don’t consider myself a gardener. I really am a beginner gardener. My first real appreciation of gardening was after college, during a year of volunteer service in Denver. We had a compost bin, my first time composting, and a small garden where we’d grow vegetables for the household. I learned so much from the other volunteers who had a strong connection to the Earth. That was one of the things that really turned me on to gardening and the path to being way more environmentally conscious.
Q: What’s your favorite part about being a block captain?
A: The opportunity to connect with neighbors, both to help people get gardens and to make one-on-one connections. People are excited because they just moved in, or because they’ve been living there for a while and have been curious. A couple weeks ago I ran into a neighbor we had planted with in the spring. She was pregnant when we did the planting, and I was able to ask about her baby. We stayed talking for a solid 15 minutes about the plants, about her baby, about everything happening around us. It’s fantastic to have that opportunity through DC Natives.
DC Natives is always looking for new block captains in neighborhoods across the District. Learn more about getting involved by emailing dcnatives.org@gmail.com.