Thank you from The Haven

Back on March 13th, we closed our doors because of COVID-19.

We couldn’t imagine being where we are now and we wouldn’t be, without you.

The last 8 months is an amazing story of people working together in community through emotional, financial, and existential uncertainty.

“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity”

                                                – Sun Tzu

The day before the Kids in the Spotlight program was due to start, we made the difficult decision to cancel, along with other long-anticipated programs like Self-Compassion and Living Alive 1: Self-Awareness.

We looked at our accounts, got out the calculators, and we figured we were done for.

Staff were laid off and our Executive Director, Warren Fraleigh, retired a couple of months early to reduce expenses.

We were in trouble.

With encouragement from our community, however, we collectively rose to the challenge.

Was there chaos? Was there conflict? Yes!

We are grateful to you and to our Haven tools for helping us make it through.

Thank you, Participants

Many alumni and first-time participants agreed to let us hold their program deposits until 2021, which allowed us to retain funds. Some even donated their program deposits to help us pay our fixed expenses. We are grateful. Thank you.

Thank you, Board, Members & Special Advisors

When a Director joins the Board, the expectation is to meet once a month. This dedicated volunteer group, however, met several times a week to re-imagine The Haven as a vibrant, thriving, financially sustainable charitable organization.

Although their terms ended in June, Mary Holdgrafer and Dea Lloyd stayed on until August to ensure continuity. Dea also guided us into a more inclusive way of being, shaping the Board’s diversity policies.

Julian Young also stayed on, lending his rigorous assessment skills, organizational and recruiting acumen, faith, and fundraising resources. He worked tirelessly on the Board’s Fundraising Working Group, ensuring the success of our Alive to Thrive campaign.

Catherine Lord and Cathy McNally brought data and insight, seeking out the collective wisdom of The Haven faculty and community. They galvanized that vision into something we could all rally around to sustain the value of our core while expanding out into the unknown.

Annika Raithby brought and continues to bring innovation and a lifelong Haven perspective. Maria Malmgren, now on the Management team, brought her optimism and networking capacity as Board Chair.

Amidst the chaos, these generous people joined the Board – Olivia Stille, Tony Ollivier, WenShwu Lee, Jamison Schulz-Franco and Graemme Brown — bringing skills in business, social media, technology, Haven program delivery, and more.

Haven Alumni, Karen Minden, Jan Pullinger and Lizanne Foster, enthusiastically stepped up as Special advisors to share their experience and insight.

Members, Gerry Owen, Randy Wong, Dick Sass, and Haven Co-Founder, Jock McKeen, offered their rich perspectives and big Haven hearts.

David Raithby helped guide the collaboration of each of these groups. We are grateful. Thank you.

Thank you, Senior Management Team

Leslie Hoffman, a consultant who had been hired to help us expand our program offerings, guided us through the first several months. When her contract was up, Maria Malmgren and Cathy McNally stepped off the Board and into different leadership roles, forming a new team of Directors, alongside Christine Purfield. We are grateful for the tireless efforts of each of you. Thank you.

Thank you, Staff and Bodyworkers

Morag Ruckman, Paula Brent, Louise Amuir, Nellie Bonin, and Kevin Meunier maintained The Haven’s presence on campus and grew our community online. We were relieved to next be able to welcome back Giovanna, Wendy Pitcher, Shannon, Chaydan, Nata, Scott, Beckie, Marilyn, Sarah, Jan, Joyanne and Nicole as government support was made available and more workers were needed.

Despite positive momentum, we want to acknowledge that things haven’t gone back to “normal” and we miss our staff and bodyworkers who haven’t yet been able to return. We look forward to having you back with us in the future!

We are grateful to all of you. Thank you.

Thank you, Donors

We’re grateful to the many people who gave to the Alive to Thrive campaign and an amazing volunteer, Lesley Anderson, whose guidance helped make this initiative happen.

We are grateful to you. Thank you.

Thank you, Faculty, Assistants, and Interns

Thank you to Linda Nicholls, Cathy McNally, Jane Kilthei, Annika Raithby for YAS, Amil Reddy, Carole Ames, Susan Clarke, CrisMarie Campbell, Louise Amuir, Toby Macklin, Graemme Brown, Jo-Ann Kevala, Jane Olynyk, Gillian Enright, Cathy Wilder, WenShwu Lee, David Hatfield, Vicky Frederiksen, Leah Hokanson, Lynette Jackson, Eric Bibb, Jennifer Hilton, David Raithby and Paula Brent who developed online programs. Since March, we’ve successfully delivered over 30 workshops to over 900 participants around the world. In addition to the people listed above, Ian Curtin, Susa Holt, Colleen Cuggy, Sean Kearns, BettyGene McCallum, Christina Smith, Jailin Bertolin, Gillian Chandler, Jason Englisch, Wayne Dodge, Jan Pullinger, Rob Kevala, Liz Chin, Scott Acomba, Wendy Schulz, Mark Etkin, Sonya Wilson, Daniel Arnold, Dea Lloyd, Solanna Anderson, Brooke Cox, Marlies Dahler, Ruth Emerson, and Wendy Huntington have all made and continue to make pay-what-you-can check-ins possible. With the generosity of these volunteer facilitators, we continue to offer weekly opportunities for people to come together and find support and connection online.

This Fall, we welcomed participants home to The Haven for LAE1: Self Awareness and LAE2: Meaningful Connections. We’ve received outstanding feedback and have Graemme Brown, Cathy Wilder, Leslie Whyte, Nellie Bonin, Kevin Meunier, and Cathy McNally to thank for their vision and dedication to making this happen in a safe and responsible way. Thank you to each of the conscientious participants who said “yes” to a modified program too!

We are grateful to you. Thank you.

Thank YOU

In addition to the individuals named above, we’re overwhelmed by the continued support from you, our community. We appreciate everything you do for us, from referrals, to kind words of encouragement and everything in between.

We are grateful to you. Thank you.

Faith and Continuity

The Haven carries on, thanks to the tools we teach and the connection and community we cherish. Together, we are making opportunity out of chaos, as so many of us have done learned through Haven programs.

We are pleased to share that we’re not in debt and that we have strategic priorities, people, and projects guiding us toward a bright future. It took many hands and hearts to get us here and we will continue to need your support. We hope you’ll continue to stay engaged with us to rebuild and re-imagine the next 35 years.

Thank you.