Contents:

Working Group Looks at Subsidy Program
The Land of my Soul
African Refugee Women Rebuilders Retreat
Finding Peace of Mind through Service
The Labyrinth is Complete:
The QC Wish List

THE MINISTRY OF OUR BUSINESS:
WORKING GROUP LOOKS AT SUBSIDY PROGRAM

Most readers of this newsletter come to Quaker Center for our workshops, for personal retreats, or for Meeting retreats. Quaker Center's programmatic efforts have focused on our own workshops, and we have then filled the rest of the calendar with other users as they appeared. The rest of the calendar, however, accounts for most of our business. In fact, three-quarters of our use is by non-Quaker groups.

Quaker Center is now ready to be more intentional about this part of our business. The New Initiative Policy Working Group has been formed to help the board discern who are the groups we are especially called to serve. Many of these groups will need subsidized rates to afford to use Quaker Center.

Who are our current users? Non-Quaker groups using the Center are almost exclusively non-profits and grassroots organizations. We host community retreats for churches, queer youth, and knitters. Groups hold workshops focusing on personal growth, co-counseling, writing, and singing. There is a weeklong study session for Hispanic student engineers and scientists, and an herbal medicine intensive. Add to this family reunions, and a handful of weddings.

Can Quaker Center afford to give away money by subsidizing rates? Providing lower rates for preferred groups is a very old practice at Quaker Center. To date, the biggest beneficiaries of these lower rates have been Quaker groups, which for decades have received an automatic discount. A few other groups also receive discounts. With continued careful fiscal management and thoughtful discernment, we can offer lower rates to more groups.

Subsidies replace discounts. In 2002, Quaker Center replaced automatic discounts with sliding-scale subsidies. For example, when a Quaker group makes a reservation, it is quoted the full price and a maximum subsidy level. The group then determines the subsidy it needs. Many groups are taking less than the maximum subsidy, which gives Quaker Center staff more flexibility to offer subsidies to other deserving groups.

Many exciting groups pay full rates. Almost all the groups using Quaker Center are doing important work. Most of them are able to pay our full rates. For example, in mid-January, we hosted "A Circle of Healing", a group of medical students committed to a holistic vision of health and medicine. Another full-rate group is Betsy Rose's weekend of music. Betsy is a singer-songwriter whose music supports parenting, spirituality, and political activism. And in April, Volunteers in Asia will return (they've been coming for more than 20 years!) to prepare a group of volunteers to spend a year teaching English as a second language throughout Asia.

Non-Quaker groups currently offered subsidized rates include: Non-Violent Communication workshops; and the Berkeley High School Peer Education Program, which trains students to promotes sexual health among their peers.

New Initiative Working Group develops formal policies. There are so many deserving groups, and Quaker Center is aware that we cannot afford to offer subsidized rates to all of them. We are very thankful for the formation of the Working Group, which is charged with developing formal policies to identify preferred users.

The Group has been meeting about once a month since last November. Members represent communities and non-profit organizations from the East Bay to Watsonville, from the Peninsula and San Jose to the Central Valley. The Working Group is currently focusing on its first major task: what kind of group should we offer a large subsidy, what kind of group should we offer a modest subsidy, and what kind of group should we warmly welcome to Quaker Center but ask to pay the full rate? And how do we tell the difference?

The work is hard, but exciting. As we gain clarity on the mechanisms we will use to support preferred organizations, our next task will be to reach out into the community with targeted advertising and other promotional materials. The members of the Working Group will serve as the foundation for this networking effort.

With the support of the Working Group and the dedication of staff and Board members, Quaker Center is preparing to open new doors to groups especially in need of the transformational power which so many encounter here.

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THE LAND OF MY SOUL
By Sue Magidson

Serendipity? Good luck? A leading? Call it what you will, the fact remains. Four and a half years ago I found my way to Quaker Center and my life was changed.

I'd come for a personal retreat, seeking silence and solitude. During my stay, I kept rereading the flyers in the bathroom advertising upcoming programs. One description in particular caught my eye - Peter and Annie Blood-Patterson's Rise Up Singing retreat. I love to sing and I treasure Peter and Annie's songbook. A weekend of singing with them sounded heavenly, but there was one small problem. I'm not a Quaker. I'm not even a Christian. Could a Jewish Unitarian-Universalist possibly attend a Quaker retreat? I summoned my courage and broached the question with Traci. She assured me that Quaker Center retreats have more religious/spiritual diversity than I might expect. And so I returned, sang my heart out, discovered that Jewish Quakers are not an oxymoron, and met two kindred spirits who would become dear friends. The three of us returned for the Year End Retreat that year (and the next and the next), while I returned the following summer for an Art and Spirit retreat. Meanwhile, I continue to take personal retreats when I need to listen to the small still voice that sometimes gets drowned out by the clamor of daily life.

It is hard to put into words the profound impact Quaker Center has had on my life. I could tell stories of the truly life-changing insights that emerged from retreats. I could share the soulful artwork that was born at Quaker Center or chart the deepening of my spiritual practice. I could describe the annual miracle of witnessing a group of strangers become beloved community after just a few days of shared experiences. I could name the deep friendships that have endured long after retreats have ended. But perhaps the best testimony is the simple acknowledgment that, thanks to Quaker Center, I am trying to lead a faith-led life, something that would never have occurred to me four years ago.

This year I was unable to attend the Year End Retreat due to geographic limitations. (I'm spending the year in Israel.) I've experienced very little homesickness during my three months overseas, but I felt bereft during all six days of the Year End Retreat. This particular retreat has become an important touchstone in my year, a consistent source of spiritual renewal and growth. I tried to cheer myself up by cooking my favorite Year End Retreat recipes, but it just wasn't the same. Here I am in the Holy Land, but oh, what I would have given for a week in the redwoods in Quaker community.

Quaker Center has become an integral part of my life - the place I go to for spiritual growth and learning, for rest and renewal, to sit with the deep questions in my life. When I sing the Rosh HaShanah song, "Return again, return again, return to the land of your soul," I am singing about Quaker Center.

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African Refugee Women Rebuilders Retreat
By Vanessa Cooper, ARWR Board

In June 2002, a small group of African women and the families met at Quaker Center for a weekend of community and planning. This group is the board of African Refugee Women Rebuilders (ARWR), a small non-profit organization based in San Jose.

ARWR works to promote, facilitate and support the self-sufficiency efforts of newly-arrived African refugee/immigrant families in the Bay Area. It does this through education, advocacy and referrals. ARWR is a volunteer-run organization with a tiny budget. This retreat would not have been possible without the subsidy provided by Quaker Center.

During the weekend, the Board was able to dedicate its time to assessing its resources, planning the group's development and action, as well as building strength and enthusiasm among its Board members.

The retreat enabled the Board to build community and friendships among members, including the four children who were present. We availed ourselves of the advantages of Quaker Center in summertime: early morning hikes, sharing childhood games, a visit to the waterfall and meals outside. On Saturday evening, the group sat around the fire pit, sang songs, roasted corn and told tales (both tragic and humorous) of their journeys to and experiences in America. These friendships and understanding will help support the Board as it goes forward in carrying out its action plan.

For many of the women, the weekend reminded them of living in a rural environment in their home country. For most, it was the first time they had experienced the American wilderness. For all, the sanctity of the land at Quaker Center and the magnificence of the trees were apparent from first light on Saturday morning through clean up on Sunday.

For more information about ARWR please contact Sia Dunbar at 408-978-2017.

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Finding Peace of Mind through Service
By Cherish Wilcox, Quaker Center Intern

Jim Robertson, a resident of Boulder Creek California is a valuable Quaker Center volunteer. He comes each Thursday and Friday to work on buildings and grounds projects and to support the staff. I was curious to know what drew Jim to care deeply enough to give of himself weekly through his labor and why he had picked Quaker Center when there are so many other worthwhile organizations around. The following is a short history of what drew Jim to volunteer at Quaker Center.

The first contact Jim had with Quakers was in Pasadena in the 1970's. After being hurt on a construction job, Jim decided to volunteer for the American Friends Service Committee bookstore in Pasadena. After six months of volunteer work, Jim was hired and worked for the AFSC for three years.

Jim wanted to work for the AFSC because they were making a difference in the Vietnam era. He was disturbed by what the U.S. was doing and appreciated that the AFSC offered aid to victims of war, without regard for their nationality or what side of a war they were on. The Quaker principle of nonviolence was also important to Jim. "Nonviolence," Jim says, "is the only hope for mankind."

Volunteering and working with the AFSC was a great experience for Jim. When he again had some free time he sought out a Quaker organization. Quaker Center was near Jim?s home and he knew of it because he was married in the Redwood Circle. Jim knows what Quakers stand for and wants to continue to support those principles. "In a time of worldwide chaos after the events of Sept. 11th, the Quaker Center serves as a sanctuary for me," says Jim.

Another aspect of volunteering for Jim is the peace of mind he gains from using his hands to serve. Among the numerous projects Jim has been part of are organizing the maintenance shop, building the new deck on the Casa, and mowing the orchard. Jim enjoys being helpful and making a difference. "Serving makes me feel better about myself," comments Jim, "and about the world."

When I asked Jim if Quaker Center was what he expected, Jim replied, "I knew what it would be like from previous experience; I knew I'd be working with kind, gentle, loving people, and I am."

Jim volunteered at Quaker Center August through November, 2002. He's now a part-time employee who focuses on organizing the maintenance shop.

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The Labyrinth is Complete!

A huge thanks to Tom Davis who managed the labyrinth project. We also thank those who attended "A Sabbath Weekend at Quaker Center," April volunteers who pulled French broom and others who worked hard on this project.

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The QC Wish List:

Items:

Blankets single and double sized, no comforters please

A small pick-up truck

People:

A volunteer to reupholster a chair

Volunteers to prune orchard trees no previous experience required

Volunteers to pull French broom

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