After Overwhelming Destruction - On the Path to Restoration
In the fires of 2020, Breitenbush Hot Springs lost 75 of its structures, including all of its guest cabins. Since that time, we have been busy restoring and stabilizing the facility, camping sites and slowly opening to guests and gearing up to 7 days a week. We are now creating a new vision and preparing for our rebuilding process.
Rebuilding to a New Vision
Now after this destructive fire, made worse by global warming, we have an opportunity to re-vision Breitenbush so that in addition to continuing to fulfill our original mission we can effectively engage with the climate and social challenges of our time.
By engaging the community in supporting the revitalization of one of Oregon’s gems, we will be positioned to expand our work to include climate education, stewardship, and advocacy, as well as increasing our capacity to catalyze and participate in the social change and equity movements that our civilization and the environment desperately need. With such lofty and important goals, where do we begin? At the level of our community engagement, we begin with YOU.
We Need YOUR Support!
We have ambitious rebuilding goals beginning with one of our new hermitage lodging cabins. These cabins will have 4 bedrooms, and each room can house single or double occupancy guests. The construction cost for one of these cabins is $230,000. We will be rebuilding additional hermitage cabins as well as individual cabins, a bathhouse, and a sanctuary over a period of 3 - 5 years for an estimated cost of $4 million.
We have been blessed with donors and foundations who have donated Matching Fund Investments to provide us with the jumpstart we need for fundraising. Their contributions are all set up as matching donations. Here you can contribute to our Community Campaign and 100% of your donations will be matched.
Our target for the Community Campaign is $2 million dollars by October 2022.
Individuals and organizations have already committed contributions to the Matching Fund Investment ranging in size from $25,000 to $75,000. We aim to raise $230,000 of committed funds so we can match contributions to the Community Campaign. If you would like to become one of our contributors to the Matching Fund Investment, we celebrate that! Please reach out to Sarahjoy Marsh: [email protected]
Donate To Support Breitenbush Hot Springs
DAYA Foundation is the official fiscal sponsor for Breitenbush Hot Springs. We are a registered 501-c-3 non-profit organization in Portland, Oregon. Donations for the Breitenbush Hot Springs Matching Fund Investment and the Community Campaign are tax deductible in accordance with the IRS regulations.
Matching Fund Investment contributions can be made via check (see below).
Community Campaign donations can be made online here on our website or in the form of a check (see below)
Checks Payable to the DAYA Foundation and mailed to:
DAYA Foundation c/o Sarahjoy Marsh, 4416 SW Lobelia St, Portland, OR, 97219
Please put Breitenbush in the memo section of your check. Destruction and Restoration
Breitenbush Hot Springs was purchased in the late 1970s by Alex Beamer for $250,000. At that time it was an abandoned, rundown conference center in the ancient forest along the glacier-fed river. For over 40 years, Breitenbush has been a fully self-sustaining community cooperative focused on stewarding the land and serving our guests.
Breitenbush Hot Springs has been dedicated to exploring and bringing forth human potential. For decades we have lived, worked, served, stewarded, sustained, and celebrated this beautiful land and community sanctuary. We have committed to a credo of stewardship and service.
The original members of Breitenbush aimed to establish an intentional community and healing center based on principles of collaboration, mutuality, stewardship, and non-exploitation - to not participate in the corporate and economic models of oppression and inequity. At Breitenbush this means not exploiting the resources of earth, nor the work of the people building the community, serving the guests, and stewarding the land.
This is understood as service to the human spirit and to the natural world, service to the public - and also beyond - to a thriving community that sets an inspirational model for others.
Those who live and work on the land and those who come to the land for healing go beyond the land into the wider world refreshed and purposeful in their life and their service to the greater good.
2020 Devastation
The fire in September 2020 destroyed almost everything: 75 buildings including all of the guest cabins for year-round lodging, the Sanctuary for daily well-being programs, the Vista house for massage, and several community members’ homes. This fire also destroyed all of the Breitenbush Summer Homes very nearby.
Stabilization and Restoration
Over the past year we have worked hard at restoring and stabilizing our beloved Breitenbush, including:
- Forest stewardship and management, alongside of the Oregon Department of Forestry
- Removing debris and clearing the land without taking the topsoil
- Milling wood from the fallen trees
- Planting native tree seedlings in our nursery
- Creating fire protection systems for the remaining buildings
- Restructuring operations to support guests with Covid-19 protocols
- Increasing camping opportunities by enlarging the camping space, creating more vehicle camping sites, and building glamping tents
- Repurposing buildings that survived the fire to be utilized for guest lodgings and massage therapy
- Crafting, reviewing, and vetting the 2022 - 2025 Business Plan
- Hiring key personnel
- Opening to guests slowly and gearing back up to 7 days a week
Beyond Rebuilding: Our Vision For the Future
In addition to physically rebuilding and restoring Breitenbush we aim to expand its vision to focus on the issues of our times including climate change and equity.
Click Here to learn about: The 4 Pillars Of Revisioning
