Support Team 2009 Update!

As I say each year as an intro, for those who have never been to HeartLand, all of the buildings and locations on the property have names. It is a fun part of the whole experience at HeartLand. Stay in a cabin called Peace or Love or Harmony or Happiness, maybe work in the office called Grace or be part of the Support Team and live in the Treehouse

 (not really in a tree but is two stories) or Eternal Support. You will visit michael and jeanie in Heaven (their home) and see the bookstore called Blessings. Or visit Julie in Faith or Sandy in her new home called Gratitude. Attendees go to workshops, exercise and eat in the Heart Center. Come to an intensive or become part of our team and experience life in a whole new way.

michael and jeanie went on the road the end of October 2008 and did not return until June 2009. Moving from Takoma Park near Washington DC to Thanksgiving in St. Louis with Christa Joy. Then we headed west and stayed just one step in front of snow storms from a week of workshops in Salt Lake City, UT through the week in Coeur d’Alene, ID. But then in Portland, OR the storm caught up with us and the workshops were cancelled after the morning service and we were stuck for a couple of days waiting for the snow plow to clear our path out of town. We visited Khenpo Choga Rinpoche at his retreat center doing a 4 hour workshop for his students before heading towards Lake Havasu, NV. We spent the Christmas holidays with our boys, Michael Jay and Ryan, in NV before starting the New Year in Southern California.

We held workshops in many cities in California, from San Diego to Napa Valley. We also held a 5 series of workshops in Phoenix and spent time explaining true forgiveness to approximately 100 kids from 9 – 17 years old in the Pima County Juvenile Detention Center in Tucson, AZ. Then we held workshops in Las Vegas and Carson City, NV. In between all of this was a trip through Mexico and South America ending in Ft. Lauderdale, FL for a week of workshops before coming back to California. And we travelled to Alaska and Canada and then held two weeks of workshops (including a StillPoint Breathing workshop) in Seattle, WA. We also participated in the Humanity Unites Brilliance (HUB) conferences held in Phoenix, AZ, San Diego, CA and San Francisco, CA.

A lot of miles and this year we really did cover from one end of the US to the other, plus some.

Work month began full speed and we thank everyone who had a part…

Following the ice storm there was so much work to just get things cleaned up. Cutting wood, burning brush, racking leaves and sticks, hauling limbs to the side of the woods and so much more. There were holes in roofs and windows to be repaired, leaks everywhere, it looked like a war zone (cancel that thought) but by the time michael and jeanie arrived it was in awesome shape. Then the routine of opening all the buildings back up and preparing them for occupancy and general cleaning up, plumbing to be flushed and painting walls – inside and outside of cabins.

David heads up the HeartLand Support Team! It is a big task to keep up with all the projects and assign people to work on different things and maintain a balance of what needs to be done first. He performs his tasks with such love and integrity and supports us at every turn. David sees things that needs to be done and just does them. He also holds workshops locally and travels with michael when jeanie can’t be with him. Thank you for representing us so well when we are on the road!

Wanda spent a month on the Support Team and assisted in the major clean up and also in preparing the garden. Her contributions were “Love Made Visible” and we look forward to seeing her back for an intensive.

Mahsa, among the other regular clean-up chores, pressure washed the porches and the outside of the cabins and HeartCenter in preparation for painting.

The floor in the HeartCenter is beyond words. Terry, Justin and Jerry did lots of research and decided the best route was for us to tile the HeartCenter floor (we had to take out the carpet after the roof leaked during the winter storms). They opted for making the molds and pouring our own 18″ colored concrete tiles. Blue tiles like the ocean and a big red heart at the entrance door. Thank you Terry, Justin, Jerry, Masha and David for all your hard work. And Julie was cleaning and clearing and making it easier for the others to stay with the task of the floor and Sandy was cooking for the work team. Thank you for all you did. Billie and Lakshmi came for a couple of weeks and shared their skills in preparing the new floor in the Heart Center too. Wish they had stayed to experience the Intensive but maybe another time. Karen’s organizational skills were seen clearly when she finished in the kitchen of the HeartCenter

Jerry has also been a support with computer systems and online ideas. He also researches and then comes up with solutions to property issues. And advises from a legal point of view.

Julie again headed off the major task of weed wacking and raking the property before and during intensives. She assisted jeanie in the final touches to the cabins and washing up all the bedding. Karen also did weed wacking – this is an enormous job! thank you ladies for doing this.

Chuck, Jerry, Jim and James prepared the greenhouse and garden areas for cultivating. This was a giant task as the weeds take full possession of the land along with the rocks that seem to multiply from the ground faster than you can remove them. They took the starter plants from the greenhouse and got the planting started. Thanks again to Jack and Uta for their guidance and for supplying us with such awesome basil during the summer. Thanks to all who went to pick the Basil too. We ran into some “pump” problems and ordered in a new pump which then did not match what we needed so there have been watering issues at the top of the hill still to be overcome. Karen hoed potatoes and brought them down to store for later consumption. They had such awesome energy – they will be enjoyed fully! Mahsa assisted in the greenhouse as well as planting tomatoes and onions behind Eternal Support. Niousha assisted with editing DVDs as well as working around the property during her Work Support Program this summer. Mahsa was awesome helping us with the data base and new GoldMine and SQL and remote computering and lots of other computer stuff.

Thanks to Ari Budnick for traveling down here from Chicago to once again head up our kitchen and teach everyone about food. He is such a presence and holds such a space in the kitchen. His knowledge of food and his ability to teach others is priceless. Karen, Diane and Linda took over heading up the kitchen team after Ari left and have done marvelously. Thanks to everyone else who assisted in the kitchen this year.

Thanks to David, Jerry and Chuck for loading, unloading and fixing our van for travel.

Of course there are still other projects to be completed. Please consider attending Work Month 2010. Michael and Jeanie will be on the road during work month however the Support Team is here and prepared to lead the workshops each evening in our absence. The work goes on. See Schedule.

Besides Julie and David and Jerry who live here permanently at HeartLand, this year we have had so many people come and be part of the Support Team. Some are here for the entire summer and others were here for the 40 day WSP program. Thanks to everyone who has “touched” HeartLand to get us ready this year!

Then Jim and James purchased a home across the road from Heaven and moved here in January and Jane purchased the home directly behind Heaven and is moving in by the end of July. It really is becoming a community of like minds living and working together, processing together, holding the space for each other.

But there is still room for a few more to join us. See Support Team Super-Intensive for more details on extended programs. Any carpenter / builder / handyman or office types ready to take a year off from the world to have the most healing experience of your life?