| Hello everyone, I hope you have been staying cool in the summer heat! Remember to drink water and give yourself time to rest. HAUTISM: Hautism is an immersive retreat program for autistic women developed by Wilderwood Equine Therapy and Rescue. The upcoming session in late August will feature 6 presenters and a large variety of presentation topics. There will also be some filming done for Wilderwood’s documentary project about the experiences of autistic women. This documentary will likely come out sometime next year. It is possible we will run future Hautism sessions at Ocate Cliffs. OCATE CLIFFS: The state of Ocate Cliffs is currently in an uncertain transition period; we are considering changing the types of programs held at OC and the audiences we will serve. Due to the nature of nonprofit organizations being dependent on volunteers, we simply do not have enough hands available to keep ourselves afloat in our organizational model. More specifically, OC has been in a niche that is difficult to serve. We do not provide structured job training or “services” for disabled people. It is also not just a vacation place. Over time, we have had a variety of people involved in this project with various levels of complexity and goals. Some may find it hard for the system to serve them in any way, but don’t have the independence and privilege to advance in their lives otherwise. So, OC could serve as a last resort for some people who haven’t been able to figure out what else to do. This population group generally is unable to financially fund OC (which we have no problem with, but OC cannot be supported this way). They may additionally not be self-sufficient enough to help run the program, so they can’t be neatly on either side of the provider/consumer divide that our social services system is built on. There may be no model where OC can get funds to help those complex people in that middle ground, yet there are a lot of people in that category who need a way forward. That being said, we will do our best to keep Ocate Cliffs up and running for now, despite these difficulties. We appreciate your support and staying up-to-date. If you could share your thoughts, or spread our resource to people or other organizations you know, that would be appreciated! Also follow our Facebook page and Instagram at http://facebook.com/ocatecliffs and https://instagram.com/ocatecliffs – it really helps us get better well-known so we may continue programs at Ocate Cliffs! Stay tuned, Jeanie Vo, Board Member & Star Ford, Program Manager |
