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Building Community through Youth Arts Education p.05 | New Website Curates Thirty Years of Integrative Cancer Care Experience p.06 | Supporting Caregivers So They Can Support Children p.08 Enriching the Lives of Chronically Ill Teenagers p.09 | Working to Reduce Breast Cancer Risks in California p.11 Power of Hope Bolinas Youth Camp 2018 p.12
COMMONWEAL Health & Healing ■■
Beyond Conventional Cancer Therapies (see p.06)
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Commonweal Cancer Help Program
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Commonweal Women’s Health Program (see p.11)
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Foundation for Embodied Medicine
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Healing Circles
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Global
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Houston, Texas
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Langley, Washington
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Healing Kitchens Institute
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Healing Yoga Foundation
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Natura Institute | Commonweal Garden
Education & the Arts ■■
Join Our Community! There are many ways to be a part of the Commonweal community, including joining our e-news lists to receive news and event information, making a donation, attending one of our New School or other program events, participating in one of the Collaborative for Health and the Environment calls, or volunteering your time and skills.
Check us out on Facebook @CommonwealCA for news and current updates on what’s happening at our site and in our programs.
Center for Creative Community
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Ecology of Awakening
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Power of Hope Youth Camp (see p.12)
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Taproot Gathering
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Gift of Compassion
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Integrative Law Institute
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The New School at Commonweal
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Regenerative Design Institute
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Visual Thinking Strategies (see p.05)
Environment & Justice ■■
Biomonitoring Resource Center
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Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE)
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Commonweal Juvenile Justice Program
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Health and Environment Action Research Team
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Program on Endocrine Disruption Strategies (PEDS)
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SafetyNEST Science
CO N TAC T U S Comments? Reactions? We’d love to hear from you. P.O. Box 316, Bolinas, CA 94924 www.commonweal.org commonweal@commonweal.org Phone: 415.868.0970 • Fax: 415.868.2230
Editors: Kyra Epstein and Diane Blacker • Design: Winking Fish Printed on 100% post consumer waste recycled and 100% chlorine-free processed paper with soy-based inks.
Twitter users: follow us @CommonwealCA
DEAR COMMONWEAL FRIENDS The Change has come. For four decades I’ve warned about The Change. But I didn’t call it The Change. I called it “the global problematique”—fancy words for all the vectors transforming the world and what it means to be human. Every summer, the West Coast burns. Every hurricane season, the South and East drown. Heat waves scorch the country. Financial systems, supply chains, and food security are beyond vulnerable. Three hundred people own more of the earth than three billion. And everywhere, the desperate in Global South are on the march to the Global North, pressing against hardening borders and rising fences. This is all part of the new normal. There is heroic work underway around the world. We can do powerful local work. We can change some policies. We can make a difference. But as far as I can see — and as far as many others can see — we can’t stop The Change. It is too comprehensive a set of interlocking phenomena. Perhaps, just perhaps, we can tilt the trajectory of The Change, though the complexity of the feedback loops make the outcome uncertain. Here’s what we can do. We can alter our relationship to The Change. That starts with recognizing that The Change is real. I recently held a New School conversation with Hammer Simwinga, founder of a project in Northern Zambia. Hammer is heroically saving villagers and elephants. He won a Goldman Environment Prize for his work. Hammer totally gets The Change. Alnoor Ladha lives in an activist community in Costa Rica. Alnoor guides a global network called The Rules focused on poverty, inequality, and climate change. Check him out. He is amazing. He gets The Change. James Thornton founded ClientEarth, a London-based environmental law firm. James is doing extraordinary legal work on behalf of the earth in the EU, Africa, and China. James profoundly gets The Change.
I can’t tell you what to do about The Change. The Change is too overwhelming for many people to think about. Some activist strategists complain that thinking about The Change won’t move the needle. I understand their critique. I’m not sure they are right. Some of us by temperament need to look into The Change. People like our friends at the Dark Mountain Project in the United Kingdom, the Post Carbon Institute in Oregon, the FAN initiative, and the Millennium Alliance for Humanity and the Biosphere in the Bay Area, the Transition Towns movement, and the Stockholm Resilience Centre. Most operate outside the boundaries of the corporate/media/ governmental/philanthropic consensus. The Stockholm Resilience Centre is the only one on this list with government support. The Swedes get The Change. The government tells all citizens to be prepared to be as self-reliant as possible for emergencies. The head of the American Red Cross seems to get The Change. She says Mormons are exemplary in their preparation for emergencies. The Brigadier General of the Army Corps of Engineers says the more prepared individuals and communities are to take care of themselves, the better. That’s the good thing about the frame of emergency planning. You don’t have to scare everyone with talk of The Change or civilizational collapse. You don’t even have to talk about climate change. It’s just common sense to prepare for emergencies. And its common sense that the more ways you are prepared, the better. If we’re prepared, we can do more to help our neighbors. We can step into the unknown with more compassion, more wisdom, and less fear. We’ll have more ability to do all we can to heal ourselves and to heal the earth. That is our mission at Commonweal. Courage, Michael Lerner President and Co-Founder, Commonweal
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F R O M O U R E X E C U T I V E D I R E C TO R Not many organizations have land that they can call home, like Commonweal. The land that makes up our campus, at the southern edge of Point Reyes National Seashore, is part of who we are, what we do, and why our retreat center can be such a powerful place. During the last 40 years, the Commonweal Retreat Center has hosted environmental health organizers and has been the vessel of transformation for people with cancer, a safe space for Bay Area teens, and a home for meditators, writers, doctors, and many others. Our sacred lands have been a critical part of Commonweal’s success and model—a model that sparked a global movement in healing, learning, and change. Like other retreat centers around the world that are located in converted farms, century-old resorts, or repurposed monasteries, we are part of a network of spiritual and physical homes for healing, civil rights, organizing, and creativity. These are spaces where like-minded people come together in meaningful ways, find one another, and create important connections; they are physical places where global movements can deepen and grow. Now, Commonweal is working with the Kirkridge Retreat and Study Center in Bangor, Pennsylvania, and the Fetzer Institute in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to gather the expertise and resources needed to make sure that this network of landmark retreat centers is preserved and available for generations to come. Many of these retreat centers are facing serious financial concerns and aging
The Bolinas coast from Commonweal’s Retreat Center. PHOTO: KYRA EPSTEIN
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building infrastructures. As part of this initiative, we will work with the directors of more than 40 retreat centers to learn, explore new business models, and exchange program ideas and best practices. Fetzer Institute Program Officer Michelle Schedit writes: “A key theme in this collaboration is the power of place. People who spend time in these sacred spaces often refer to the power of place and the transformative aspects of being in a particular physical location that has sacred qualities. Entering a space that is apart from the everyday and focused on spiritual work can transport us to a different way of being. For example, guests…often speak of feeling a special energy or a settling of the soul when they come to the Fetzer campus. Many retreat centers and their grounds are unique centers of spiritual energy, highlighted by the natural qualities of the location, the history of how the space has been used over time, the intentional cultivation of sacred hospitality by those working there, and the depth of presence that people bring as they come to the place to intentionally spend sacred time alone or with others.” This network will allow us to share expertise, learn from our peers, and explore how to bring successful center models to other communities—the way that the Commonweal Cancer Help Program has inspired programs at four other centers in the United States and abroad. Oren Slozberg Commonweal Executive Director
Visual Thinking Strategies
Building Community through Youth Arts Education Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) is a Commonweal program that brings together group conversation about art—facilitated conversations that engage participants to look carefully at works of art, talk about what they observe, back up their ideas with evidence, listen to and consider the views of others, and discuss many possible interpretations. VTS sparks interest in the arts and helps to build community and conflict resolution skills. In this letter, VTS-trained second grade teacher Joe Zimmer shares his experience using VTS in his classroom. I have the privilege of teaching second grade at Sherman Multicultural Arts School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Last year, my class consisted of 24 second graders who, unfortunately, like the vast majority of our students at Sherman, are considered to be living in poverty. These students face many challenges—inside the classroom and out—that can impede learning. VTS has enriched my students in a very real and documented way through exposure to and discussion of visual art.
of VTS encourage even the most reluctant student to share their ideas. Mariah is often misunderstood in terms of her speech and underestimated in terms of her intelligence. Through VTS, Mariah’s speech and understanding are rephrased and reflected back to her by the facilitator, validating her ideas in a more meaningful and authentic way than a nonspecific compliment ever could. By the end of the year, I could always count on Mariah to provide her insight into what was going on in the images we viewed.
Two of my students have made particular progress. These two could not be more different in terms of their strengths and weaknesses. We will call them Mariah and Isaac. Mariah has autism. Large groups are challenging for her because she can be overwhelmed by an excess of noise or commotion. Therefore, you might assume an activity that includes speaking in front of a large group of peers would be problematic for her; with VTS, however, just the opposite has proven to be true. Key elements
In contrast to Mariah, Isaac is an achiever for whom learning comes very easily. He is highly motivated, but shy. He is not the type of person who enjoys being singled out in front of others for his intelligence. As a result, he is hesitant to share in class. A key element of VTS facilitation, though, is for the teacher to remain open and accepting of all comments, not valuing one idea above another. VTS allowed Isaac to share his gifts without being singled out for his outstanding insights or for the detailed and compelling rationale he offered for his opinions. This resulted in an increase in his participation in all subject areas. In addition to these students, all the other students in my class have shown similar progress in their writing and their willingness and ability to share the reasons behind their opinions, which is a highly valuable skill. To sum up, VTS has become a vital part of my instruction. I am convinced it can work for all students. Joe Zimmer, Second Grade Teacher
This letter is an excerpt from a journal article that you can find on the VTS website: www.vtshome.org.
VTS reaches more than a million pre-K, elementary, and middle school students around the world.
Visual Thinking Strategies thanks Panta Rhea and Turnaround Arts for their generous funding.
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Beyond Conventional Cancer Therapies
New Website Curates Thirty Years of Integrative Cancer Care Experience Beyond Conventional Cancer Therapies (BCCT) began at lunch in New York City with my friend Lucy Waletzky, MD. Lucy has shared our interest in environmental health for decades. She also shares our interest in integrative cancer therapies. Lucy suddenly said, “what if we built a website that was a new version of your book Choices in Healing? It could be Choices in Healing 2.0.” Thus was born www.bcct.ngo.
BCCT, by contrast, focuses on how you can navigate most skillfully in the world of cancer therapies. We include the vertical dimension. But what differentiates BCCT from Healing Circles is our focus on the horizontal axis.
I was startled at the thought. I remembered what a monumental task it had been 25 years ago to research Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Cancer Therapies. MIT Press published the book—arguably the first book to bring integrative cancer therapies into the mainstream.
Building BCCT has been a monumental task. We have summaries of more than 80 natural products and therapies. We are starting to build out summaries of therapies for individual cancers, starting with breast, prostate, colon, and lung cancers.
I was also intrigued. Part of what kept me from completing a successor book was the enormous expansion of research and practice in integrative cancer therapies. A website would have at least a chance to stay current and to grow with the field.
to these many realms?” That is the question we have asked for 33 years in the Commonweal Cancer Help Program. Where do you stand between earth and sky? How will you spend this one precious life on the earth? Healing Circles is our effort to help people everywhere—not just people living with cancer—find their own answers to those inescapable life questions. Healing Circles focuses primarily on the vertical axis of the solar cross, the ancient shamanic questions of deep healing.
I use a solar cross to describe our work in cancer, healing, and personal growth. This most ancient symbol is a circle quadrisected by a cross. The vertical axis evokes our connection to earth and sky. The horizontal axis evokes our lives in the world we are given. Wisdom is our ability to navigate through the joys, sorrows, and challenges of our lives between earth and sky. Humility is the Socratic recognition that none of us are wise. Hakomi is a Hopi word meaning, “where do you stand in relation 6 C O M M O N W E A L December 2018
BCCT is the companion to our Healing Circles Global program, which helps locate or create high-quality, deep healing circles for those facing chronic or life-threatening experiences.
True, other websites address integrative cancer therapies. But the government-operated and major cancer center websites tend to be conservative. The websites of proponents often promise too much or have something to sell you. We try
to come right down the middle. We describe both the promise and the cautions of these therapies. We don’t sell you anything. We have no axe to grind for or against any of these therapies. When new information emerges, we have no trouble changing our minds. The BCCT website is necessarily complex. The subject is complex. We start with the basic lifestyle approaches that represent the true ground of deep healing—eating well, sleeping well, moving more, managing stress, creating a healing environment, finding meaning in your life, and sharing love and support. But then we move into the hundreds of natural products that people with cancer hear about. In a true innovation, we also discuss what we call ONCAs: off-label/overlooked and novel cancer approaches. Metformin, a diabetes drug, is a posterchild for ONCAs, but there are others as well. We include therapies that other sites may not mention: we look at psychedelics, cannabis, and holotrophic breath work, among others. We look at the uses of medical intuitives—and the significance of intuition of both patients and their caregivers. Finally, regarding cancer causation, we make the key link between our work in healing with cancer and our work in
environmental health on cancer causation. This link is important not just because prevention matters, but also because the science on environmental cancer risks can provide many hints for directions in healing with cancer or reducing the risk of recurrence.
Commonweal launched a new website October 1st — Beyond Conventional Cancer Therapies (BCCT) — that brings together our efforts to help integrate the best of conventional and complementary cancer therapies.
Lucy and I have been at work on BCCT for more than two years. Our active advisory board includes leading integrative oncologists and mainstream oncologists. Other BCCT team members include Laura Pole, RN, our senior researcher, an oncology nurse specialist I have worked with for over 20 years, who also works with our sister nonprofit Smith Center for Healing and the Arts in Washington, D.C., and Nancy Hepp, a science educator and BCCT coordinator and website manager. Shelia Opperman and Petra Martin have both made important contributions. Ruth Hennig joined BCCT on October 1 as senior staff. Ruth was executive director of the John Merck Fund in Boston for two decades and a close colleague in environmental health philanthropy. BCCT is for patients and those who care about them. It is also for practitioners—both experts in
integrative cancer therapies and those who want information about what their patients are doing. Our Healing Circles programs address the deep eternal questions of healing and growth. BCCT addresses our need to navigate conventional and complementary therapies in the everchanging world we live in. For deep intentional healing, we need both. Learn more at www.bcct.ngo. BCCT thanks Lucy Waletzky and Vicki and Roger Sant for their generous support, as well as others who are coming forward to sustain our work.
Michael Lerner, President and Co-Founder, Commonweal
Hakomi is a Hopi word meaning, “where do you stand in relation to these many realms?” That is the question we have asked for 33 years in the Commonweal Cancer Help Program. How will you spend this one precious life on the earth? C O M M O N W E A L December 2018 7
Kids and Caregivers
Supporting Caregivers So They Can Support Children Eleven million children in the United States live with chronic, painful, and disabling health conditions. The experience of living with a chronic illness results in stress and trauma that puts the entire family at risk for poor quality of life, diminished mental and physical health, and social isolation. A web of caregivers surrounds each child living with an illness: family members, providers, and friends. Few resources exist to support these caregivers—and yet caregiver wellness, health literacy, and navigation skills play a critical role in the health outcomes of children who are chronically ill. When my daughter was diagnosed with a chronic, incurable illness, we knew that our family would be changed forever. I looked for guidance. I needed to know everything—from how to keep my other child motivated in her routine, to getting my sick child into a clinical trial that might jeopardize normal developmental milestones. In my time of need, I could not find the resources I needed.
The challenges facing caregivers of children with life-limiting or potentially life-ending illnesses are profound. Families experience a seemingly endless re-orientation of healthcare and educational systems accompanied by financial constraints from missed work and increased medical expenses. Activities are disrupted. Families often feel isolated from social and professional peers, further limiting income and social opportunities. Most tragically, caregivers watch their child grapple with pain, discomfort, and missed childhood moments. With all that they do, caregivers themselves are at greater risk of developing health issues. Health risks associated with this form of caregiving range from weight gain and elevated blood pressure to anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Other research has identified that the cells of caregivers of chronically ill children age at a more rapid rate than their non-caregiving peers. Fortunately, other research has shown that mind-body and other wellness practices can mitigate, and even reverse, these kinds of health challenges and risks.
Kids and Caregivers (K&C) addresses the disparities in available resources for caregivers. K&C is premised on the idea that caregivers require a continuum of resources that promote wellness through caregiver circles. We partner with leaders in mind-body and integrative family medicine to create wellness activities and practices that are accessible, effective, and relevant. Our program goal is to help providers and caregivers work together to integrate best practices in caregiver support throughout the system of care: from hospital, to policy, to patient. We work with medical peer groups to improve communication skills, apply research, and increase access to information to create networks of care. We offer: ■■
Group texts alerting caregivers about regular and impromptu meetups at local hospitals.
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Mind-body health and wellness training through group and oneon-one coaching.
Left: Caregiver meet-up at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. Right: Kids and Caregivers provides resources to help a sick child’s web of caregivers integrate best practices in caregiver support.
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Trauma-informed advocacy models and activities to both prevent and mitigate medical trauma using mind-body and integrative medicine techniques. “Gratitool kits,” which use gratitude as a form of mindfulness and family resiliency practice. Collaborations with clinical research and patient advocacy groups to connect children with chronic and rare disease clinical trials and studies. Online groups to ensure that no caregiver is alone because of their geographic location.
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Web resources and guides for getting the most out of medical environments and procedures.
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Peer navigation programs and policies at medical centers.
In 2019, we hope to reach even more kids and caregivers. We are forming
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UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital – Chronic Illness Clinic Advisory
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UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital – Chronic Illness Clinic – Mental Health Working Group
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State of California’s Children’s Health Advisory Panel for Medicaid
new caregiver groups in partnership with specialty care services at University of California—San Francisco Benioff. We are putting new family education materials together, and we’re seeking funders to help translate our resources into other languages. We’re partnering with Commonweal’s Communitas program to provide caregiver activities in a retreat setting. New caregiver training will launch next year as well to teach even more families and providers how to take
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Center for Mind-Body Medicine
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Osher Center for Integrative Medicine – Volunteer Caregiver group facilitator
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Duke School of Integrative MedicineHealth Coaching Program
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Patient Center Outcomes Research Initiative
a trauma-informed approach to advocacy and wellness practices. Learn more at kidsandcaregivers.com. Kids and Caregivers thanks the individual donors who have provided generous support.
Nancy Netherland, Director, Kids and Caregivers
Communitas Health Retreat
Enriching the Lives of Chronically Ill Teenagers My path to the Communitas Health Retreat program began with the illness and death of my mother to cancer 20 years ago. Her illness led me to explore how families could experience illness as an opportunity—to enhance health, build resilience, and connect with each other. Within the shadow of illness, I found the potential for
positive transformation. I made it my life’s mission to work in ways that would honor the meaning I had found through illness and loss. My mother’s cancer also led me to Commonweal. Although my mother was unable to attend the Commonweal Cancer Help Program, I visited Commonweal and met
Michael Lerner. A seed was planted: someday I wanted to work with Commonweal. Many years later, after medical school and work in a practice, I founded Communitas Health, a 501c3 nonprofit organization. My goal was to create a retreat program for youth living with chronic illness and their
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continued caregivers that would offer a lived experience of practicing mind-body skills, healthy lifestyle modalities, and creative/reflective practices in a community of similar peers. I wanted to offer a rare opportunity for this underserved group of kids and caregivers—who are often lonely, hopeless, and homebound— to connect with others in similar situations to learn life- and healthenhancing practices, and to make meaning in community. This past June, a diverse group of nine teenagers came to the Commonweal Retreat Center to participate in the first Communitas Health Retreat. This retreat, a collaboration with Commonweal’s Power of Hope youth camp, Healing Kitchens Institute, and Kids and Caregivers program, was a sowing of that 20-year-old seed. Generous funding, organizational partnerships, and volunteer staff allowed us to offer the retreat to our participants at no cost. These mostly lower-income youth faced cancer, cystic fibrosis, spina bifida, autoimmune conditions, and chronic pain. There were many poignant moments for me: watching the summer solstice sunset over the Pacific Ocean inspire tears in our group; listening to
spontaneous ukulele jams at one of our music workshops; and witnessing our newly formed community support and encircle a mom who received a call from her child’s doctor regarding some upsetting health news. My hope is that the communities that experience these retreats not only feel empowered but also inspired to share their new perspectives. On the final day of the retreat, we had an emotional goodbye, but we all knew that something special had begun. Since the retreat, bonds have deepened in our community as the families continue to support each other through Commonweal’s Kids and Caregivers program founded by Nancy Netherland. The Communitas Health Retreat was the most profoundly satisfying professional experience and one of the most meaningful and magical experiences of my life. My hope is that, someday, all youth living with chronic and life-limiting illness and their families will have access to such an experience, regardless of their ability to pay. I hold deep gratitude for Commonweal’s support and for my mother’s inspiration.
Communitas teens, parents, and staff/volunteers.
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Teens explore nature and build a support community at the Communitas Health Retreat at Commonweal.
Find out more about our program, and view our retreat program video, at www.communitas-health.org. Communitas is grateful for funding from a generous donor who would like to remain anonymous.
Brittany Blockman, Founder and Director, Communitas
Commonweal Women’s Health Program
Working to Reduce Breast Cancer Risks in California Breast Cancer is a complex and devastating disease. In the United States, breast cancer has the highest mortality rate of any cancer in women between the ages of 20 and 59. Approximately 25,000 people in California are diagnosed each year. According to the American Cancer Society, eight out of ten women who are diagnosed with breast cancer do not have a family history of the disease. Why? What is causing this disease? And what can be done to prevent breast cancer before it starts?
stakeholders, including academics, government regulators, nonprofit organizations, and impacted communities, the Breast Cancer Plan will be a policy agenda to reduce breast cancer risk factors at a population-level in California. Many impacted communities already understand the need for systemic change. Core to our approach is the recognition that to live in a healthy society, we must address discrimination, racism, and disparities in power and access. In order to best understand how to do this, we have traveled across the state to conduct listening sessions where people in communities talk about their concerns and suggest interventions to fix these problems.
Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCPP), with leadership from Commonweal’s Women’s Health Program Director Heather Sarantis, is leading a cutting-edge effort to develop the Comprehensive Breast Cancer Primary Prevention Plan for California (Breast Cancer Plan). Since So far we have engaged more than 400 Heather Sarantis coordinates the 1998, the Centers for Disease Control people in the process: providing updates development of the Comprehensive has provided help in all 50 states, on the science of breast cancer risk and Breast Cancer Primary Prevention Plan for California for Breast Cancer the District of Columbia, six U.S. listening to ideas of what interventions Prevention Partners. Associated Pacific Islands and Puerto are most needed. Ultimately, the Breast Rico, and eight tribes or tribal organizations to create Cancer Plan will be a scientifically sound policy platform to and implement cancer plans. These plans generally focus reduce or eliminate breast cancer risks and promote healthy on early detection, treatment, and access to services. If activities. Our vision is an effective and practical breast they address prevention, it is limited to recommendations cancer prevention policy agenda for the state of California for an individual to change their lifestyle without that can be used as a model for other states and, ultimately, consideration of social, environmental, and situational the country. factors that enhance or limit individual efforts. Find out more at www.bcpp.org/our-work/policy-projects/ In contrast, The Breast Cancer Plan will focus on breast-cancer-plan. recommending interventions to create a healthier society. We believe it is time to stop blaming individuals for getting This project is funded by a grant from the California Breast cancer, and instead focus on systemic solutions to problems. Cancer Research Program. Instead of only recommending that a patient eat better food, we want to develop policies to convert “food deserts” into neighborhoods where healthy food is accessible and affordable. Instead of just suggesting more exercise, we need Heather Sarantis, to make sure that there are affordable, safe spaces where Director, people can walk, run, dance, do yoga, or take a Zumba class. Commonweal Women’s Health Program With a strong foundation of science and input from many C O M M O N W E A L December 2018 11
The Center for Creative Community
Power of Hope Bolinas Youth Camp 2018 In its fourth year at Commonweal, Power of Hope is a week-long summer camp for youth developed from the Creative Community model of Partners for Youth Empowerment, a global non-profit that has promoted youth agency through the arts for more than 20 years. Find out more about our camp at www.ccc-commonweal.org/power-of-hope/. The Power of Hope thanks Distracted Globe Foundation, Doune Fund, Germanacos Foundation, Muriel Murch Full Circle Endowment Fund, New Ground Fund of Marin Community Fund, Stinson-Bolinas Community Fund, Szekely Family Foundation, The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida, the West Marin Fund and many generous individual donors for their support.
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Your Support Keeps this Community Thriving These are unprecedented times. We all know that to be true. The fires, the floods, the droughts, the growing divide between wealth and poverty. We need to find a new way. Commonweal needs your help. For more than 42 years, your contributions have been the lifeblood of our work. You support many of our programs in part or entirely. Your donations have always been the glue that holds our work together. There are many ways you can support our work. You can give us precious “core” support. You can support the programs you care most about. You can send a check or donate online. We are especially grateful for monthly or quarterly support. That ongoing support helps us plan for the future.
We love creative contributions of real estate, cars and trucks, and other things of value you no longer need or want to put to good use. We are profoundly grateful when you include Commonweal in your estate plans—and are so grateful when families name Commonweal as a memorial donation option. I turn 75 in October. I hope for many more years of service. But what we are building together now is a community that will serve for many decades to come. Help us plan for 100 more years. We’re at almost forty-three years now. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you for being part of the Commonweal community, Michael
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W I T H G R AT I T U D E We express our deep gratitude to the following organizations that have supported Commonweal this year: A & A Fund ● Abundant Well Being ● Alberta S. Kimball – Mary L. Anhaltzer Foundation ● AmazonSmile Foundation American Endowment Foundation ● Annie E. Casey Foundation ● Applied Materials Foundation ● Bay Area Young Survivors ● Benevity Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation ● Bolinas People’s Store ● The California Endowment ● The California Wellness Foundation Canary Fund of RSF Social Finance ● Clover Stornetta Farms ● The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut ● Congregation Ner Shalom ● Distracted Globe Foundation ● Doune Fund ● Earl’s Organic Produce Fetzer Institute ● Fidelity Charitable ● The Germanacos Foundation ● Ger-Nis Culinary & Herb Center ● Globe Foundation Greater Houston Community Foundation ● Jenifer Altman Foundation ● Kenneth Rainin Foundation ● KIND Bars ● Las Baulines Nursery Llyod Symington Foundation ● Marin Community Foundation ● Marin Sun Farms ● Matthew London and Sylvia Wen Gaia Fund Mike Hudson Distributing ● Morning Glory Family Foundation ● Mount Zion Health Fund ● Muriel Murch Full Circle Endowment Fund New Ground Fund ● OMW Corporation ● Pacific Union ● Pan-O-Rama Bakery ● Panta Rhea Foundation Passport Foundation ● Pearlman Geller Family Foundation ● Phoebe Fund at Schwab Charitable Fund ● Rainbow Grocery Cooperative The Cynipid Fund, a Donor Advised Fund of Renaissance Charitable Foundation ● Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation ● Santa Fe Community Foundation ● The Savannah Community Foundation Schwab Charitable Fund ● Singer Philanthropy ● Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati ● St. Augustine’s in the Woods ● Star Route Farm Stinson/Bolinas Community Fund ● Straus Family Creamery ● Stupski Foundation ● Szekely Family Foundation The Boeing Company ● The Florence Nightingale Scholars FOI Fund ● Three Twins Ice Cream Wells Fargo Community Support Campaign ● West Marin Fund ● The Whitman Institute ● and several foundations that prefer anonymity
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We offer special thanks and gratitude to the following Commonweal Friends for their generous contributions of $100 and above during the last six months. A full list of all of our donors can be found on our website under “About Us.” (Donations received between 4/01/18 and 9/30/18)
Lynda Abdoo Kathryn Adams Timothy Adams Myn Nancy Adess Christine and Alexander Aghassipour Ken Alex Valerie Alt Benjamin Alan Anderson Meredith Anderson Susan Arndt Justine Auchincloss Cynthia Backer Kathy Baldanza Arlene Banks Carol Banquer Carl Belline Patricia Berkov Louise Berner-Holmberg Dana Biederman Ann Blake Daniel Blodgett Dianna Blom Nancy Boyce Dianne Bramwell Clayton Wayne Breckon Adrea Brier Sarah Livia Brightwood Alison Carlson Nelson Chan Chapman Family in memory of Jnani Jeffrey Chartrand David Cho Shelby Clark Mary Ann Cobb Bradley Coley John Colla-Negri Kate Coon Steve Costa and Kate Levinson Amanda Cruise Pamela Culp Barbara Cunningham Swami Dayananda Liz De Renzy Ann and Robert Debusk Nischala Devi and Bhaskar Deva
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Jerry Mander Ira and Barbara Marks Marsha Maslan Terri Mason William and Leslie Mayo-Smith John and Ramona Mays Khari McClelland Mary Lee McCune Lindsay McDonell Nancy McFadden Trust Betty Mekdeci Jenefer Merrill Maeve Metzger BJ Miller David Moerlein Thomas and Linda Moerlein Jill Moore Peter and Anna Marie Morton Harriet Moss Fitzhugh Mullan James Muller Robyn Muscardini Teresa Myers Carolyn North Jeannette Northern Angela Eunjin Oh and Ying Ming Tu Jo O’Malley Dimple Parmar John Patterson Eliza Perkins Julien Phillips Kirsten Pickard Ayn Plant Gary and Jean Pokorny Julie Portelli Simone Poutnik Theresa Prince William Prince James and Caren Quay Kay Quinn Susan Rafte Chad Raphael Danielle Rice Alice Rose Ruth Rosen
Eileen Rothhaas Maxwell Ryan Roger and Vicki Sant Lorna Sass Gretchen Schodde Paula Sheridan Xiaojuan Shu Molly Silverstein Jennifer Sivertson Jane and Don Slack Oren Slozberg Rheta Slozberg Carol Smith Douglas Smith Janet Sollod Trust David Spaw Frances Spivy-Weber Kathryn Stevens Jenepher Stowell Jamie Strateman Jeanne Strong Mark Switzer Wesley Tanaka Gregory Tarsy Susie Tompkins Buell Mary Evelyn Tucker Maria Valenti Wendy vanden Heuvel Acacia Warren Jill Weed Carolyn Weir Elizabeth West Sandra West Canon Western Ann Wiener Michael Witte and Barbara Kavanaugh Mardi Wood Carol Wuebker Meihong Xu and William N. Melton Joseph Yurso Patricia and Tom Zimmer and several anonymous donors
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From our Gallery Commonweal archives
MARK M GARRETT: LIGATURE / NEST August 3 – September 29, 2018
