Couple bringing vision of connected community to life

The adage ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ rings true to many parents, but when Josh and Narelle Melnick became parents nine years ago, they wondered “where is the village?”

Narelle grew up in Seaford and met New York-born Josh when she was living in Los Angeles. The couple fell in love and started their family in LA. “It hit home very quickly after the birth of our son that we were doing this alone,” Narelle says. They went on to have two more children and felt there must be a more supported way to raise children. Narelle researched the post-partum time for new mothers in traditional cultures and communities and found there was another way.

Narelle is a yoga teacher and became a post-partum doula because of her own early experience of becoming a mother. “In traditional cultures the foundation of support during the post-partum time is the community,” she says. “New mums can’t get the required rest and be nourished and cared for without a community. Without it, dads become depleted too.”

Fast-forward to 2023 and Josh and Narelle have moved their family to what was once a meditation centre on Browns Rd in Boneo. The couple are bringing their vision of a connected community to life on their property and have called it The Revillaging Project.

Josh says: “The core of what we’re doing here is looking at the overlapping systems of sustainability. Often sustainability is segmented. Here we’re creating a small enough scale model where people can understand what true regenerative sustainability looks like for people and planet.”

The long-term plan will see a regenerative farm and farmgate operating. Currently The Revillaging Project is open to the public to attend classes such as yoga and breathwork, workshops and seasonal festivals. Their inaugural spring festival, held last year in collaboration with Living Culture and Little Folk Steiner, saw the community come together for a smoking ceremony, wellness workshops, conversations about sustainability, a puppet show for children, and of course good food, coffee, and music. “We’ll hold a festival at the start of each season, and hope it will be something that people really look forward to each season,” Josh says. Highlights on their workshop calendar for February include a world music concert and voice activation masterclass with touring Israeli songstress Sophia Tuv on February 5. There will be an African drum and dance extravaganza on February 10. For more details and to book tickets, visit www.revillaging.com.au