Culminating with Gratitude & Grace

Dear WholeHeart Community,

Living wholeheartedly is a lifelong practice. Daily. How do we invite our hearts to have a voice in this face-paced, head-focused world? How do we invite the whole of each encounter and each relationship to be heard, seen, and valued? How do we cultivate a strong web - physically and relationally - knowing that we are all in this together?  

Over the past two years, the WholeHeart board and staff have been engaged in a strategic planning process, asking many questions to discern a sustainable way forward. Your support and presence have guided our care and discernment. Community members have recognized that it is “hard to do heart and soul work in a world that is looking for more bottom-line measurements.”  

Diligently assessing our program engagement trends and financial realities, the WholeHeart board of directors and staff have collectively come to the decision that we will be closing the nonprofit organization by the end of this fiscal year, June 30, 2025, with programmatic operations concluding in the spring.  

Three key factors have led us to this decision: 

  • Funding realities: Approximately two-thirds of WholeHeart’s budget are funded by grants and donations. Federal and state funds that assisted our operation post-pandemic have dried up. Donors who have historically supported WholeHeart’s work are stretched thin, often forced to choose between funding our programs or providing aid for basic human needs like housing, food insecurity, and disaster relief. These many factors make it difficult for WholeHeart to run a balanced budget beyond this fiscal year.   

  • Enrollment trends: Engagement in WholeHeart programs has declined over the past years despite a recent 12-month effort to rebrand, create membership offerings, improve program descriptions, launch new programs, and recruit new participants.

  • Lessons from nature:  There are natural cycles and seasons to everything, including organizations. Seeds of listening, connecting, and loving have been planted through WholeHeart and are taking root in the lives of community members. We wish to honor and support this natural flow, acknowledging that while WholeHeart in its nonprofit form may be ending, learning, community, and collective care can continue.

Culminating with Gratitude & Grace has been our intention and practice since the tough decision to close the non profit organization and focus our attention on connections that have been cultivated over the past 12 years.

During the fall season of harvest, we held in person and virtual circles to the community to cultivate their hearts and wholeness through a series of offerings. created to support the seeds of love within and around you as we celebrate what we’ve created together over more than a decade.

  • September 1 - The Weekly Oasis: Virtual 13-week program

  • October 10 - Poetry As Portal: Unlocking the Heart

    • In-person event with James Crews & Friends

    • Main Street Landing Performing Arts, Burlington, VT

  • November 12 - Vermont Courage Cohort

    • Information session: Sept. 4, 7-8:15 pm (register in advance)

    • Seasonal in-person retreats during Nov., Feb., and May

    • Hallelujah Farm, Chesterfield, NH

  • December 11 - Harvesting Wholeness

    • Virtual eve together on WholeHeart’s 11th birthday

  • January 17-19 - Living with Courage: Circle of Trust Retreat

    • In-person retreat at Hallelujah Farm, NH

  • February 10 - Valentines of Gratitude: From WholeHeart to You

    • 1,000 Love postcards were sent to the community to share with others in their lives to keep leading with love.

While the structure of the nonprofit organization is closing, living wholeheartedly continues. The seeds of wholeness and heart are growing inside each of us. This energy is greatly needed at this time. May we continue to connect - human to human - heart to heart and foster courage for the times at hand.  

We appreciate being in relationship with you.  There are two offerings that will continue to operate on a volunteer basis:

  • The Weekly Oasis - with a Monday email and at Thursday zoom call, now run by a community of 7 volunteer facilitators and tech support people. The doors are open to all for a place to show up as you can in community to restore bouyancy on a weekly basis. Please join in!

  • The Courage Cohort: is a three part retreat series that has been going for 25 years, based on the Center for Courage and Renewal’s Circles of Trust.

Thank you for your engagement, care and heart. It has been a tremendous 12 year journey and we appreciate everyone who made this

May the seeds of relational justice, listening and communal care keep weaving a grassroots world wide web of care and compassion.

With gratitude and love,

Holly Wilkinson, Executive Director
Marybeth Redmond, former Interim Co-Director
Cameron Russell, Board Chair
Danielle Oristian York, Board Treasurer
Drusilla Roessle, Board Secretary
Becca Bass, Board Member
Nanci Smith, Board Member
Marie Vea, Board Member