From the fine folk at The Ojai Foundation…
In light of fund-raising challenges shared by other not-for-profit organizations throughout the Ojai Valley and across the country, The Ojai Foundation has laid off six staff members at the education/retreat center it has stewarded for 30 years. The temporary staff reduction coincides with the winter months, which are traditionally slow ones for programs at the 40-acre center in Upper Ojai.

“It was a difficult but necessary step in bringing our expenses into healthy alignment with our current income and to ensure future sustainability of the organization,” said President Laura Whitney. “Because much of our work is with schools, our programs and income have always been seasonal. It became clear that it made no sense to continue to pay a full staff during this time of relative quiet on the Land. None of our programs has been canceled or compromised.”
Indeed, weekly “council” listening circle programs created by The Ojai Foundation in more than 40 public and independent schools in Ventura and Los Angeles counties will continue unaffected, as will the organization’s work in Israel, Africa and Europe.
“I am strongly encouraged by the loyal support of our long-time donors,” said Executive Director William Perkins Tift. “While the size of individual donations is down, we are looking at ways to broaden our donor base and reach out to new friends for support. Along with our cost-cutting measures, this continued outreach is vital to our long-term sustainability.”
The organization’s Ojai “heartquarters” ended 2009 with three highly successful and fully booked events, including a weeklong intergenerational gathering with deep ecology pioneer Joanna Macy, a Winter Solstice Celebration attended by more that 200 people (most of them local) and a New Year’s ceremonial overnight. A team of board members and volunteers will steward the Land until full programming resumes in March.
As always, the public is invited to join sitting meditation in the Council House each morning from 7:30 to 8, and to enjoy the Land with a self-guided Gratitude Walk or other quiet activities.
“We are preparing for a full calendar of spring programs with hundreds of students coming up for rites-of-passage retreats,” Whitney said. The spectacular new Council House has become a vibrant venue for all kinds of gatherings and is available for rent. Other community-oriented activities funded by donations are planned for springtime as well.
The mission of The Ojai Foundation is “to strengthen individuals, families, schools and communities by teaching ways to listen and speak from the heart, to honor life’s passages and to appreciate our connection with nature—supporting the emergence of a compassionate, sustainable and peaceful world.”
For 30 years its semi-rustic education/retreat center has practiced as well as preached a sustainable, environmentally conscious, nature-focused lifestyle. Powered by solar energy; featuring a variety of structures that demonstrate earth-friendly building materials and techniques; following the principles of Permaculture, composting and recycling, the Foundation has always honored the gifts and challenges of each season.
“In nature, this season is a time of rest, of dormancy, of going inward to gestate what is to come forth in spring,” Whitney said. “In this mid-winter period we are gestating with great excitement and anticipation for what is to come. In many ways, The Ojai Foundation has never flourished as it is now. It will continue to be one of Ojai’s many treasures.”
To learn more, visit ojaifoundation.org, or join the mailing list to receive updates by emailing contact@ojaifoundation.org, or check out facebook.com/ojaifoundation or youtube.com/ojaifoundation to view a variety of short films about the organization’s work.