Creating the Sanctuaries is my mission in life. They are low-cost, self sufficient, off grid, self improvement retreat centers for all ages. People can stay at them for as long as they like. They can pay via work exchange, money, or a combination of both. You can use the time and space to work on anything you'd like, within reason.
Eventually this page will be filled with articles and videos explaining the Sanctuaries in much greater detail. Since I only have a little more time to write today (June 15th 2025), I'll just give a brief outline so you get the gist -
Many people, myself included think, "Don't waste my time telling me how amazing something is going to be then tell me it costs a million dollars a day. It's some kind of retreat. I get it. Tell me the price before you go any farther." You can either pay roughly $35 a day, or you can pay $0 a day by working roughly 4 hours a day, 5 days a week. The work will include things like cooking, cleaning, farming, clerical work, maintenance and repairs, clothes making, pottery making, and various other jobs.
The Sanctuaries make their money by selling clothing, pottery, furniture, art, fruits and veggies, a few air bnb style cabins on other parts of the property, and donations.
Three meals a day, showers, clothes washers and driers, etc. All basic utilities and amenities included in every stay, regardless of length.
For more long term stays, advanced amenities such as access to community vehicles will be available.
It works like this:
People contact the retreat, explain what they'd like to do with their time there and how long they intend to stay. We run a background check on the person and, if all is good, they come out and enjoy the retreat.
While there, they get to create their own curriculum. The retreats will not always have teachers available for every possible thing people want to work on, so individual study is highly encouraged. People working on similar things are encouraged to form groups to share resources and info about what they're learning about.
The retreats are meant to be a highly customizable experience. Whatever structure they have will be created by the attendee. The only structure the retreats impose will be on people staying for a week or more - they'll need to have a 30 minute meeting, once a week, with an advisor, to make sure they are spending at least some time working on self-improvement stuff. It's largely the honor system.
Here are a few examples to clarify:
Shaina has been stressed and wants a peaceful place to rest and think about life for 5 days. So she signs up, goes, enjoys her time, heads back home with greater clarity.
James wants to lose weight, but he's been having trouble staying focused on his health. He believes he'd benefit from a healthier environment. He signs up for 2 weeks. He meets others there who are passionate about health, and starts creating new habits. He tells the staff he'd like to stay an extra week in order to really lock things in. He stays the extra week then goes home renewed.
Aubrey's been wrestling with some of life's big questions. They decide they want to be in a more peaceful environment, around other people also looking for answers. They sign up for 6 months. They go, and after 4 months they're feeling great with a new outlook on life, and they head back home.
Elisha is looking for a change of lifestyle. She's tired of the 9 to 5 grind and wants to live closer to nature and explore her passions and interests more. She signs up explaining a few different things she is interested in focusing on while she's there, and that she is uncertain how long she would like to stay, but possibly a few years. So she goes, and has a great time living closer to nature.
Layout of the land:
- 100 acres of land in a quiet, rural location.
- 50 of those acres are a food forest (a forest where every single tree, fruit, nut, plant, flower, herb, etc, are all edible or at least usable in some way).
- 3 main buildings: a residence hall, a classroom building with a cafeteria and a large rec room, and a workshop building.
- A well for water with water pump, large reservoir, and filtration system.
- Septic tank and/or gray water system.
- A big enough solar electric system to provide electricity for 50 people.
- Satellite internet.
- Flower and rock gardens, sculptures, statues, large water fountains.
- Nature trails with benches to rest on and outhouses throughout.
The Sanctuaries are my long term passion project / mission in life. It's likely going to be several more years before I've saved and raised enough money to buy the first property, hire contractors to build the first building, etc. I am in my TELL EVERYONE phase and hoping to find 3 things...
1. People who can give me advice and ideas on any aspect of the retreats.
2. People who tell me "You should talk to my friend ______, they know a lot about ______."
3. People who get the vision, support my work, and want to donate to help make it happen.
In time I'll be sharing more in-depth stuff. :)
If you've gotten to talk with me in person and already know more about it and want to donate - click here - patreon.com/zackslibrary/about
Thank you!
I hope you stay tuned!
~Zack