We're Launched! Aletheia's 2018 Fundraising Season & How You Can Help...
| October 30, 2018 |
On Saturday, October 20th a group of Aletheia Stewards, community members, investors, old friends and new supporters all gathered at the Springs and joined in collective celebration, inquiry and prayer as we stoked the inner fire of our mission here at the Springs and blessed the beginning of our 2018 fundraising season.
First, a sincere and humble Thank You to all who came out to support and participate on this beautiful fall day! What a day it was. We enjoyed land tours, warm spring swims, incredible food (thanks to our amazing chef, Janne), and then delved into the alive questions, current goals and funding needs of our Aletheia project. And, of course, we soaked in the hot geothermal waters in the very first creekside Thermal Baths (some of us late into the night!).
Our funding goal is to raise/refinance $250K this year through private community investment loans and donations.
To meet this goal, we're currently seeking new Community Member Investors as well as Impact Investors for Aletheia Springs. (And we always greatly appreciate cash donations as well.) During our first three years of this project we welcomed on a total of twelve amazing Community Member Investors. We are now looking for an additional 3-6 new investors as we begin to chunk out our original owner-carries mortgage (a short-term and high-interest rate loan from the previous owner that allowed us to purchase the land at the end of 2015).
Read the details about our financial strategy & plan here, and also how you can be a part of making it happen.
Our "big hairy audacious goal" this year is that we find a private lender who will take over the majority, if not the entirety, of our $1M owner-carries mortgage. This would be so significantly valuable for the long-term sustainability of our Aletheia project that we would be able to offer an interest rate of between 2-4% with a negotiable term length, and we would also transfer the one and only lien that remains with the property to this new investor as an added security for their investment.
Beyond that, one of the most powerful financial ways that someone can support our project is through an Impact Investor loan. These $100K+ investment loans have negotiable terms and are a win-win that generates measurable beneficial social and ecological impact alongside a financial return that beats savings accounts and even matches U.S. Treasuries rates.
Community Member Investor loans are more for people who want to get involved or participate in the project. These loans are the same as Impact Investor loans except that the terms are 7 years at 2%, and they include what's called a Community Benefit Dividend, whereby all Community Member Investors are invited to participate in and benefit from shared resources of the Springs, including year-round access and stays on the land, as well as an invitation to join community practices, workshops and weekends, however much or little they may desire.
Restore The Springs Takes Flight...
The daylong on October 20th was also the private community launch event for our nonprofit initiative Restore The Springs, with its mission to restore the full, natural water cycle at the Springs, increase the vital health and habitat of Sonoma Creek, and to support the global regenerative water movement through site-based research and education. Currently we're beginning the planning phase of this project, consulting with various experts and researching various regenerative water management plans that could be a viable solution here. Read more about some of the preliminary work we've done so far in our recent project update, and stay tuned for more as we progress with Restore The Springs this coming winter and spring. (Restore The Springs is a fiscally-sponsored project under Inquiring Systems, Inc. a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Sonoma, CA.)
Thank you again to each of you for all your support, and to the many hands that will come, for allowing this vision to slowly and steadily blossom into reality and be our life's work. If you can only do one thing to support right now, please read and word-of-mouth share our Aletheia vision and current funding needs with your networked community via our website: www.AletheiaSprings.com. And please continuing bringing your powerful reflections, questions and living edges.
May we be successful! And may this project serve in the healing of water, ourselves, our culture and our biosphere. 🙏
The Aletheia Stewards at Morton's Warm Springs 1651 Warm Springs Road, Glen Ellen, CA 95442 c. (510) 366-5067 | www.AletheiaSprings.com www.MortonsWarmSprings.com
