A Time To Gather

The Power of Beloved Community

April 4 - 6, 2025

Grass Valley, CA | Haven Retreat Center


“Building community is to the collective as spiritual practice is to the individual.” 

~Grace Lee Boggs



“Our goal is to create a beloved community, and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.” 

~Martin Luther King, Jr.


As we navigate this challenging time of disruption and uncertainty, we need the power of beloved community more than ever: to provide care and mutual support; to grieve, heal and transform; to connect across our differences and stand in solidarity; to laugh, sing, move and find joy together; to deepen in our dreaming and collaboration on the path of building a loving, just and flourishing world. 


A Time To Gather is a weekend retreat for organizers, activists, healers, artists, community builders and other caring humans to find refuge in a space designed for connection, authenticity, support and the building of beloved community.  We will cultivate relational skills and our capacity for bridging and belonging to strengthen our relationships, social groups, workplaces, movement spaces, and society at large. As the spring season awakens, we will relish in its revival, allowing the natural beauty of Haven, the place where we will gather, to nourish our connection with the Earth and each other.

WEEKEND OBJECTIVES

Through experiential activities, group dialogue, personal reflection, ritual, embodiment practices, and creative expression, we will:

  • Deepen our sense of belonging and community.

  • Increase our capacity for connection and care through deep listening, attunement, empathy and vulnerability.

  • Cultivate emotional intelligence to more skillfully navigate difficult feelings, work with our triggers and response patterns, and create greater self-love and compassion.

  • Practice bridging across our many differences of backgrounds, identities, styles, and perspectives. 

  • Strengthen our capacity to show up as agents of healing and collective liberation in our world. 

  • Expand our ability to collaborate and co-create with others. 

  • Learn creative practices for self and community-care.

  • Grow meaningful relationships and beloved community.

  • Be inspired, uplifted & rejuvenated!

WHEN

2pm on Friday, April 4 , 2025 to 3pm on Sunday, April 6, 2025

(Note: If you are traveling from the Bay area, you will need to depart on Friday morning)


WHERE

Haven Retreat Center in Grass Valley, CA


CARPOOLS & TRAVEL

We will be arranging carpools from the Bay Area. If you will be flying in, Sacramento is the closest airport (1 hour away) or you can fly into the Bay Area and link up with carpools from there.


COST

            Cabin Rates: $500 - $700 sliding scale (UPDATE: Our Cabins are currently full for this retreat.)

            Bunkhouse Rates: $450 - $650 sliding scale 

            Camping Rates: $400 - $600 sliding scale

Cost includes materials, meals during the retreat, and overnight accommodations. It does not include transportation. 


Financial Assistance

Limited financial assistance is available. If you are interested in attending this weekend at a reduced cost, please complete that section of the application.



APPLY HERE

Space is limited so we recommend applying today. Please fill out the application form and a member of our team will follow up with you.

TESTIMONIALS FROM THRIVE RETREATS

“I felt allowed to be myself, to make mistakes, and to be held.”  


“What a TON of content, experience, and activity in such a short amount of time. I grew 10 years more enlightened in a single weekend!”  

“Every human who wants to thrive in the world should take this course. (That’s every human!)” 

“Incredibly well-thought out & high-quality...the facilitators embody warmth, inclusivity, love, and purpose. I am deeply grateful.”  

"This weekend exceeded all my expectations! The incredibly safe space the experienced facilitators created allowed us to show up as our full, authentic selves and to be celebrated. I am cherishing all the meaningful connections made and looking forward to continuing to deepen together. WE ARE UNSTOPPABLE!!"

OUR APPROACH

Our methodology is informed by a wide range of disciplines including social psychology, anti-oppression and liberation movements, community organizing, emotional intelligence, nonviolent communication, somatics, restorative justice, the arts and popular education. Our unique synthesis offers a holistic approach to unleashing the transformative power of community.

FACILITATION TEAM

Cherine Badawi designs and facilitates dynamic, experiential training and development programs that bring groups together in authentic, purposeful exchange. She works as a partner and consultant at The Longbridge Collective developing her clients’ capacities to negotiate difference, unleash greater creativity, and bolster collaboration and efficacy in the workplace. Cherine has worked in the for-profit, non-profit, government, and education sectors with clients along the spectrum from youth development to manufacturing to healthcare. She has a BA in Cultural Studies from UNC, Chapel Hill, and an MA in Peace and Conflict Studies from ICU in Tokyo. In 2005, she was awarded the Rotary World Peace Fellowship which supported her graduate work in Peace and Conflict Studies in Japan, where she researched the role of experiential diversity training and narrative on empathy.

Ann-Ellice Parker is a veteran activist in the movements for peace and social justice.  She is a former health educator, and non-profit trainer. Her background includes women’s reproductive health, HIV education, prevention, harm reduction and policy. She is the owner of Seasons of Change, an end-of life education and training company.  She believes compassion and empathy are important levers of social change, and that in our ability to recognize ourselves in one another, we lay the foundation for building the “beloved community."


Aryeh Shell works as a Community Engagement and Training Program Director with the Pachamama Alliance and is passionate about creating spaces to cultivate our embodiment, presence, attunement and resilience so that we can take effective action for our collective liberation. She holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations and an MA in Education: Equity and Social Justice. She is deeply trained in trauma resilience, somatics, equity, Theatre of the Oppressed and Joanna Macy’s Work that Reconnects with extensive experience in cultural activism and popular education. Aryeh has designed and facilitated transformational trainings, programs and creative projects for over a decade throughout the United States, Africa and Latin America.

ABOUT THRIVE

Thrive is a community, network and movement building Beloved Community for these times. We bring people together at the intersections of meaning, belonging, music, the arts and social change. Started in Oakland, CA as Thrive East Bay, we have also grown into the Thrive Network as we work to build a world of love and belonging where everyone thrives.


QUESTIONS & INQUIRIES

If you have any further questions or inquiries about the The Art of Community, please contact us at team@thrivenetwork.org.


APPLY HERE

Rooting in the Sacred

A Journey of Reverence & Reimagining

March 2025 - April 2026

Learn about our new online course Rooting in the Sacred, a yearlong intensive designed to guide seekers, dreamers, and changemakers on a deeply personal and collective journey into the emerging future of spirituality. Together, we will explore how wisdom traditions, contemporary practices, and our unique connection to the sacred can transform our lives and inspire positive social change.