We were happy and surprised at the large, enthusiastic turnout at the community meeting Sunday. For those of you who weren’t able to attend, Gil described the property we are purchasing for the future “Insight Retreat Center.” He spoke about how, after 4 years of searching, we have finally found a property well suited for our vision of having a residential retreat center. Among the many positive aspects of this property is the very warm welcome we received when we met with the neighbors there.
We’ve just hired an architect to create the plans required by the county to get our use permit. Due to the county’s requirements, our escrow should take approximately 6 months.
The property sits on 2.8 acres in a semi-rural area. There are 16 bedrooms and 19 bathrooms, a great room, commercial kitchen, dining room, recreation room, a separate 1,000 sq ft modular home, and a large, 6000 sq. ft. undeveloped upstairs area.
We hope to be able to raise funds to convert the undeveloped upstairs into a meditation hall and additional bedrooms and to convert some of the larger existing bedrooms into smaller single occupancy bedrooms.
Our plans are to have private rooms for 40 retreatants and to hold 2-3 retreats each month, including one 7-14 days, and some for 2-5 days, with occasional longer retreats.
We will need to fundraise not only to renovate the property to suit our needs, but also to pay back a $300,000 loan for the purchase.
Any assistance with our fundraising efforts would be greatly appreciated!
Please visit our Website to:
- See a brief Video and Pictures
- Sign up for updates of our progress
- Volunteer
- Make a donation.
We are happy to feel your support and enthusiasm in helping develop this vision of the Insight Retreat Center.
With Appreciation,
Ines Freedman
Questions? Email: insightretreatcenter@gmail.com
Website: www.insightretreatcenter.org