Who We Are
Our Mission
TreeSong is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering a deep connection to nature, community, and self while inspiring stewardship for the planet at large. Our nature awareness and arts programs offer a fertile ground to grow one’s sense of self, community-mindedness and environmental responsibility.
a 17-year dream
our story
For 17 years, TreeSong's founder, Michelle Fox, dreamt of a place where magical things could happen. This dream included a facility that hosted programs specifically designed to promote a positive and healthy connection to the earth and its inhabitants. In 2013, that dream came true and TreeSong became a reality. For the past ten years, TreeSong has been a place where meaningful bonds with others flourish, and rich relationships within one's self are nourished.
Where we’re going
Our Vision
We wish to create a nature education and retreat center dedicated to supporting deep appreciation and connection to nature while inspiring a deeper connection to oneself and the community. We believe that humans have a natural tendency to care for that which they know, understand, and are connected to. Programs offered will inspire stewardship and dedication to actively care for nature and our planet. In an over-culture permeated by disconnect, a return to our essence is called for. Naturalist John Muir shared, “The clearest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness.” Our planet needs people connected to the beauty of their own inner universe, and the myriad of blessings surrounding them in order to be effective leaders and stewards. Nature offers an amazing opportunity for re-connection and inspiration.
We provide programs for adults and children, with a focus on nature awareness for children. Additionally, we find value in creating opportunities designed specifically for families to foster the health and well-being of each individual and the larger family constellation. In all programs, we utilize a blend of wisdom traditions in addition to modern ecological understanding. We focus on nature as teacher, music and movement, storytelling, ceremony (such as rites of passage), wildlife education, and activities which enhance awareness (of self and surroundings) as well as wholeness.
Interlaced with the ongoing nature education programs will be opportunities for outside entities to utilize the space for classes, retreats and other various programs. Any outside program sponsored would ascribe to the general mission of supporting health and well-being, in this way offering a Center with integrity in its focus.
Our deepest desire is to inspire a deep connection with nature, community and self/soul within an atmosphere that supports reverence for and stewardship of the land.
What matters most
Our Values
Education
We value nature as our greatest teacher, and believe in the power of mentoring and inter-generational relationships.
Connection
We care for what we know, what we understand, and what we are connected to. Those who experience strong, healthy connection with self are our most effective leaders and stewards.
Rich connections to self, community, and nature support our holistic state of well-being.
We believe in the importance of strong, vital communities; the importance of belonging.
Inspiration
The beauty of nature inspires reconnection with our own essence. It awakens the senses, allows us to tap into what is sacred in all things, and experience our own connection to all we behold.
Toward Change
At the heart of TreeSong’s mission is the fostering of vital, healthy individuals and communities, as well as our belief in the intrinsic value and dignity of all beings. We see the need to take action to make this vision an embodied truth. The glaring reality of racial injustice is in the forefront right now, and is a potent reminder of the necessity to cultivate an organization, a community and a world that is rooted in anti-racist beliefs and actions. Black lives matter, and to be silent in the face of far-reaching inequities and atrocities is to be complicit.
Environmental education and the conservation movement have, historically, not been inclusive. We are looking to change that. We are creating our equity statement, we are looking to partner with other organizations who are committed to this work, we are listening with humility and with the understanding that we have much to learn. We are committed to doing our part in dismantling systemic racism. We invite your suggestions and involvement in this process.
We are committed to learning more about racism and allyship, and strongly encourage you to as well. Thanks to our friends from Audubon for compiling a list of anti-racist resources, and to the Innocence Project for this additional resource page.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It is important to remember the Indigenous Peoples on whose land TreeSong stands. We acknowledge the People of the Lower Columbia — including the Cowlitz, Watlala, Cathlascan, Skilloot and the many other bands of Chinookan speaking peoples who exercised stewardship over this beautiful and bountiful land along the Washougal and Columbia Rivers. We also honor their descendants, many of whom live in the present day communities of the Warm Springs, Grand Ronde, and Yakama Nations.