The School of Lost Borders, first and foremost, is fiercely dedicated to nature based learning. We believe, as you do, in the capacity wild spaces have to heal, to grow, and to inspire humans. Our work ripples outward through the direct impact that each participant experiences and the gifts that they bring back to their communities, as well as by seeding the world with trained guides who spread this important work in a variety of ways.  We witness you, each other, and the Earth benefiting from this practice and are fed in body and spirit. If only this was enough to live on!  Instead, we grapple with how to fairly and adequately serve our communities without sacrificing the well being and continuance of the organization. It’s a familiar story. But it’s our story, and it ends with “we need your help.”

Although we have continued to serve you with delight and awe, and have made great strides toward improving our financial situation, we are still recovering from the pandemic. The challenges and questions that we face as an organization are changing too - this year access to some of our most beloved sites in Death Valley were washed away in the unprecedented summer rains, and alongside so many other major climate shifts, we find ourselves asking where do we go from here?   This question not only applies to the physical landscapes that we work in, but also to the generational, cultural and political landscapes as well. It is not always an easy or simple question in an organization that has been around for over four decades, but we are committed to seeing it through as we adapt, find new ways, remember old ways, invite new voices, and listen for what is next.

So much has changed, and yet the hunger and the need for this work remain as strong as ever.

In 42 years we have never turned anyone away from a School program due to lack of funds, and we don’t plan to start now.  But as many of you already know, we can’t do it alone, and so we ask you to join with us again this season to help sustain our commitment to offer a space in these circles to anyone who needs some support to get there

We are pleased to share some milestones from this past year (2023):

• We ran 31 programs, serving 254 people.

• We onboarded 6 new next-generation guides.

• Successfully completed our second 18-month training program.

• Offered 3 programs to our LGBTQIA2S+ community.

• Hold a designated BIPOC Scholarship fund available for all programs

• The Practice of Living and Dying programs once again sold out immediately with a waitlist 3 times larger than prior years.

• Development of new upcoming programs for next year — including  2 new Men's programs, a 4 Shields of Dreaming program and a Nature of Council program.

• There is a huge demand for our month long training, which seeds more guides into the world.

Just a few of the ways your donations will support our work:

• Paying our staff and guides a living wage.

• Paying for the insurance and maintenance essential to the safety of our participants.

• Maintaining our scholarship program for low-income participants.

• Assisting in our efforts to develop a path for Black, Indigenous, and people of color to train as guides.

• Programming for our LGBTQIA2S+ communities.