Category: Governance

We’re a 501(c)(3)!!

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Big news for our little organization: last month we received a letter from the IRS confirming that we have been approved as a 501(c)(3) – a federal nonprofit organization.

We’re so proud of the work we’ve accomplished thus far and the unhoused people we’ve been able to help through food and care kits. Becoming a 501(c)(3) propels us into a new organizational phase – now we can work toward our penultimate goal of a permaculture village that offers housing, food, natural resources, employment, training, and so much more to all people: including formerly homeless. 

You might be asking the perfectly reasonable question: “why didn’t you start the site search earlier?” A simplified answer comes down to $$$. As a teensy statewide nonprofit, our annual budget could never have supported a down payment, let alone mortgage/construction and all the associated expenses. Becoming a 501(c)(3) drastically changes our financial possibilities. Donors can now make tax-deductible donations – good for you and great for us. We’re eligible for a massive amount of grant funding now too. We expect grants will hugely affect the quality of the site we’re able to purchase.

If you’d like to make a – tax deductible! – donation, you can do so here:

Want to donate your time or expertise instead? In-Kind Donations are just as valuable to us!! Please reach out if you’d like to donate your time to us. 

Since incorporating in 2017, we’ve been a Washington State Nonprofit Corporation, which verified our charity status and how income can and can’t be used. Taking the additional step (nay, leap) to becoming a 501(c)(3) first gives us an extra layer of legitimacy, as the IRS has strict and specific requirements for approval. It also opens innumerable doors towards achieving our mission and vision. In addition to grant funding and tax-deductible donations, we’re also able to pursue new opportunities like registering with Amazon Smile, leveraging social media fundraisers, or getting matching donations from large employers including Boeing and Microsoft.

Thanks for your support so far, and stay tuned for more details as we grow and change!

New Board Member: Michaella Woo

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We are excited to share that our Board of Directors continues to grow with the addition of Michaella Woo (she/her). Michaella was inducted at our Q3 meeting in 2021 as a General Board Member.

Michaella lives in Seattle, after moving back from Las Vegas in 2019. She obtained a Business Management degree from Western Washington University and currently works as a Program Manager for Amazon’s WW Customer Service Organization. She enjoys being active and spending time in the backcountry exploring nature and sharing those adventures on YouTube. Michaella is passionate about helping others grow personally and professionally, and spending time with family and friends.

You can learn more about Michaella on her Instagram or Youtube.

The Board of Directors accept rolling applications and review them as they are received. Our minimum number of Directors is 3, and we have no maximum number. If you are interested in volunteering your time on the Board, please Contact Us or fill out our Online Application.

Welcome Jenn Miranda to the Board!

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We are pleased to announce the addition of another voice to our Board of Directors: Jenn Miranda. Jenn was inducted at our Q1 meeting in 2021 as a General Board Member.

Jenn is an amateur farmer, plant lover, and mental wealth enthusiast. As a mindfulness mentor and certified yoga/meditation instructor, Jenn is on a mission to help others enhance the quality of their lives. Her passion for sustainability not only of the health and happiness of others but also of the planet are her driving force for being part of Revive EcoVillage.

You can learn more about Jenn on her Instagram or Website.

The Board of Directors accept rolling applications and review them as they are received. Our minimum number of Directors is 3, and we have no maximum number. If you are interested in volunteering your time on the Board, please Contact Us or fill out our Online Application.

Meet Revive EcoVillage

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The last year has been one of such growth for us! Our Board has grown, our purpose is renewed, and many big changes are coming: starting with our name.

The original name, The Landerholmstead, was dreamt up in a class at Bastyr University when I (Rebeccah) first started putting pen to paper regarding this unusual idea. I envisioned a self-sufficient farm with just my family, but the vision grew as I learned about permaculture and reflected on my deepest, sincerest wishes for our region. The marriage of a permaculture site and a charity tackling homelessness simply made sense. So I shared the idea, found support in those closest to me, and soon formed the Board of Directors.

Fast forward half a decade. As the business gained more support, I started to feel like the name was incongruent with our work… while catchy, straightforward, and of course a nod to my ancestors, the name was inherently ego-driven: one naming my family and making us seem like a central part of the organization. While I’ll always be the dreamer who came up with this plan, my hope for our organization is that we blossom into a force for positive change. We are not a private Foundation funded by my family; we are a state nonprofit (hopefully soon a federal one). Any focus on one individual or family isn’t consistent with what I want to help build.

While this idea milled around my head, I had a difficult but vital conversation with a number of Indigenous persons, where I learned that the word “homestead” itself can be harmful to them and their communities. The Homestead Act of 1862 gave stolen Indigenous land away to white farmers, and most of this land has never been returned to the communities that were forced off of it. This Act is just one example among many of atrocities towards Indigenous people associated with this word. That conversation sealed the deal for us – we needed a name change that would not trigger such harmful associations for Indigenous people.

The Board thoughtfully went through an evaluation process together where we considered dozens of options, variations, and phrases and how we perceived them individually or collectively. We settled on the name Revive EcoVillage, and we hope that it conveys the same sense of powerful hope to you as it did to us. Our name change must be filed with the state before it takes legal effect, and once we have that confirmation from the State of Washington you’ll be able to find it on our Public Documents page.

I’m proud to retire the name The Landerholmstead, which served us well in our beginning but no longer suits who we want to be. And as I alluded in the beginning of this post, this is just one of many major upheavals and announcements we’re excited to bring to the public in the coming months. Thank you for your support thus far and for continuing to join us on our journey!

Welcome Our New Board Member!

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Our ever-expanding Board has grown once more, and we are proud to welcome Jordyne Perry as a General Board Member. Learn about the entire Board of Directors here.

Jordyne Perry (General BOARD Member)

Jordyne is a Washingtonian, born and raised. She has worked with children since she was a child herself and feels that children are our greatest treasures. She also believes in fighting for social justice and there is no better place to start than with our children. She has worked in childcare for the last 10 years as a nanny, para educator and preschool teacher. She spends her free time with family and friends and spends hours online looking for dogs to adopt and speaking up for BIPOC.

Jordyne was voted in to the Board during our Q4 meeting October 14, 2020, and she will be inducted at our Q1 meeting in 2021.

Welcome Jordyne!

Board Applications are accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis. Please Apply Online or Contact Us for more information

Juneteenth / Black Lives Matter / Our Commitment to Equity

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On this Juneteenth, 2020, it feels especially important to write on our support of Black Lives Matter and the worldwide protests for racial equity. We are proud of our organization’s commitment to equity, but we simultaneously admit that we can always learn more and do better.

Here’s a quick snapshot of some things we are proud of:

  • One of our primary goals – Care of People. This means all people. Permaculture is most needed for the downtrodden. Our greatest impact will (hopefully) be on those who are most vulnerable.
  • Diversity of those we serve (people of color are disproportionately affected by homelessness)
  • Diversity of our leadership (including people of color, women, GLBTQ, and differently-abled)
  • Anti-Discrimination Declaration – this was created with our initial policies in 2016. It is a living document/work in progress that can always be improved, but it is foundational in our processes. When our policies are approved by the Board they will be published on our site: if you would like to read the Declaration in the meantime please Contact Us to receive a copy.
  • Indigenous leaders will be involved in our homestead development. Their history and representation will be woven into our design plans. We will pay “Real Rent” to the Duwamish people (assuming we are on Duwamish land) for the duration of our time on their land.

And here’s a snapshot of some ideas to help us better support our BIPOC community:

  • While our leadership is diverse, we can still improve. Roughly 70% of our Board identify as white, which is reflective of the demographic in Washington state (80% white). That being said, we can always diversify to strengthen and provide more perspectives. Indigenous representation in particular would be ideal and we will seek to expand in this direction.
  • The Board will discuss our support of Black Lives Matter at our Q2 meeting in July, with a focus on what more we can be doing. How can we further diversify? Should we create a committee to focus on this? Should we use consultants? 
  • I am committed to us finding a path for reparations within our policies. I do not know what this looks like yet, I just know that it is important and needed. The Board will weigh in on this and we will develop reparative justice policies as we continue to build our organizational framework. Reparations will be a part of our homestead from the start.

If you’re curious why (or concerned that) we haven’t spoken up specifically about Black Lives Matter before this moment, I will admit that I needed time – as a non-black person who is President of the Board – to find the right words. If you know me personally, you know I speak without abandon on my personal social media accounts, but speaking up on a business account is different. Yes, we stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, but what does that mean? What do we do that helps their cause? What do we have to learn? What do we need to do better? How do we speak up without our words being empty?

I must also acknowledge that as an aspiring 501(c)(3) we have to be careful about what we say: it is illegal for this kind of organization to speak out politically. We are not permitted to advocate for legislative measures or politicians that support Black Lives Matter’s agendas as that crosses into political territory. That being said, Black Lives Matter itself and the movement around it is not a political statement – it’s about people, equity, and justice.

By Rebeccah Landerholm

 

 

© THE LANDERHOLMSTEAD, 2020

Welcome our New Treasurer!

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We are pleased to announce that we are welcoming a new Treasurer to the Board: Mathew Martello. Learn about the entire Board of Directors here.

Mathew Martello, BS (Treasurer of the Board)

Matt lives in the Norristown, PA area. He graduated from Kutztown University in 2013 with a B.S. in Biology: Molecular/Micro/Cell and two Minors in Math and Biochemistry. Matt works as a Scientist testing Varicella Vaccines for Merck in West Point, PA. He loves math and science and tries to apply them in his everyday life. “There are so many amazing things that I enjoy in this world because of the science and math behind them.” In Matt’s free time he likes to exercise, travel, read, bartend, give back to the community, spend time with friends/family, and play chess. Matt was voted in to the Board during our Q2 meeting April 22, 2020, and he will be inducted at our Q3 meeting July 15, 2020.

Welcome Mathew!

While we have no open positions at the moment, Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Please Apply Online or Contact Us for more information.

© THE LANDERHOLMSTEAD, 2020

Happy 3rd Birthday, Landerholmstead!

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Our fledgling nonprofit turned 3 this month. WOW – where has the time gone?! Can we even call it a “fledgling” anymore…? It feels surreal to reflect on all that we have accomplished in our 3 short years, and even more to dream about the (hopefully many) years to come.

In the nonprofit world, of course, things move slowly. These first few years have been essential for establishing our infrastructure, and with much of this work done we are now able to focus significantly more energy on serving the homeless and making moves towards establishing our homestead.

Here are some highlights of our greatest accomplishments during our first years:

And, equally importantly, here are some important goals we hope to accomplish in the upcoming years:

It brings me comfort and pride to consider how methodically and responsibly we have run ourselves thus far, and I look forward to leading this organization into an exciting new chapter in our development.

Happy 3 Years to my fellow Landerholmstead volunteers, supporters, and beneficiaries! Thank you for your donated time and funds, encouragement, and – above all – for your strong belief in our Mission.

By Rebeccah Landerholm

© THE LANDERHOLMSTEAD, 2019

Finalized 2018 Board of Directors

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We recently inducted our final additions to the 2018 Board: Amelia Herbst and Nick Griffin. Learn about the entire Board of Directors here.

Amelia Herbst, MS, BS (General Board Member)

Amelia Herbst is a clinical psychology doctoral student living in Pennsylvania. Her work and research focuses on adolescent therapy, interpersonal violence, crisis intervention, and community mental health. She uses her work to advocate for mental health needs at the local and state levels. In Amelia’s free time, she enjoys podcasts, gaming, and spending time with friends and family. She was inducted to the Board in May 2018.

Nick Griffin, BA (Director of Membership)

Nick currently lives in Seattle, WA. After leaving active duty in the U.S. Marines in 2009, he studied Sociology at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA. He believes holistic approaches at the community level are key to solving much larger issues. Nick works as a Global Security and Intelligence professional and in his free time enjoys being in nature as much as possible. Nick was inducted into the board in May 2018.

In addition to welcoming Amelia and Nick to the Board, Oliver Smith (a Founder) voluntarily resigned from the Board to prevent any actual or implied conflict-of-interest with his wife, Rebeccah Landerholm, who is President of the Board. We are grateful for his contributions to our Incorporation and establishment, and he will continue to serve as an Officer and Manager of the corporation.

Welcome Amelia and Nick!

While we have no open positions at the moment, Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Please Apply Online or Contact Us for more information.

© THE LANDERHOLMSTEAD, 2018

New Board Inductees

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Last month, we inducted two of our new Board members: Julia Davis and Mya Kerner. Learn about the entire Board of Directors here.

 

Julia Davis, MSW, BSW (General Board Member) ~

Julia Davis currently resides in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania. Julia received both her Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Social Work from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. She is a community builder and advocate for our most vulnerable populations. In her free time Julia enjoys painting, seeking out new experiences, and spending time with family.  Julia was inducted to the Board in May 2018.

 

Mya Kerner, (General Board Member) ~

Originally from Philadelphia, PA, Mya Kerner is a multidisciplinary artist based in Seattle, WA. In 2011, she received a BFA in Interdisciplinary Sculpture and Environmental Design at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, MD. After moving to Seattle in 2015, she completed a Certificate in Holistic Landscape Design at Bastyr University in Kenmore, WA. Currently, Mya maintains a full-time studio practice in which she responds to her studies in permaculture and ecology. She also runs a small garden design business. Mya was inducted to the Board in May of 2018.

 

Welcome Julia and Mya!

 

While we have no open positions at the moment, Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Please Apply Online or Contact Us for more information.

© THE LANDERHOLMSTEAD, 2018