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2018-2022 Land Accomplishments
Thank you to the many donors, grantors, volunteers, co-workers, contractors, board members, committee members and collaborators who made all of this possible.
A Beautiful gift is given!
140 acres is donated to HNS! HNS receives property tax exemption and pays no property taxes while working towards the mission! The closing documents and transfer agreements protect both parties: A reversion clause is included to allow John Michael to revert the land back to himself, should HNS dissolve or try to sell the land without his consent. And HNS investments were protected as well, with a clear process to reimburse our investments, should the reversion be triggered due to the valid conditions. And so we got to work!
Whole Site Design Plan
10K Grant from Rotary Charities.
Land Clean Up!
HNS volunteers took part in MAJOR land clean up activities.
Timber Frame Barn Build!
167K, including a large grant from Rotary Charities, ample donations, and hundreds of hours of volunteer support, we completed the barn build!
Well Installation
10K Grant from Hagerty Insurance.
Commercial Driveway Permit
With an estimated 30K in Engineering fees, this was a very big undertaking to design a commercial access route that would pass through the county commission. But we finally accomplished this huge piece of the puzzle!
EQIP Grant Award!
$108,190.30 grant award!
Building Community and Partnerships!
Pre-Covid, we were offering 180 program days per year with class sizes between 18-32 kids. 30 perennial volunteers and 10 core staff, rocked out programs while also preparing to open our new home site at the HNS land.
Beyond covid, programs bounced back and in 2022 we had our biggest year in program revenue, ever! Broader community partnerships were flourishing with Seeds, Crosshatch, Title Track, the Optimist Club, The Homeschool Enrichment Network and the USDA.
Relationships with local grantors such as the Rotary, Impact 100 and Hagerty Insurance, were strengthening.
We were also a part of the world wide network of nature connection schools and organizations. We traveled to Vermont and New York for Art of Mentoring Trainings and for the Nature Connection Leadership Conferences multiple times.
Alot of really great work and momentum was building, despite the many challenges that are inherent in any great undertaking and that are also inherent, during this very special time in human history, as we collectively walk through, the turning of an age.
Beyond covid, programs bounced back and in 2022 we had our biggest year in program revenue, ever! Broader community partnerships were flourishing with Seeds, Crosshatch, Title Track, the Optimist Club, The Homeschool Enrichment Network and the USDA.
Relationships with local grantors such as the Rotary, Impact 100 and Hagerty Insurance, were strengthening.
We were also a part of the world wide network of nature connection schools and organizations. We traveled to Vermont and New York for Art of Mentoring Trainings and for the Nature Connection Leadership Conferences multiple times.
Alot of really great work and momentum was building, despite the many challenges that are inherent in any great undertaking and that are also inherent, during this very special time in human history, as we collectively walk through, the turning of an age.
Big Plans + Big Work = Big Rewards!
Founders Matt and Kriya have worked in connection with nature schools across the states and have learned from the successes and failures of other pioneers and friends in our field.
And one thing has been abundantly clear from our perspective: the only way to ensure a thriving and viable future for HNS is to create our own home for programs and gatherings at our own space. The years of effort we've collectively poured into this will easily be well worth it, once we succeed.
The public parks are a great way for nature schools to get started and are a great way to meet more people where they are at. But it also requires far more energy to navigate these public spaces. They limit programing (can't caretake, harvest wild foods, build fires or shelters etc. Gotta navigate roads and stranger danger and troublesome trash in the woods, can't create natural shelter spaces to navigate difficult weather. In short, each and every day presents its own unique challenges, that require a large amount of extra effort, that won't be required at our own home base.
We are also set up for financial success! Yes the road and the lodge will be costly. We had a capital campaign ready to go, we had strong relationships with grantors and with our own home base becoming operational, a whole new dimension of programming becomes available. We can offer new programs and create housing to better recruit and retain skilled staff. We can also sell fair market value, residential lots, and/or offer affordable housing opportunities, as a part of our already planned out cluster development, to raise capital for the bigger, upfront expenses, such as the road and the lodge. We have everything we needed to succeed!
And one thing has been abundantly clear from our perspective: the only way to ensure a thriving and viable future for HNS is to create our own home for programs and gatherings at our own space. The years of effort we've collectively poured into this will easily be well worth it, once we succeed.
The public parks are a great way for nature schools to get started and are a great way to meet more people where they are at. But it also requires far more energy to navigate these public spaces. They limit programing (can't caretake, harvest wild foods, build fires or shelters etc. Gotta navigate roads and stranger danger and troublesome trash in the woods, can't create natural shelter spaces to navigate difficult weather. In short, each and every day presents its own unique challenges, that require a large amount of extra effort, that won't be required at our own home base.
We are also set up for financial success! Yes the road and the lodge will be costly. We had a capital campaign ready to go, we had strong relationships with grantors and with our own home base becoming operational, a whole new dimension of programming becomes available. We can offer new programs and create housing to better recruit and retain skilled staff. We can also sell fair market value, residential lots, and/or offer affordable housing opportunities, as a part of our already planned out cluster development, to raise capital for the bigger, upfront expenses, such as the road and the lodge. We have everything we needed to succeed!
Community Survey
Results of community survey during whole site design, site plan!
Borealis Consulting
A deeper dive into understanding ecology and stewardship best practice
River Ecology Report
Professional surveys and recommendations for managing stream health.
In summary, by the end of 2022, everything the community had worked so hard on, for so many years, was about to finally pay off! The land was cleaned up. The barn was built, the well was in, we had $108,190.30 EQIP grants ready to act on, and the commercial road access plans were completed and ready for the approval process. Over 300K in assets and thousands of volunteer hours were ready to bare fruit.
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