Hello Friends,

 

First, I’d like to thank you all for supporting me on my journey on Alone, Season 9! You have been my sacred witness, and I appreciate all of your kind words, smiles, hugs, and shout-outs! It was an epic journey, and I truly loved being out there. I gave my heart and my soul to that place in Labrador! It filled me up with inspiration and helped me to cross over into elderhood. It was a rite of passage for me, and I still have my walking stick (aka fishing pole) from the show! I feel that I’ve lived out that childhood dream from my 8-year-old self, and now I’m ready for my adult dream… to open a Wilderness School!

 

Early last spring, I purchased 13 acres of raw land in my hometown of Sandpoint, Idaho, by the skin of my teeth. My dream for many years has been to have my own wilderness school, and now I have a place to do it! Before purchasing the land, I sat with the old Cedars there. I said, “If you want me to be the one to tend to you, then I need help with the financial Gods to align with me, to make it happen. Well? It happened! I was able to complete the purchase. However, the reality is that I am 58 years old, and I do not have 30 more income-producing years to pay it off. There is also no infrastructure on site.  I am donating the yurt I have been living in for 20 years, to become the new indoor classroom.

 

This is where I am reaching out for your support and kindness in building this vision into reality.

 

The Sacred Cedars Wilderness School is nestled at the base of the Selkirk Mountains in Northern Idaho. The ancient cedars hold a magical aura about the land that we get to be stewards of. The intention of this school is to provide a place to hold workshops that include wilderness survival, how-to’s on primitive skills, and nature connection courses. Our focus is ultimately about how we live in respect and reciprocity with what the Earth provides. Workshops are conducted by top-notch instructors in the field. Sacred Cedars is also the home base for week-long, off-campus wilderness immersion programs. Classes vary for age groups and physical ability, so to provide something for everybody. When open to the public please come join us for our weekend classes or an immersion into the wilderness of the woods and discover the wildness in your soul.

 

Any amount of funds will help the school doors open! With this support, the goal is to launch the soft opening this fall of 2022 with the Grand opening by next year. I have a line of top-notch instructors ready to come to share their skills and many opportunities on the horizon!

 

It takes a village to create one. Thank you for your consideration and feel free to pass this along. 

 

Below are our necessary items to be transparent about where the money would be going.

 

• Gravel driveway and culvert installation

• Well for water

• School kitchen space

• Guest instructor or Elder guest room

• Tenting platforms· Yurt upgrades and new decking

• Storage shed for gear

• Cabana for central fire ring

• Outhouse and outdoor shower stalls

• County licenses and fees

• Land survey for lot line adjustment

• Rain collection system

• Small solar system

• Mortgage payments for the land

• Small Forest House for Karie Lee to live in