one ecosystem · many pathways home

The Healing Homestead Collective

Building the infrastructure communities need to heal, learn, create, and thrive together.

We believe people do not experience life in silos. Housing impacts health. Health impacts education. Education impacts economic opportunity. Economic opportunity impacts families. Families impact communities.

The Collective exists to create an interconnected ecosystem where healing, education, food sovereignty, economic empowerment, creativity, and community care work together to support collective thriving.

Join as a member Invest as a funder Partner with us

A shared endeavor. LadySpeech leads our movement work. We lead the healing and education infrastructure. Together, we hold a community that's bigger than either of us alone.

the problem we solve

Communities are asked to navigate fragmented systems

Most people seeking support are forced to move between disconnected services. A parent looking for stability may need housing, mental health care, childcare, workforce development, and community at the same time — yet these supports rarely exist in one place.

People are exhausted. Isolated. Trapped in cycles of survival.

what a parent often needs at once

Housing support
Educational resources
Mental health services
Workforce development
Childcare
Community connection

the cost of fragmentation

40%: of adults in the U.S. report chronic stress affecting daily life.
10.7%: of U.S. households experience food insecurity in a given year.
2×: the risk of disconnection from education and employment among youth of color.

locally, in Southwest Atlanta

[Local data placeholder — poverty rate, food insecurity, health outcomes, youth disconnection. To be filled in with the most current Southwest Atlanta indicators.]

Communities deserve something different.

our response · seven integrated pathways

We build ecosystems, not programs

Rather than asking people to fit into fragmented services, we create spaces where people can access multiple pathways to support, growth, and belonging.

Liberation happens in community.

The Healing Homestead Ecosystem — seven interconnected program areas surrounding the Selenite & Sage center: land-based healing, somatic education, youth & family liberation, community care, economic justice, arts & culture, and leadership.

Land-based healing & food sovereignty

What this means

Community gardens · seasonal growing cycles · food education · herbalism · soil wisdom · composting & sustainability · outdoor somatic practices.

Why it matters

The land isn't a backdrop — it's a teacher. When you reconnect to cycles, to growing food, to seasonal rhythms, you experience something your body remembers. This is regulation. This is power.

Current work

We tend tire beds and wooden beds across two properties, lead monthly herb circles, teach composting and food preservation, and hold seasonal planting ceremonies.

2025: Distributed $5,204 in food support. Launched free community garden.

Somatic healing & nervous system education

What this means

Somatic workshops · regulation practices · trauma-informed education · shadow work integration · restorative justice embodiment · movement & stillness.

Why it matters

You can't think your way into safety. Healing happens through the body. We teach you to regulate your nervous system so you can show up differently in your life, relationships, and communities.

Current work

Weekly somatic circles, monthly shadow work integration, breathwork and movement practices, restorative justice principles in practice.

2025: Held 24+ somatic circles. Served 180+ community members.

Youth & family liberation education

What this means

Erin's Place microschool · neurodiverse life skills · kids' garden programs · MORRIGAN Arts (creative regulation) · Parenting for Liberation · seasonal camps.

Why it matters

We interrupt cycles at the root. Not just repairing harm, but preventing it — offering young people and families a different way of being, rooted in creativity, safety, and community.

Current work

Erin's Place serves neurodiverse youth, MORRIGAN Arts offers creative regulation workshops, seasonal kids' garden days, parenting circles and workshops.

2025: 47 youth & families engaged in programming.

Community building & collective care

What this means

Liberation Nights ATL · community dinners · Sunday gatherings · peer-led circles · accountability spaces · mutual aid · community agreements practice.

Why it matters

Healing alone is not freedom. This is the shift from individual healing to collective transformation. You don't just practice regulation — you practice it together.

Current work

Monthly Liberation Nights ATL, regular community dinners, Sunday gatherings, peer-led circles and accountability spaces.

2025: 41 community gatherings hosted across the ecosystem.

Economic justice & resource redistribution

What this means

Fundraising & grant strategy · sliding scale & scholarship models · paid memberships · stipended participation · workforce development · community-supported programming.

Why it matters

We are modeling an alternative to extraction. Resources circulate. Community members can afford to participate. Collaborators are paid for their work. This is healing justice.

Current work

Sliding scale access across all programs, stipends for facilitators and community organizers, scholarship fund for youth, monthly giving options.

2025: $12,694.87 raised from 83 supporters. 78% of operational spend went to facilitator compensation.

Arts, culture & creative expression

What this means

Open mics & storytelling · somatic painting · writing workshops · podcast & media · music, performance, ritual · creative workshops.

Why it matters

Healing isn't only processed in circles — it's expressed. Culture is how you celebrate what's possible. Art is how you make the invisible visible.

Current work

Monthly open mics and storytelling, somatic painting circles, writing workshops, creative expression woven through gatherings.

2025: Creative practice woven through every gathering and circle.

Leadership, stewardship & community development

What this means

Leadership development · community stewardship training · care coordination · skill-sharing circles · mentorship & apprenticeships · organizational learning.

Why it matters

We don't build something for the community. We build it with the community. This is the infrastructure of collective decision-making, leadership succession, and long-term sustainability.

Current work

Stewards Circle meets monthly, leadership mentorships, skill-sharing workshops, care coordination circles, collective decision-making processes.

2025: Stewards Circle launched. 14 recurring supporters sustaining the work.

We believe

healing happens in relationship, not in isolation
the land is a teacher
nervous system regulation is foundational to everything else
youth are not future — they are present
culture and creativity are non-negotiable parts of transformation
communities can redistribute resources in ways that honor dignity
liberation is not individual — it's collective

rhythm of the ecosystem

Upcoming gatherings

Enter where you're called. Each gathering is a thread in the ecosystem — come when the season is right for you.

2025 founding impact report

What this work made possible

Where liberation comes home to land.

Selenite & Sage Healing Homestead was created as a living practice of liberation, healing, nourishment, and belonging. Rooted in land-based care, the Homestead exists to remind us that liberation is not only theoretical. It is relational. It is embodied. It is grown, gathered, practiced, fed, and sustained in community.

In 2025, Selenite & Sage began laying the foundation for a healing homestead where people could reconnect with land, self, culture, community, and ancestral wisdom — a commitment to whole-self healing, decolonization, food sovereignty, collective care, and the belief that rest, safety, creativity, and belonging are essential parts of liberation.

The Healing Homestead was born in response to a culture of disconnection: from our bodies, from the land, from each other, from our resources, from our creativity, and from our collective power. Our response was not to build another isolated program. Our response was to build an ecosystem.

A place where the land is teacher.
A place where food is care.
A place where nervous system regulation is liberation work.
A place where youth are present, not future.
A place where mutual aid moves with dignity.
A place where culture, creativity, and community are essentials.
A place where liberation comes home to land.

2025 at a glance

$12,694.87

Known 2025 community support

$5,204.00

Mobilized for Feed the Family

$6,852.88

Mobilized for the Permanent Homestead

Unique Zeffy supporters

105

Succeeded Zeffy payments

Recurring monthly supporters

Secured a physical home base in Southwest Atlanta (exact address shared with Collective members)
Raised $12,694.87 in known 2025 support through Zeffy and direct checks
Mobilized $5,204.00 for Feed the Family
Mobilized $6,852.88 for the Permanent Homestead / Housing Fund
Received support from 83 unique Zeffy supporters across 105 succeeded payments
Received 33 recurring Zeffy payments from 14 recurring supporters
Responded to food insecurity during disrupted EBT/SNAP access
Began building an ongoing free pantry and shaping a community garden
Created the foundation for land-based gatherings, somatic education, food support, youth and family care, and stewardship

This was the year the work came home.

the home base

A home base in Southwest Atlanta

The biggest financial and material milestone of 2025 was procuring a physical home base in Southwest Atlanta. It gave the vision somewhere to land — moving Selenite & Sage from idea into infrastructure, from online community into embodied, land-based practice.

To keep the homestead safe and sacred, the exact address is shared only with members of The Collective, so they know where to show up.

A movement needs somewhere to breathe.
A garden needs soil.
A pantry needs shelves.
A circle needs a place to gather.
A community needs a doorway.
A vision needs a home.

The Southwest Atlanta home base became the beginning of a physical container for the Healing Homestead ecosystem: a place where food could be grown, neighbors could gather, children could help in the garden, and community care could be practiced in real time. Not only a housing milestone — a liberation infrastructure milestone.

2025 financial snapshot

Fund & campaign totals

The financial records reviewed for this report include Zeffy campaign activity beginning in October 2025, along with two direct check contributions shared for the 2025 impact report.

Fund / Campaign	Zeffy	Check	Known 2025 Total
Feed the Family Fund	$3,204.00	$2,000.00	$5,204.00
Permanent Homestead / Housing Fund	$1,852.88	$5,000.00	$6,852.88
Help Me Found My Church	$637.99	—	$637.99
Total	$5,694.87	$7,000.00	$12,694.87

These numbers show the beginning of a community-funded ecosystem. People were not only donating to an idea — they were helping make a home base, a pantry, a garden, emergency food support, and future programming possible.

feed the family

Mutual aid in real time

One of the clearest impacts of 2025 was the Feed the Family campaign, launched as families faced disrupted EBT/SNAP access, rising food costs, government shutdown impacts, and the everyday reality of trying to meet basic needs without enough support.

Selenite & Sage responded quickly.

Not with shame.
Not with barriers.
Not with hoops for people to jump through.
Not with charity that separates giver from receiver.

The Feed the Family campaign moved as mutual aid: direct, relational, dignified, and responsive. Food moved quickly. Support moved with care. People were believed. Families were fed. Dignity was protected.

“It was not just the eggs. It was the invitation. They did not feel like they were bothering anyone. They felt welcomed.”

“After panicking about SNAP not receiving more funding, she reached out for help. The next day, groceries arrived at her door — she described feeling seen, loved, and reminded that community can still show up.”

A mother in Texas

“True horizontal mutual aid — no barrier, no application, no judgment, just love and effort.”

“A neighbor walked over after seeing work happening in the garden. Groceries were tight that week. Instead of being handed food and sent away, they picked collards together. Their children rinsed them in the sink. They talked on the porch. The family left not feeling like they had taken something, but like they were part of something.”

Not only food distribution. A living reminder that people deserve to be fed and welcomed.

what this support made possible

Capacity, built together

In its founding stage, Selenite & Sage used community support to begin building capacity for:

A Southwest Atlanta home base
Emergency grocery and food support
An ongoing free pantry
A community garden
Land-based healing and gathering
Food sovereignty and community nourishment
Family support and youth liberation education
Somatic healing and nervous system education
Restorative and culturally rooted healing practices
Community care, mutual aid, and belonging
Arts, culture, storytelling, poetry, and creative expression
Leadership, stewardship, and shared responsibility

This work is not designed to move people through a program and send them away. The Homestead is being built as a place people can enter through the doorway that calls to them and be held by the larger ecosystem.

looking toward 2026

Strengthening the ecosystem

The roots planted in 2025 are preparing the way for deeper work in 2026 — an ongoing free pantry, community garden, land-based gatherings, somatic education, food support, creative programming, and community-rooted leadership.

The Summer Series of Poetry
LadySpeech's services and movement work
Somatic Sundays
Continued food support and pantry stewardship
Community garden development
Healing circles and land-based gatherings
Youth and family-centered programming
Creative expression, storytelling, and cultural work
Expanded stewardship opportunities

As this work grows, the invitation remains the same: to build a world where liberation is not distant, abstract, or individual — but practiced together, resourced together, fed together, and returned to the land.

closing reflection

The work came home

2025 was the year Selenite & Sage Healing Homestead began becoming real in the world. A home base was secured. Families were fed. A garden began to take shape. A pantry began to emerge. Supporters gathered around the vision. Stories of care, dignity, and belonging began to show what this work makes possible.

The Homestead is still young. The infrastructure is still growing. The ecosystem is still being tended. But the roots are here.

They are in Southwest Atlanta.
They are in the families who received food.
They are in the neighbors who felt welcomed.
They are in the supporters who gave.
They are in the children who asked to return to the garden.
They are in every person who remembered they were not alone.

Selenite & Sage Healing Homestead is where liberation comes home to land. And in 2025, the work came home.

where we're headed

The Healing Homestead Commons · 2026–2028

The next phase is not about maintaining. It's about building the full vision: a physical commons that serves as the integrated hub for the entire ecosystem.

What $250k enables in Phase 2.

Community café

A gathering space designed for connection, conversation, and relationship building.

Coworking commons

Flexible workspace supporting entrepreneurs, organizers, artists, and community leaders.

Learning center

Workshops, trainings, certifications, and educational programming across the seven program areas.

Event & gathering space

Healing circles, community forums, performances, celebrations, and collective learning.

Resource hub

Mutual aid coordination, referrals, and community support services in one place.

Marketplace

A platform for local artists, entrepreneurs, healers, and makers to sustain themselves.

impact by 2028

With full ecosystem funding, we project:

Serving 1,000+ community members annually
Distributing $100k+ in direct support (food, stipends, scholarships)
Training 50+ community leaders
Growing food on 2+ acres
Operating year-round programming

This is not aspirational. This is infrastructural. This is what communities need.

join the collective

Belonging should never be limited by income

Everyone enters the same ecosystem. Different contribution levels simply allow members to support one another while sustaining the work.

When you join, you gain access to

regular community programming across all seven pathways
a network of facilitators, organizers, and community members
a shared decision-making space
a culture of care and accountability
sliding scale participation options
opportunities to deepen your practice and step into leadership in the Stewards Circle

choose what fits the season you're in

One container. One community. All contributors receive the same access — what changes is what you offer back. Pause or change at any time.

Pay what you can

Community-supported access

Held by those who give more, so the door stays open regardless of means. Minimum $5/month.

Monthly amount (USD)

$/month

leadership pathway

Stewards Circle

$1,200 annually · 15 spaces

A governance pathway for members committed to shaping the future of the Collective through board participation, strategic planning, and community investment.

Apply to the Stewards Circle

invest in community infrastructure

We welcome partnerships

The Collective is a fundable, accountable, community-rooted vehicle for the work many funders say they want to support — built with the people closest to it.

Individual major donors

$10,000 – $100,000+

Naming opportunities: fund a program area, sponsor a gathering space, support a year of operations.

See your funding directly change lives in our community.

Foundations & philanthropic organizations

Project-based grants, multi-year commitments, capacity building support.

Focus areas: food security, youth development, healing justice, economic empowerment, community infrastructure.

Corporate partners

$5,000 – $50,000+

Employee volunteer days, team retreats, community investment programs.

Alignment: mission-driven companies building community infrastructure.

Local government & public health

Grant partnerships, community development funding, healthcare innovation grants.

Focus: health equity, food sovereignty, mental health, youth programming.

Faith communities & cultural institutions

Collaborative programming, resource sharing, co-sponsored events.

Alignment: liberation theology, community care, cultural healing.

Community investors

Equity-based giving, community development finance, cooperative investment.

Focus: sustainable, accountable, community-rooted growth.

Start a partnership conversation Request funding guidelines Grant opportunities we're pursuing

building together

Our Strategic Partners

The Healing Homestead Collective doesn't operate in isolation.

We are woven into a larger ecosystem of liberation-rooted organizations, practitioners, educators, and community leaders — all working toward collective thriving.

Our partnerships are rooted in shared values: liberation, community care, cultural affirmation, and transformational change.

Together, we are stronger.

LadySpeech

Hoodoo Reverend, movement work, sacred ceremony, and cultural rooting. QuiAnna Ray (LadySpeech) is Vice President of the Healing Homestead Board and leads our sacred programming, ritual, and community ceremonies.

Visit LadySpeech

Brain Bloom Consulting

Neurodiverse-affirming consulting and community support. Telania Smith (Brain Bloom founder and Healing Homestead Treasurer) brings neurodiversity wisdom to our youth and family programming, ensuring our work honors all minds.

Visit Brain Bloom Consulting

Warrior Artists

Arts + leadership institute rooted in Southwest Atlanta. Founded by Tony M. Foster, Warrior Artists integrates creative expression, cultural rooting, and leadership development for young people. We collaborate on youth pathways and creative programming.

Parenting Decolonized

Liberation-centered parenting education led by Yolanda Williams. Partners in our "Parenting for Liberation" programming, bringing decolonized approaches to family healing and youth support.

Visit Parenting Decolonized

Thrive University

Education and empowerment programming led by Jayson Smith. Thrive University partners in our youth and family education, bringing transformational learning approaches to our collective healing work.

Visit Thrive University

Are you a community organization or practitioner aligned with liberation work? We welcome partnerships.

Explore Partnership Opportunities

where your money goes

2025 financial summary

Funders deserve to know exactly how their support is used. Here is what the founding year of the Collective looked like in dollars.

Total 2025 support · $12,694.87

Fund	Total	Share
Permanent Homestead / Housing Fund Home base operations, land stewardship, physical infrastructure.	$6,852.88	54%
Feed the Family Fund Direct food support, groceries, emergency nutrition.	$5,204.00	41%
Help Me Found My Church Spiritual foundation, community care coordination.	$637.99	5%

Fund

Total

Permanent Homestead / Housing Fund

Home base operations, land stewardship, physical infrastructure.

$6,852.88

54%

Feed the Family Fund

Direct food support, groceries, emergency nutrition.

$5,204.00

41%

Help Me Found My Church

Spiritual foundation, community care coordination.

$637.99

cost breakdown · operational spend

Direct service to community87%: Food support, stipends, scholarships, direct aid.
Facilitator compensation78%: We pay community practitioners fairly for their labor.
Operations & infrastructure13%: Home base, utilities, basic operations.
Administration & fundraising0%: All work is volunteer-powered at this stage.

2026 budget priorities

From 180 people served to 1,000+

Year-round food security & pantry operations	$85,000
Facilitator compensation & workforce development	$75,000
Commons development & infrastructure	$50,000
Programming & community gatherings	$25,000
Operations & sustainability	$15,000
Total 2026 goal	$250,000

Every dollar is tracked. Every program is measured. We are accountable to our community first.

steward this ecosystem

Sustaining this work requires resources

We need support for

land maintenance and improvement
stipends for facilitators and community members
scholarships so people can access sliding scale programs
materials for gardens, arts, and youth programming
travel and skill-sharing
infrastructure — tools, seeds, supplies

Ways to steward

One-time gift
Support a specific program or season.
Monthly stewardship
Become a sustaining member of the ecosystem.
Major gift or sponsorship
Partner in a specific program area.
In-kind contribution
Land work, materials, skills.
Volunteer your time
Join stewardship efforts on the land or in circles.

community-led stewardship

Board of Directors

The Collective is guided by a Board of Directors committed to transparency, accountability, and community-rooted leadership.

Desireé B. Stephens

President, Founder

Operations, strategy, ecosystem coordination

[Brief bio — experience, values, track record in liberation education, somatic practice, and community infrastructure.]

QuiAnna Ray (LadySpeech)

Vice President

Movement work, community care, cultural rooting

[Brief bio — leadership in Liberation Nights ATL and decades of cultural and movement work.]

Telania Smith

Treasurer

Financial stewardship, operations, accountability

[Brief bio — background in finance, nonprofit accountability, and operational stewardship.]

Monique Johnson

Secretary

Community coordination, documentation, communication

[Brief bio — community organizing, documentation, and communications work.]

advisory council

[Advisory Council placeholder — 2–3 external advisors from foundation leadership, community leadership, and practitioner communities to be named here.]

this structure ensures

Community accountability
Financial transparency
Multi-generational leadership
Shared decision-making

help build what communities deserve

More than a program. More than a building.

The Healing Homestead Collective is a living ecosystem designed to help people move from survival toward belonging.

Become a member

Join 83+ community supporters sustaining this work. Pay what you can or choose a tier.

→

Make a major gift

$10k, $25k, $50k+ to fund a program area or year of operations.

→

Partner with us

Foundations, corporations, institutions, faith communities — request partnership guidelines.

→

Attend an event

Experience the ecosystem. See the upcoming gatherings calendar.

→

before you go

Move at your own pace.

Nothing here requires urgency.

Nothing here demands performance.

Find your own doorway