The Mill - New Gates Mills Publication

Hello All

We are so excited to continue on this journey with a new community involved.  January marked the start of The Mill, our newest publication in the Chagrin Valley and our hope to help Gates Mills encourage community. The residents of Gates Mills have been wonderfully supportive and have seemed to embrace the publication.  We already have a resident staff writer in place, a couple group leaders taking over articles as well as a few amateur photographers submitting regular photographs.  We have been blessed to highlight some unbelievable people and stories and look forward to providing a place for the residents to share their lives.   

We have also felt such a great outpouring of support for Chrysalis!  Now no one in Gates Mills or Hunting Valley has stepped forward to join the Chrysalis team, but to be honest we haven't asked and aren't really ready to receive that type of help..  That said the publication is helping us continue to take steps towards our financial goals.  We still have a long way to go but our goals seem more reachable everyday.  We hope any resident who visit this blog and is encouraged to help us: find a home for our farm, knows someone we should meet or is wanting to join us please let us know.
dashers16@gmail.com 

Here is a breakdown from our last and first Board Meeting

Trish Campbell, a long time supporter of the Dashers6!, family friend as well as local business owner, mother of too many to count, wife and Hunting Valley resident  has come aboard as a board member!  We look forward to her strong voice and guidance.  She is a perfect fit and we know her wonderful spirit will guide us in excellence.

Staci Dasher has taken on the Secretary position and will serve as our Director of Women's Services. Staci kind and patient leadership is necessary to be the ballast stone keeping us stead and on course. We couldn't ask for a better voice as we move forward.

Shane Dasher will serve as the Board Chairman and Director of Operations.  As I write this know the title does not fit well on me yet.  I hope to continue to press on towards this huge vision with passion and hard work...all know that's what its going to take!

Currently we are still developing Phase One of the project.  This phase is designed to help us accuire all the resources necessary to start The Farm.  Our original timeline placed us on a 50-100 acre farm by the end of 2015.  We are still pressing on towards that goal.  We hope to reopen talks with local Land Conservancies as well as build relationship locally with other farms and organic food producers.  Remember our farm will be an Hierloom, Organic fully sustainable endeavor supplying our other business co-ops with food and material.  

Until next time have a wonderful rest of your winter...or summer for those below the equator and let us know about your lives!

 

Momentum Forward

We are so excited to take this huge step forward in our capital raising campaign.  As many might know the Dashers took a huge step of faith 2 years ago this January and waked away from a good job and home to find a way start this huge outreach to women in troubled pregnancy.  As the months passed and we seemed to be taking step after step backwards we are please to now say our momentum forward is promising.

This last March I was hired by N2, a wonderful company, to help publish community magazines/newsletters.  This decision brought us back home to Cleveland and we are proud to announce our first publication, The Valley.  All the profits to this project will donated...for now...to Chrysalis.  This January we will launch our second publication, The Mill, in neighboring Gates Mills and Chrysalis will take ownership of both.  This will enable our outreach to make it first big step towards The Farm element of the project.




That said, we have begun talks with the Western Reserve Land Conservancy about a long term managing lease.  This awesome organization is responsible for protecting thousands of arces in the Northeast Ohio region and are looking for qualified organizations to help with their hope.  I have informally made them aware of our desire to farm a parcel of land in accordance to their program.  An organic heirloom seasonal agricultural farm is the foundation of our Co-op and we would be honored to preserve a piece of our home's unique and precious landscape.


Please feel free to call or email us for further details or ask how you can help.  We are a long way off from the fulfillment of this huge hope but are still passionate about its purpose.  We are commited to seeing this through and hope to partner with Radical individuals who see it potential to changes lives.

Please email dashers16@gmail.com or call 541-517-3655 for questions on how to help.
Please email Staci Dasher at midwifemommy@gmail.com or call 541-517-4150 if you have questions regarding women's pregnancy or birthing services.

Back to Eden

One important phase we constantly use to help understand our hope is "We want to return to the Garden" As we continue to take step in understanding how to tell our story we are reminded of relationships placed in our path over the last 6 years.  One of those relationships was birthed on the same Sound I proposed to Staci...Squim, Washington.  My brother and his wife, introduced to midwifery by Staci, were looking for midwife while based at the Navel Base in Bermerton.  They became connected with Carol Gautschi, a nationally know midwife.  My wife assisted in that wonderful birth and later we were introduced to Carol's husband, Paul.  He was a pioneer we were drawn to.  Here is his story and one we hope to encourage within the Chrysalis Community.  His method of raising food will be the model we build our farm upon.

Please support his mission and watch this wonderful movie.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/04/26/back-to-eden-organic-gardening.aspx

Taking Small Steps

As we look to keep taking steps forward we have settled in the greater Knoxville area.  This are has been our own restoration head-quarters over the last 5 months and we have begun to move forward with a growing passion.  We are unsure if Knoxville or Maryville will be the home of Chrysalis but will continue to explore the region until this September.  We have met many people longing for a local organic CSA and there seems to be a growing movement or counter culture that is in line with our hope.  Our desire is to take the month of June to work with our dear friend Lisa Johnson and her unique business, StoryU. Her company helps others tell their story to aid in "Enrolling others to join your vision!"  We are very excited about this opportunity. We are still looking for unique partners in this huge endeavor and her help has already encouraged us greatly.  Please pass on our hope on to anyone you think might be lead to join us.  We need a community!

Like our little Cecily we feel the same...
taking small steps knowing we need help!

Looking For a Home

This journey began in January 2008.  What seemed too large to ever even begin to undertake has birth into Chrysalis.  This Non-profit is a developed community of self sustaining small businesses built on a common purpose.  Its goal, provide refuge, repair and restoration to women in crisis.  We can't do this alone and we are looking for the right community to adopt us.  We aren't looking to start a euphorian society or new age neighborhood.   The plan is to find an already functioning small town or community and transplant our hope into its daily routine.  We want to enhance the current economy with well run services and be encouraged by the already established businesses and local farms.  We desire our services to be embraced and used by not just our adopted but by the community that adopts us.  In fact, Chrysalis can not function without a local community as its heart and soul.

The foundation of this outreach is food.  We want to return to the small farm model and help provide fresh organic heirloom food to all who desire it.  This food will be the chain that links all our independent entities and hopefully provides the local community with new healthy nutritional choices.  Partnered with local farms and farmers we plan to simulate an old nutritional model and bring new purpose to the food we grow. Its through our food we hope to transform lives and the community we are adopted by. 

We look forward to launching this vision partnered with the right people and will keep looking till we find them.  If you happen to meet us and stumble to our blog, we hope you like what you see and contact us.  

Thanks 

The Dashers 6!

dashers16@gmail.com 

541-517-3655