GOLDEN WILLOW RETREAT INC
PO Box 569 7 Callecita, Arroyo Hondo, NM 87513 goldenwillowretreat.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: Golden Willow Retreat is a non-profit organization that promotes healthy grieving by empowering people impacted by all forms of loss through theraputic programming and professional development.

Golden Willow Retreat offers various services aimed at dealing with trauma and loss, both in our community and nationally. Our vision is to create a world where grief is considered a normal, natural and healthy part of life and loss. Our aim is that not one individual feels that there is no- where for them to go and no one to reach out to in times of loss. With this vision always in mind, GWR staff and our founder, Dr. Ted Wiard work to assist people dealing with loss. Our clients come from all backgrounds and all parts of the community. Much of our focus recently has been on youth in our community. We do this work in concert with many of the local organizations in town including Rio Grande Counseling, Dream Tree Project and Help Outreach Taos (HOT). Some of this work focuses on issues faced by teens in todays high-tech, high- stress world, along with addressing the extreme high number of teen suicides in our community. GWRs easily accessible, nonjudgmental staff is available for youth to talk to at all times and spends time in schools during times of loss and crisis, ensuring that every young person has the needed resources to deal with grief. We work with sports teams and the student EQ groups yearly and lead open discussions about grief, loss and the challenges facing young people today. Since early 2019, GWR has spent many hours working with the Taos Ski Valley community in the wake of the January avalanche which killed two people and greatly affected many individuals who were on the scene. Dr. Wiard has held several community discussions and is working with individuals at TSV regularly to ensure the community there recovers from the tragedy. The second way GWR impacts the community is by organizing all the available resources and providers to come together at least twice a year to discuss the issues facing the community. GWR was a leader in organizing providers and outlets for patients when Tri-County Rehabilitation closed suddenly last year, leaving many of their patients with nowhere to turn for help. By bringing groups such as Non-Violence Works, HOT, local law enforcement and health care providers from across the community together, GWR was able to help the patients from Tri- County find assistance and to ensure that tasks were not being duplicated by the many groups trying to resolve the issues the closing caused. We continue to work on cooperation amongst non-profits and government entities, as well as to guide patients to the agency that will be most beneficial for them. With our partner, Rivera Family Funeral Homes, GWR hosts a free Grief Group weekly in Taos, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and recently in 2019, Los Alamos. People dealing with all types of loss, from divorce to the loss of a child, come to these groups to discuss what they are going through, giving them a safe place in which to share their grief. Last year 250 people attended these sessions in the different locations. Finally, GWR runs a retreat center in Arroyo Hondo, where people come from across the nation to dive deeply into their grief through intensive therapy and self care. This includes yoga, massage and spiritual healing. GWR retreat staff are fully engaged in helping people dealing with extreme loss, find a path to healing. Last year GWR Retreat hosted clients for a total of 159 nights. The retreat is the only part of GWRs services that are paid for by clients. Otherwise everything we do in the community is supported by individual donations and grants. In this request for funding we are seeking core support in order to be able to continue our work.

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