Where We've Been:

Orenda was founded in 1993 to umbrella our work in teaching Healing Art © to HIV and cancer patients. We also taught the developmentally disabled, youth at-risk, and other interested groups and individuals the practice of shamanic artmaking and many other forms of vibrational healing, including crystal healing, flower remedies, homeopathy, Reiki, and sound healing.

The needs of these young people, and our wish to help them, inspired the YouthSpace Project, which we designed and helped to manage-- collaborating with Nevada County Community Network, Silver Springs High School, the 3-R School, and other organizations in Nevada City, CA during the spring, summer and fall of 1996. YouthSpace was an attempt to provide a forum and online meeting ground for street kids and concerned adults in Nevada County.

Our most recent project, YouthSpace Santa Fe, included media arts training, computer programming and web page design, permaculture gardening, team-building outdoor activities, boys' and girls' support groups, and a weekly public radio talk show for teens and adults, "Millennium".

Where We're Going:

We began outreach to homeless families at the Elsa Segovia Center in Menlo Park, CA, in January 2005. Over the next several years we will be developing further outreach programs for teens and families in California and the Southwest. WeÊare currently designing Orenda Publishing, an online publishing business and website devoted to promoting the artwork and writings of talented young artists and authors, and will post updates on the progress of this project.

In addition, Orenda provides online or telephone consultations through Wholebeing© for individuals interested in vibrational healing, nutrition, and the spiritual roots of health and disease.