Strengthening the Life Around Us

It is a beautiful morning. I leave the Community Center, warm cup of tea in hand. The sun is coming up over Mt. Tom. Sounds of happy, engaged children fill the air. Neighbors are working in the Community Garden, gathering for a bite to eat in the Treehouse Cafe, getting ready to help chop vegetables in the kitchen, and make their way around Treehouse Circle with Gram. A feeling of connection is in the air.

This has become a typical Saturday morning at Treehouse, an intergenerational village in western MA that was designed to suport the creation of lasting family and community connections for children who have experienced foster care. Treehouse Circle is home to a diverse group of thoughtful people, ages 1-85 years, who are striving to create a neighborhood experience that strenghthens the lives around them. When Treehouse opened in 2006 people did not know each other. Today, it is evident that important relationships have been formed among three generations. The Treehouse Approach has valuable lessons to teach us. As one visitor recently stated, "The magic of Treehouse is that it focuses on blessing life, helping people of all ages overcome what may be diminishing them, and restoring the goodness in each other."

It's true. We experience exceptional community connections being woven into the fabric of everyday life at Treehouse. It is demonstrated when elders offer writing workshops to children and adults, sew beautiful quilts for children, take kids to school, pick them up, give them rides to the libraty, offer to be their mentors, teach them how to cook, how to knit, how to bake, and host sleepovers. We see it when parents care about each other, cook together, laugh about their life experiences, and support each other through times of learning. It is evident when children engage with their peers and reach out to adults in the neighborhood.

As Rachel Naomi Remen says in her book, My Grandfather's Blessings, "...We all strenghten the life around us in ways that are uniquely our own. Sometimes we draw on our own life experiences and sometimes on the deepest instincts of our hearts. And, in the end, it may be simply our commitment alone...When someone's life matters deeply to us, the life in us may speak to the life in them directly and have a far greater healing effect than saying the right words..." This is what we are witnessing at Treehouse, and it is bringing joy and inspiration to our doors!

Judy Cockerton
Founder

Spring 2008 Newsletter (pdf)
Fall 2007 Newsletter (pdf)
Summer 2007 Newsletter (pdf)
Winter 2006 Newsletter (pdf)
Fall 2005 Newsletter (pdf)
Summer 2005 Newsletter (pdf)
Fall 2004 Newsletter (pdf)