Heartfire Gatherings
Through Heartfire Gatherings, Reunion creates restorative pathways before incarceration ever begins. By reconnecting at-risk youth with nature and surrounding them with mentors, circle talks and heartfire community, we break cycles of harm and plant seeds of resilience, belonging, and hope.
Heartfire Gatherings are camping trips on private land in the Western Catskills, set over a long weekend. Gatherings are a healing, exploratory, and transformative experience for 5-10 participants traveling up from New York City, as well as for the surrounding community of volunteers. Most participants are impacted by poverty, trauma, injustice, or the carceral system, and for many, the Gathering will be their first experience spending extended time in nature. For some, it may be their first time leaving New York City. Participants will be greeted, guided, and supported by hosts, mentors, community members also traveling from New York City, and community attending locally from the Western Catskills to co-create an environment built from joy, discovery, and restoration.
Why are those in the most pain provided the least space to heal?
The U.S. justice system waits until youth are behind bars to start intervening.
The cycle of harm begins long before incarceration – in neighborhoods where trauma goes unaddressed and horizons feel small.
Most interventions arrive too late. The deeper need is preventative: to show young people a different path before cycles repeat. When that path isn’t offered, the outcomes become predictable – in some states, 80% of incarcerated youth are rearrested within three years.
Nature is one of the most powerful and abundant healers we have. Yet the youth most in need of its restorative power – those carrying the weight of trauma and limited opportunity – are the least likely to experience it. Black and brown communities are nearly three times more likely to live in nature-deprived environments, surrounded by concrete instead of trees.
Why are those in the most pain given the least space to heal?
Studies extensively demonstrate the necessity of being in nature.
Studies have found that time spent in nature:
“Can lower blood pressure and stress hormone levels, reduce nervous system arousal, enhance immune system function, increase self-esteem, reduce anxiety, and improve mood. Attention Deficit Disorder and aggression lessen in natural environments, which also help speed the rate of healing. In a recent study, psychiatric unit researchers found that being in nature reduced feelings of isolation, promoted calm, and lifted mood among patients.”
Nature’s Impact on Health and Wellbeing
Exposure to nature is a “have-to-have”
There have been around 1,000 studies that focus on the health benefits of being in nature, and they all point in one direction: Nature is not only nice to have, but it’s a have-to-have for physical health and cognitive functioning.”
Exposure to nature in childhood acts as a buffer to adverse childhood experience or traumatic events, with the potential to impact a child as strongly as a connection to a supportive family member or a sense of belonging in school.
Background Paper
to understand how increased access to natural spaces reduces the risk of incarceration and recidivism, and interrupts cycles of violence and trauma.
Curious to learn more? Read our
or continue below to learn more about what are doing to increase access to outdoor healing environments for those who need it most.
Our Solution
is a celebration of interdependence
Impact
heartfire gatherings:
Prevent and Interrupt the Carceral Cycle
Provide healing, restorative, and transformational safe spaces in nature for individuals, families, and groups who have suffered from the impacts of trauma, with particular emphasis on those who are justice-impacted, or reside in a justice-impacted household or community; and
Foster connections between impacted individuals and mentors, community, and natural settings that stand in contrast to daily lived-experience and promote personal growth, development, and opportunity.
Increase Outdoor Access and Combat Racial Disparities in Natural Spaces
Increase access to the outdoors among New York City’s underserved communities;
Combat racial disparities in access to the outdoors, natural settings and forested or agricultural environments more broadly;
Instill and expand environmental awareness, enthusiasm and competency through education and essential skills training and programming;
Center an understanding of the interdependence between humans and the natural environment, informed by an indigenous worldview and perspectives; and
Create opportunities for collaboration and lasting connection between siloed rural and urban community members.
Reunion offers preventative healing before incarceration ever begins, leaving participants with resilience, lasting mentor bonds, and the tools to imagine a hopeful future – reducing the likelihood of offending or reoffending.
At Reunion, deep healing requires more than time away – it requires environments intentionally designed to restore away from the places where trauma was experienced. That’s why each Heartfire Gathering is built around three core healing environments:
Mother Nature — the great healer and teacher, offering space, silence, and renewal.
Circle Talks — restorative circles where pain can be spoken and transformed.
Embodied Experiences — music, movement, and open-hearted communal practices that restore joy and connection.
Method
The Land
Set on 100 acres of forests, meadows, and streams in the Western Catskills, our gatherings blend adventure and ecology with inner restoration.
The Community
Mentees are paired with mentors from their own communities, ensuring support and valuable relationships with potential to continue after the weekend through day hikes and accessible activities in NYC.
While nearly all of our time will be spent outside, our base camp provides needed shelter in case of a summer storm.
