reunion is a peacebuilding organization in the western catskills. We strive to rebuild a stable sense of home for individuals and communities harmed by housing insecurity, the nature gap, and land loss, to help shape a more just and interdependent future.
Our method is grounded in timeless tools of fostering peace that are sourced from nature’s lessons, restorative practices for resolving conflict and promoting unity, and direct action initiatives that swiftly respond to emergent local issues. We are Earth-centered and community-based.
housing justice & community empowerment
At Reunion, we are here to help the people of the Western Catskills leverage community spirit into positive social change throughout heartfelt dialogue and direct action.
Our programs include Civic Circles, Healing Circles, and Direct Action Initiatives, with a particular emphasis on local housing challenges.
Heartfire Gatherings
A view from an entrance to Echo Field, where back-country gatherings take place between June and September. Gatherers include participants traveling from NYC, alongside a group of mentors, nature enthusiasts, and instructors both traveling from the city and joining from the local Western Catskills community.
When youth are given space to breathe, to gather around firelight, and to feel nature’s embrace, cycles of harm begin to break.
Reunion’s Heartfire Gatherings 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 and helping to break the carceral cycle.
Our ancestors knew the importance of imbuing the summertime with sacred meaning. Recently discovered evidence reveals the first seasonal, multi-cultural gathering to reach back 12,000 years, pre-dating farming and living in villages.
Heartfire Gatherings are a homecoming into nature and our past. They are a co-created celebration between typically siloed rural and urban communities.
Our Story
Together with other practitioners, healers, and volunteers, restorative practitoners Keith and Valerie are building a bridge between urban and rural communities — reuniting at-risk individuals with nature, with one another, and with their own inner paths. Reunion is currently being developed as a 501(c)(3), with formation projected to be finalized in early 2026.
We strive to rebuild a stable sense of home and justice for individuals and communities harmed by housing insecurity, the nature gap, and land loss, to help shape a more interdependent future.
We are Earth-centered and community-based.
Our method is grounded in timeless tools of fostering peace that are sourced from nature’s lessons, restorative practices for resolving conflict and promoting unity, and direct action initiatives that swiftly respond to emergent local issues.
reunion is a peacebuilding organization in the western catskills
reunion is a peacebuiding organization in the western catskills
We strive to rebuild a stable sense of home and justice for individuals and communities harmed by housing insecurity, the nature gap, and land loss, to help shape a more interdependent future. We are Earth-centered and community-based.
Our method is grounded in timeless tools of fostering peace that are sourced from nature’s lessons, restorative practices for resolving conflict and promoting unity, and direct action initiatives that swiftly respond to emergent local issues.
reunion is a peacebuilding organization in the western catskills
Reunion is a peacebuilding organization in the Western Catskills.
We strive to rebuild a stable sense of home and justice for individuals and communities harmed by housing insecurity, the nature gap, and land loss, to work towards a more interdependent future.
We are Earth-centered and community-based.
Our method is grounded in timeless tools of fostering peace that are sourced from nature’s lessons, restorative practices for resolving conflict and creating unity, and direct action initiatives that swiftly respond to emergent local issues.
welcome home
Reunion is a co-created, community-based initiative in the Western Catskills that celebrates coming home to nature as both healing and instructional. We help people impacted by poverty, injustice, and trauma reconnect to their purpose and transform the way they think about their futures.
Make an impact, show your support
100% of your donations
go directly to empowering rural communities and helping at-risk individuals get outdoors.
