11898 N. 75th Longmont Colorado 80503

The Willow Farm New Year

Our Vision Going Forward

For the past four years Willow Farm non-profit has served the community through low-cost natural medicine, wellness education, and cultural events. In this New Year, we are beginning to formulate an expanded vision. We are developing an innovative model to better serve populations that are often neglected; the elderly, and the terminally ill. Under the current system of understaffed nursing and assisted living facilities, elders are frequently misdiagnosed, improperly medicated, over-medicated, and forced to endure drastic diet and lifestyle changes which degrade their quality of life. This is not wholesome! Likewise, the treatment of people diagnosed as terminally ill often does not include an emphasis on spiritual practice and wellbeing, engaged imagination, connection to a community, and over-all quality of life. We advocate living until the moment of death! Our vision is to create a residential setting and refuge that holds the values of Willow Farm—community, living in harmony with the land, health and wellness education, arts, music, meditation—as part of an “end-of-life-style.” This includes access to a healthy wholesome diet, natural medicine when possible, the regularly scheduled escape-from-walled-rooms into gardens or other natural settings, and engagement in a community to the degree one is able or interested.

Some of the first steps in actualizing this vision are being taken in this coming year as Susan Nemcek (the Willow Farm executive director) commences her chaplaincy training at Upaya Zen Center, focusing on end-of-life issues. There will certainly be many other steps in the future, and of course, we will need a lot of help! If you’d like to contribute to this effort in any way, please contact Susan by email at susan@willowfarmcolorado.org.