Call begins at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)
Our Community Calls provide peer support, discussion forums and guest workshops for retreat center leaders. To join us on a Community Call, please register here to join this free community call.
Facilitators: Amber Faur and CJ Suitt
Topic: Expanding Our Horizon – Youth Programming & Retreat Centers
Are you considering adding youth activities to your center's lineup? As retreat centers look to the future, engaging the next generation is becoming a vital pathway for growth, relevance, and long-term sustainability. Join us for this Community Call as we explore the strategic "why" and "how" of bringing youth programming into the retreat center ecosystem.
In this session, we will dive deep into:
The Strategic 'Why': Unpacking the core motivations for engaging younger audiences and how it aligns with your center, community and stakeholders.
Answering the Community Need: Identifying the specific questions, gaps, and challenges that programming at your retreat centers might be uniquely positioned to answer.
The Opportunity Landscape: Mapping out the tangible opportunities that open up when we design spaces and experiences specifically tailored for youth.
Mission Integration: Discovering how youth initiatives can deeply enrich your existing mission, rather than distract from it.
Readiness: What does it take to serve youth populations at your site? What considerations are unique to serving a youth community. Diversify and expand your constituency, building lifelong relationships with participants and their families.
Unlocking New Capital: Exploring the funding, grants, and philanthropic avenues that become available when you add high-impact youth programming to your portfolio.
Whether you have a fully realized youth track, are pilot-testing a few camp weekends, or are simply standing at the edge of the diving board wondering if you should jump in, this call is for you. Come ready to share your questions, your hurdles, and your successes as we map out the future of youth in retreat spaces together.
Bios for Amber Faur and CJ Suitt
Amber Faur and CJ Suitt are the co-directors of Power of Hope. CJ (he,him/they,them) is a performance poet, arts educator, and community organizer from Chapel Hill, NC, whose work is rooted in storytelling and social justice. Amber (she/her) is a facilitator, organizer and farmer with more than a twenty years working with youth people and community organizations. They have been co-leading the Power of Hope program at the Retreat Center at Commonweal for the last 10 years.