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A Modern Beehive Dwelling also called a Honey House built by OK OK Productions Find Out More Share

Vote for "The Foster Village" on Change.org Virtual Advisory Committees: We have set up several virtual advisory groups in the form of groups on social networks primarily reaching out to the existing foster children population and experts who have aged out of the system.  FIND OUT MORE The Foster Village - FaceBook.com The Foster Village - MySpace.com   Make a Donation: We are relying entirely on grass roots funding to support the Broken Earth Foster Village pilot program. Pursuing typical funding resources will only work to draw us into a system that is clearly broken. Help us to avoid those traps. FIND OUT MORE  100% of money raised goes directly to the cause. All workers are volunteers.   Beehive Home Building Course: Now taking reservations for the spring session. Enroll Now   Limited to twelve persons per class.   Review the Broken Earth Foster Village Listing at Intentional Communities an eco-village directory.   The Foster Village Channel View video clips about foster care at  YouTube.com

The Broken Earth Foster Village - A Self Sustaining Eco-Pueblo

A Natural Holistic Self Sustaining Foster Village Focused on Re-Connecting Children and Families to A Natural Simplistic Way of Living with a Focus on and an Appreciation for Life.

According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, in some areas of the country as many as 60 percent of homeless people have a foster care history. Many never complete high school and go on welfare. About one-quarter of the men end up incarcerated. In 1991, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that only one in six of the teens they tracked who had recently left care was completely self-supporting. ONE IN SIX - meaning that the current system is an almost complete failure.

Children entering the foster care system, having already been exposed to various levels of abuse, neglect or other unsettling circumstances that threaten their safety and sense of well-being, would find it difficult to adjust to a loving stable environment, let alone the unstable environments most of them find themselves in. From a very young age, and often from birth, these children are trained to disconnect from life rather than connect to it. This unnatural state of living affects every aspect of the child’s development. The current foster care system, while claiming to have made great strides in the last decade, inadvertently continues to feed this tendency in the child to disconnect. Foster children are moved from one foster home to the next, increasing their disconnect and reducing their sense of belonging to family and community. By the time they reach their teens they become virtually impossible to place. Most kids in this age group have built up so many defenses to keep from being hurt - they no longer want to be adopted. These are the population of kids we hope to help and believe that can be helped outside the institutionalized failed methodologies that have clearly failed for this population. Failing to help these children now means an almost certain exponential increase in the costs to deal with this population later. The costs of incarcerating one person in this country is on average $200,000.00 per year. And to that the lost tax revenue and income from a fully productive and employed member of society and the costs climb higher.

The Broken Earth Foster Village is a pilot program designed to counteract this unnatural state and reconnect these children and, if possible, their families to a natural way of living. To give them a place they feel they belong and if choosing to leave the village have a place to return - a place to call home.

The Broken Earth Foster Village intends to break these disconnecting cycles and provide a natural healing, eco-friendly environment for both parents and children to reconnect to nature and a holistic healthy way of life. A tribal eco-pueblo and foster village affords the very best environment to begin that critical reconnecting process.

Children living full time in an eco-pueblo along with their visiting parents, when appropriate, will work side by side, interacting and caring for animals, gardening, building earthbag homes, milking goats, making cheese - engaging in natural activities designed to reconnect them with nature and creation. The goal is reconnecting children and their parents, when possible, to their purpose in the world and their position in the circle of life. Structured healthy environments and activities that reunite families and reconnect people to the natural world - that's what the Broken Earth Foster Village is all about.

Once a Foster Village is established it will become a self-sustaining village supported from both the relatively small amounts of revenue provided by states to fund foster care and the organic/medicinal product produced from the eco-village activities.

All adults (mentors) living on the tribal eco-village property will be required to complete the foster care licensing program, regardless if they foster children or not. The program is an eight session, three hours per session, course held twice a week in the evening. They will then be qualified to foster children for themselves and utilize the many programs and activities designed for children and their biological parents.

Many children who age out of the foster care system will begin to populate these Broken Earth Foster Villages full-time and take on the responsibilities as foster parents and village organizers. The Broken Earth Foster Village will in turn provide them with a life-long home - a place they belong and a purpose in creation. As any single Broken Earth Foster Village becomes fully populated, other Foster Villages will be established.
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Vote for "The Foster Village" Your vote counts on change.org. The top three ideas will be presented to President Elect, Barak Obama on January 23, 2009. Help make sure "The Foster Village" is one of those ideas presented. Click on the Vote Now button to the right to cast your vote.   Thank you.!

Additional Reading to help you understand our mission

Standard of Living

When we talk about a "high standard of living" we are speaking about our level of material wealth as related to other households and countries. This is the worst possible measurement for establishing or identifying what a high standard of living actually means.  The commonly accepted meaning of high standard of living has pretty much been imposed on us by corporations that want to sell us more goods and services. Their job is to make you think that you simply can not survive without that gadget or this service. Look through a catalogue at the useless junk they hock. We used to need perhaps twenty things to get by, now we perceive that need to be no less than five-hundred things and for some five-thousand things are an absolute minimum to live our lives. It has been said a million times before, money will not make you happy - but still we spend most of our lives chasing after this material life.

While not widely understood in the West, this disconnect from a natural and simplistic way of life is at the core of our social ills. Most of us are living "unnatural lives".

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Broken Bodies, Broken Earth

Depression, suicide, self mutilation, substance abuse, child abuse, incest, all are on the rise and all are symptomatic of a Broken Earth. If conventional treatments, medications and therapies were working we would be seeing a sharp decline not a continued increase. Admitting that conventional efforts are not adequately addressing these problems is a start. Clearing the decks for alternative methods is critical in discovering workable alternative solutions. Many alternative efforts and sincere individuals who want to help and can help will never make it through a system that effectively weeds out anything different from the many failed norms set by the academic and professional communities as well as government agencies. This is a critically important point. We have tried their failed methods and approaches and we have seen an increase rather than the desired decrease in depression, suicide, self mutilation, substance abuse, child abuse and incest. Those claiming that the increases are a result of reporting efforts becoming more effective should be able to point to a decrease in the rates of suicide to support their theories – suicide rates do not lie. Suicide rates have dramatically increased.  They are a clear indicator that the many problems with our families and children - the very fabric of our communities, is in serious trouble.

The alternative programs Broken Earth proposes are not to be found in academic and professional circles – because it is not within their area of expertise. To permit alternative programs a chance to thrive and prove themselves effective we must remove the institutional restrictions and regulations that prevent them from ever taking root. The academic, scientific approach, destroys the holistic benefits of spiritually based programs. In the same way that chemotherapy and holistic herbal cancer treatments do not mix, scientifically and spiritually based social programs do not mix. You must select one approach or the other. What is best should be an individual decision, not a decision imposed by a government institution - a band aid on a gapping wound. Spiritually enlightened leaders are selected no elected. In the same manner that not everyone is born with the physical capacity to become an Olympic athlete, similarly, not everyone is borne with the skills necessary to achieve higher levels of spiritual fitness or understanding. The world of academy and real spiritual training are not the same worlds. In fact the one cancels out the other, unless at the end of your academic training you discover you know nothing at all. Only then will academic training help you to achieve spiritual understanding. One focuses on the brain the other the heart. The knowledge in the heart is endless - the possibilities profound - transcending the limited physical realm.

No! To be a spiritual master, you must be given the gift and you must be authorized - selected, not elected. Easy to understand, yet most are saying no, I am able to become however I want to become. Foolishness. People must relearn how to lead simple lives and humble themselves. Today, everyone wishes to be a God unto themselves.

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Our Intention

Everything begins with an intention and every good intention is for the service and honor of the Creator of All Things. If our intention is pure, good, truly serving creation, then we will see some results. If not, then it was never meant to be in the first place. We will begin with what we have, a good intention and we will see how this naturally progresses. Chasing after things, trying to make things happen, is often based on ego and self, not on true service. If things fall into place, we will continue. We ask blessings and protection on this effort and that it will be something that brings forward health and healing to the many distraught young people in our society. This presentation is the required cultivation and planting of the seeds - what grows after that is purely from Him alone. We claim no responsibility for what the fields produce, the vegetation it yields and the life and energy it brings.
 
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Restoring Humanity to Heal Humanity

The current official mandated system has knocked the humanity out of humanity. As one of many examples, people with emergency mental and physical disabilities, requiring immediate kindness, compassion and assistance, seek help from the Social Security Administration and as a standard rule are denied on the first application attempt, then the second and often the third. The entire process takes months, even years to receive the help required. During this time people do what? They self medicate, fall into depression, commit suicide, become abusive towards their children and families and generally fuel more societal problems. By the time help is received the individual is so disillusioned, so disgusted with life, the help they do receive is too little too late. Their spiritual, mental and physical being is all the more weakened. The available solutions are often found in administering harmful and expensive medications. Band aids that cover-up severe problems. The results are more broken homes and children entering the foster care system. These children are first hand witnesses to a broken society, community and family - they need to be in an environment that shows them real community and real family values, so they may learn and then impart that knowledge into their own lives and to their own children - reconnecting to the circle of life.

Let’s face it, these many government supported social programs may look impressive on paper but the real world results are something entirely different.

In fact, these very government programs have sucked the humanity out of our society. This is a critically important factor that is not being addressed. Before these government programs were in place, families, close friends and relatives, religious organizations and communities were called upon to provide direct assistance. They perceived it as their obligation and responsibility. A service that was necessary to protect the health and well-being of their own families and communities. Over the years as government programs increased and quickly became the norm for providing assistance, the response from families, close friends and relatives, religious organizations and the greater communities began to fall off. Help was reduced to directing people to existing government programs.

Today the common thinking is,

"Why should I help you when I am already paying high taxes and these programs are available for people if they need help?

This reality has destroyed the very foundations of families and communities. It is the number one problem for why we are suffering from so many societal ills. We were right in rejecting the controlling nature of the church, but instead of moving closer to God and further away from tyrants we have relegated that control to an even bigger tyrant. A tyrant that serves no God at all. 

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Spiritually Based Approach

It is appropriate to mention that our programs are spiritually centered, not religiously based. An important distinction. Our programs are open to anyone who has completed the foster care training as a prerequisite for joining the eco-pueblo foster village, although it should be clearly conveyed to participants that our approach is an approach that seeks to balance spirit, mind and body (in that order) and that a belief in a Creator of All Things is central to that approach.

Just as it is necessary to exercise your physical body and mind to keep illness from developing, it is essential to exercise your spiritual being.

How a person exercises their spiritual being is entirely up to that individual. Our goal is to provide a multitude of cultural methodologies for exercising your spiritual being and let the children, parents, families and resident adult foster parents decide for themselves what is best. To this end we will invite a number of aspirants from various ways to present their spiritually based methods. Including but not limited to Cabbalism, Buddhism, Shamanism and Sufism. This will not be a time to proselytize any one given belief system, gatherings will be experientially based and focused on demonstrating the meditative aspects or modalities of a particular faith or spiritual discipline, not its tenants.
 
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A Tribal Calling

A Tribal Life is a natural way of living that conforms to our physical, mental and spiritual needs. We are meant to live simplistic holistic lives in complete conformity with our natural surroundings. If we are not living this life, we are suffering. Locked in an office building, living in a city, even life in suburban communities does not provide the tribal style of life that our physical, mental and spiritual being craves. Most of us are living outside the circle of life.

For most of us, a full time tribal life is out of the question. Nonetheless, a part time tribal life is possible and better than no tribal life at all. Even a short stay in a real, back to basics, tribal pueblo will work wonders in discovering your true self. When you experience the benefits of simplistic natural living, you may find that you start gravitating towards spending more of your time in this invigorating natural environment. Eventually, many people may decide to make it their full time residence. If you have ever had the opportunity to sit in a conical shaped earth Beehive Dwelling with no annoying electrical hums or electronic gadget sounds - you will understand the allure and benefits these natural environments hold. The vaulted natural ceiling makes you feel like you are in a very spacious and expansive environment - it is extremely relaxing and freeing.

Part-time participants will also be required to go through the foster care program and have approval to interact with the children and their families. Even if you do not take children into your own home, you will still interact with the families during the course of a normal working day in the eco-village. Daily visitors or mentors will not need to complete foster training unless they choose to live in the village.
 
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What to Expect!
 
Expect a lot because you will attain a lot. Expect to live the way we were intended to live. Think tribal, somewhat nomadic, indigenous communities that foster and embrace a simplistic natural way of living. Think traditional Native American lifestyles. We are not thinking so much of a hunter gatherer lifestyle, but more of a natural living off the land lifestyle. Tending the flock, milking the cows, weeding the garden, churning the butter, baking the bread in a wood stove, spinning the wool, dying the fabric, learning how to build Beehive dwellings, are just some of the many activities you can expect. This is not a place to be pampered it is a place to restore yourself by living the way you were intended to live. Becoming one with nature and the people and world around you.  People will be able to handle different levels at different times. Busy lives are really an addiction and may need to be tapered off. Many of you will want to kick the addiction forever, but just about everyone is going to learn to live happier healthy lives. No one will spend time in a Beehive Tribal Community and walk away without some lasting benefit. 
 
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The Amazing Beehive Dwelling
 
Beehive dwelling are one of the oldest and certainly the most favored dwellings in the world. Beehive homes, or the close relatives to the conical beehive shaped dwellings, have been in existence for thousands of years. There are very good reasons why - they are by far the most economical and efficient dwellings that can be constructed. Cool in the summer and warm in the winter beehive homes can be constructed almost anywhere utilizing different materials and building styles. In much of the Middle East where wood is often in short supply, beehive dwellings are constructed with cob and rocks. In places like Alaska, conical shaped dwellings, the igloo, are constructed with ice blocks. With the advent of earth bag building techniques, beehive dwellings can be constructed most anywhere. Bags are filled with volcanic pumas, sand, dirt, rocks and other natural building materials. Cozy natural, energy efficient - they are by far the best building solution available. Disagree, start your own Tribal Community. We will be happy to list your alternative project here so people may have a choice. LEARN MORE
 
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Establishing The Foster Village

We have searched around the Northern New Mexico Area and decided that the best place to be is centered between two of the best towns in America, Santa Fe and Taos. For many people having access to a city is important for their businesses and ongoing technology addictions. The children need to be exposed to society and have access to community resources. It also serves as an easy entry point for part-timers, renters and owners, who are coming from other locations to experience tribal eco-village life and act as mentors.. More information about where the community is located and how it will be operated will be made available to persons making serious inquires. What is a serious inquiry? That changes according to how many other serious inquiries we have. If your are really interested, don't be afraid to let us know.

Virtual Advisory Committee
 
The Broken Earth Foster Village Community Advisory Committee is a forum for open and active communication between the virtual on-line community interested in finding solutions to the critical foster care problems and The Broken Earth Foster Village for the purpose of facilitating understanding and resolving any issues as they arise. It is open to community and business leaders, child advocates and spiritual celebrants from various cultural backgrounds of the Northern New Mexico communities, as well as representatives of formal constituencies (e.g. schools, organizations, groups) within these communities. Our goal is to find something new - something that works - a place that foster kids can feel at home, a place where they really belong.

Please join one or all of the following virtual communities and begin to contribute your ideas in solving the foster care problems.

The Foster Village - FaceBook.com
The Foster Village Channel - YouTube.com

Objectives 

• To inform the community about The Broken Earth Foster Village.
• To bring to light any issues the community may have and find strategies to resolve them
• To develop strategies for positive interactions between The Broken Earth Foster Village and the local community
• To create an open line of communication between BEFV and the community to ensure that the community has the facts they need about things that may impact them.

Contribute to the Broken Earth Foster Village

"Charity is an individual responsibility that can not be relegated to government or non-profit organizations without removing the human factor from neighborhoods and communities".

The Broken Earth Foster Village has received its EIN and D&B organizational numbers and is structured as a private community association under the tax code for the purpose of obtaining a bank account and other necessary organizational requirements. However, we strongly believe that the controls placed on humanitarian community efforts by the government are one of the primary contributing factors in the system having failed so miserably.  Non-profit organizations, having abided by the organizational controls imposed on them by government agencies, quickly perceive their right to raise money as a right to own the money. Non-profit administrative salaries are out-of-control with many directors making enormous amounts of money drawn from charitable contributions earmarked to help the needy. Large amounts of other charitable funds are spent abiding by accounting practices imposed by the government and campaigns to raise more charitable funds. The system is clearly broken and needs to be rescued from the smothering controls that destroys the holistic natural benefits of real charity.

The most negative impact the current system has on real charitable help is the perception that neighbors and communities no longer bare the responsibility to help those most in need because their taxes go to support government agencies and non-profits that will take care of the needy for them. Charity is an individual responsibility that can not be relegated to government or non-profit organizations without removing the human factor from neighborhoods and communities.

This is precisely why that despite the enormous increase in funds, organizations, experts and programs to address our societies problems, the problems get bigger.

Once any well-meaning project enters the non-profit fold it is destined to fail. This is why the Broken Earth Foster Village relies solely on grass roots contributions to maintain the integrity and power that real charity provides. We refuse to get caught in a system that is broken and clearly has failed.

If this important grass roots project can not be funded from the goodness and generosity of individuals and community businesses then the project is not intended to exist and the solutions to our many problems will come from attrition, not permission. We as a society get the support and help we deserve as well as the leaders we deserve. If not deserving, things will continue as they are and our society will continue to decay - eventually correcting itself the hard way. We fully accept whatever direction is written.

The Broken Earth Foster Village operates entirely from volunteer efforts. All proceeds raised are treated as a trust, without taking possession of funds by anyone or any organization. All funds are passed directly to the charitable cause. If donors specify a certain use for those funds, you can be sure all proceeds will go for that intended purpose.

If you do not have funds to donate, your time or supplies could be put to good use. We are in need of anything that is normally needed to establish an eco-village. Labor, greenhouses, tools, livestock, garden supplies, tractor, etc. Please contact us for details.

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