08/11/2026
***Care & Collective Liberation Retreat, scheduled for Aug 21st-23rd, postponed to a later date, TBA.***
Hello friends,
We wish we were writing with better news than this, but unfortunately, our Care & Collective Liberation Retreat, scheduled for Aug 21st-23rd, is being postponed to a later date, to be announced.
If you planned to come, we want to thank you deeply for your interest in helping us create community through rest and shared learning, and we also want to apologize for the rather short notice.
Initially, this retreat was envisioned as a space for people in social change work where they could feel cherished and be among others in ways that examined how we care for each other, how we create ability for others to engage with us and our work, and how we show up for ourselves in the whole sense of body, mind, and spirit. There has been a relentless onslaught of reasons we’ve needed to show up in self-defense of ourselves and people we care about living in this culture. As people who run organizations missioned to resource activists and organizers, we saw this as not only a gift we wanted to give to those who do show up, but also as a strategic offering that would help people to keep doing that important work. Along with skill-building and organizing, it is actively prioritizing care and accessibility that best grows capacity for movement.
Unfortunately, the organizing team realized at our last organizers' meeting that not all of us are well enough to proceed with organizing and hosting this event, and so it will need to be postponed.
As one of the people needing this pause, I (Sass) am grateful for the opportunity to be fully transparent with you. Because of my own desire to offer this gift, and because of a traumatic background that often likes to lie to me about the connection between my worth and my productivity, I went on too long trying to push forward with this while my body was showing me multiple signs of impending collapse that I was really wishing/trying to ignore. But I can’t ignore those signs any longer, and as I think about the focus of this event, not only is it true that I can’t, I don’t even want to, because I’d like to fold myself into the gift of care, and into the belief that I still hold worth despite the need for a pause, no matter how terrible the timing feels.
I’m not just doing this so I can get back to being productive; I’m doing it because I am as worthy of care as anyone and everyone else, as are the others on our organizing team who needed this as well.
With that said, I cannot tell you how often I think about what it might have been like for my kids and me had I had this community when they were growing up. I just want to give back even a fraction of what I feel I’ve gained by being surrounded by so much care and social change energy that isn’t dictated by capitalism, and by knowing what it feels like to be able to lean into community in ways that are so dedicated and authentic.
And that’s why it stings so much to break this news to you, because the thing I was most excited about was organizing something that would provide some respite to people I know are giving it their all day in and day out. If you’re connected to ROSC, then I already know you’re someone I can thank for valuing human rights, community care, and heart-centered social change. I wish I could thank you through this event, but because I’m a part of the community I care about, and am at a point of acute need for redirection and healing, as are others who were helping us organize, it just can’t happen, so I’ll appreciate any good energy you can send our way, and hope you’ll accept all the deepest love and gratitude for everything you do.
Also, I just want to say how thankful I am for the grace of the beautiful people I was organizing this event with who put care in front of urgency, and made it known this was not only okay, but a fully supported and encouraged way to move forward. The whole walking the talk thing is always a gorgeous thing to behold, and I’m not lost on how lucky I am to be in community with the people I am.
