09/02/2026
Treehouse is celebrating its 20th year, and to mark the occasion, we're spotlighting 20 people who've shaped who we are along the way.
First up is Yael Petretti, whose nearly 15-year journey with Treehouse began with a weekend workshop.
In early 2010, Yael was living in Jerusalem, where she'd spent 30 years working as a tour guide. When a friend invited her to fly to Easthampton to teach a compassionate listening workshop for Treehouse staff, she thought she'd be visiting for a weekend. Instead, she fell in love with the community. She went back to Jerusalem just long enough to pack up her life.
She moved in as a resident first, enjoying intergenerational living at Treehouse for about two years before joining the staff as volunteer coordinator. From there, her role kept expanding to fill whatever the community needed: donor acknowledgments, community tours, event setup, and — of course — a biweekly compassionate listening group she's led since 2001.
When we asked Yael what tied together her time in Jerusalem, her work at Treehouse, and everything in between, she pointed to something Carl Jung once said: the first fairy tale that comes to mind when you're asked is a clue to what you value most. Her answer: bringing people together. In Medieval England, a girl is living in a walled city where everyone fears a dragon that lives in a cage outside the gates. Instead of hiding, the girl goes to meet the dragon, discovers he's simply lonely and misunderstood, and brings him home.
That instinct shows up everywhere in Yael's life. At Treehouse, with kids healing from trauma and older adults finding new purpose. In her advocacy for compassionate listening. In the men's prison where she's volunteered for over a decade. Wherever she goes, Yael makes room for people who deserve love, care, and support.
"My energy goes into trying to support a system that helps them heal and thrive," she says.
We recently received the bittersweet news that Yael has decided to retire as of this summer. We wish you a retirement as full and generous as the life you've built here. 🧡
Stay tuned. More 20 for 20 stories are on the way.
