We at Sacred Rok are happy to share what has proven to be true about nurturing relationships over time.

 As a nonprofit the question we always get is “are we seeing results?” We have felt that each time we have gathered together with all of our different groups, it’s like planting seeds that will grow in their own time. 

 Here’s an example of our relationship with Uplift Family Services, a foster care agency in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2013 we held our first trip with them, one of the participants was a youth named Nia Johnson. 

From Nia’s first trip in 2013 she also joined us for two more trips over the years and had turned 18. This was a crucial juncture; she was soon to be aging out of the foster care system. 

In July 2020 we reunited with her as we walked along the river appreciating the waterfalls and all the beauty of Yosemite that had brought us together in the first place. 

 In Sacred Rok’s commitment to facilitate the ceremony of nature Nia was able to develop her relationship to nature.

In her own words here are some of the things she shared with us: 

   “If you don’t know your history you tend to think you don’t have a story so it seems as though you have no control over your life. Having a relationship with nature can bring you alive in many ways and we see that all the time when we see kids open up and have fun and discover themselves in these spaces.” NJ

“There is a peace and a calm that comes with the outside world and that only makes sense because this is where we are from.”NJ 

“Nature or “places like Yosemite '' inspire so much vulnerability because you’re sitting in these natural places where everything just IS. In these spaces you see earth at its most raw state and something about that makes me want to reflect that.” NJ

For all of us a shared memory of a past trip was when we spent one evening out at Lembert Dome looking at the stars. All of our imaginations were opened up to the possibilities before us. 

“My thoughts that night were more existential than anything else. I wondered what brought us to that moment, how life aligns different people and brings them together. I felt gratitude for everything, and it gave me the opportunity to contextualize my life and realize that I can do and be anything I want as long as I am in the moment. That space inspired gratitude which inspired a love and willingness to live up to my own standards and beliefs.” NJ

 To have had this shared experience together through a sense of communing with the natural world and the entire universe it evoked the spirit in us all to the reality that life is sacred. 

We humbly thank you for your support and our commitment to Education Natures Way.

With Respect,

Ron Kauk - Executive Director

Katie Lambert - Chief Operating Officer