The Foundation has three primary goals:

• To support the charitable and educational work of the Windward Center.
• To facilitate the personal, professional and artistic growth of its members.
• To research, model and develop a collaborative form of cooperative association.

Who could benefit?

• The student looking for an alternative to high-tuition/low marketability college programs.
• The displaced person looking for a collaborative, human-scale enterprise.
• The single parent looking to escape the city
  
  or who wants to homeschool
  

  The senior with skills and knowledge to pass on.

  Someone with a sense of stewardship, who's drawn to care for the land.

  The city-bound shepherd who dreams of walking the hills.

  The weary spirit in search of a tranquil place to rest and recharge.

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  The Foundation's operating guidelines are:

  • we have to be better off with you than without you,
  • say what you mean and mean what you say,
  • take it seriously or take it somewhere else.

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  Organizationally, the Windward Foundation is comprised of members and apprentices, and is managed by a representative Board of Directors.

  To check out our newsletter Notes from Windward, click Here

  To look over Windward's current Ammended Bylaws, click Here

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  Once again, in a bit more detail ....

  To support the charitable and educational work of the Windward Center:

  The Windward Foundation is a Private Operating Foundation. A POF is different from a Private Foundation which is organized to manage an endowment, usually consisting of denominated assets such as stocks or bonds. A Private Foundation fulfills its tax-exempt obligations by making monetary grants to organizations which have been preapproved by the IRS for that purpose (generally speaking, groups with 501(c)(3) status.)

  A Private Operating Foundation is different in that it manages property based assets which are used in direct support of an exempt purpose. In Windward's case, the Foundation owns and maintains land, buildings, tools, etc. which are used by the Windward Center to provide educational and charitable services.

  Why the need for two non-profits?

  The IRS has very stringent rules which govern how tax-empt organizations receive and spend money. Since the Foundation strives to help people become self-employed, some of its activities are directed at helping individuals derive personal income from what they do. The Center, on the other hand, provides transitional support for people in crisis, regardless of their monetary status. Since only the latter qualifies as a tax-exempt activity, we've structured Windward in such a way that we can show that tax-empt funds are being used properly.

  The Foundation's Board of Directors (BoD) is drawn from alumni and students, whereas the Center's BoD also includes non-Windward people who have demonstrated skills and interest in the educational and charitable work of the Center. Each BoD is thereby able to focus on its particular mission.

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  To facilitate the personal, professional and artistic growth of its members.

  There's a Chinese saying that "wisdom flourishes in a garden." Windward has evolved into that sort of garden, a place where talent, insight and skill can grow at a natural, more organic pace in a true flowering of a person's potential; a place where vision, talent and application can be woven together to create a colorful tapestry that expresses each person's uniqueness.

  Most people already have an understanding of what they would like to do with their lives, if only they had space and time enough to do it. Instead of actualizing themselves, most people are caught up in a ceaseless rush to meet an overwhelming schedule of obligations and commitments. And at the end of the day, they wonder what, if anything, they've accomplished.

  At Windward, we've crafted a haven where we're more able to focus on things that are personally relevant to us, and to distance ourselves from many aspects of the modern age. By breaking those ties, we are able to invest our lives into making the world a better place. We've started by making our little piece of the world a better place, by keeping our doors open to those of good will and those in need, and by doing what we can to serve as an example. That's an ambitious undertaking, and we often fall short of our hopes and expectations, but as Windward grows and evolves, we're better able to fulfill our potential.

  One way we facilitate personal goals is by providing organizational support and input.Even if your specific interest is something we don't know anything about, we can still help. Windward's membership base forms a network of factual, procedural and theoretical information that can easily make the difference between achieving your goals and falling short. External problems are difficult to the degree they aren't understood; Windward can enhance your access to information about how to best achieve your personal goals. While you and your goals are unique, much of your situation is not, and by facilitating the mundane details, Windward can greatly enhance your ability to express your personal vision.

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  To model and develop a collaborative form of cooperative association.

  There's a world of difference between theory and practice, and Windward is about the business of exploring that world. Instead of a society centered on monetary values and heirarchy, we're looking for ways to focus on what we see as the more authentic values of creativity and sustainbility. We're working to develop a culture which values diversity and compassion, productivity and continuity.

  There are lots of good ideas out there about how to go about this. The actual journey begins as we try different paths to see what works for us. We understand that might not work for others, but in a world desperately hungry for viable options, even one more viable solution is an important step forward. Still, even good solutions are only useful when they're successfully implimented. While good ideas are a dime a dozen, good solutions are few and far between, and few people are willing to go the distance.

  At Windward, we've gone that distance, and established a viable community which not only fulfills the basics needs, but which also bears the potential to do much more. If you are a journeyer, in search of that different way, then Windward might be your destination. We invite you to contact us to explore the possibilities. windward@gorge.net

  A cooperative association is one in which people come together to accomplish some larger purpose while still retaining their personal autonomy. Above all, it is an association in which people choose to participate, rather than one in which they are required to do so. Instead of the boss/worker dynamic, cooperatives foster a sense of neighbors working with neighbors in order to accomplish something meaningful to the community as a whole. Instead of the standard model where each individual tries to move forward at the expense of the community, cooperative association works from the premise that a community has to to function in order for the individual to be able to prosper.

  When it works, it's an exciting and dynamic way to bring about meaningful change. The trick is to bring people close enough that a synergistic effect can manifest itself, while not getting so close that individual autonomy and vitality are compromised. At its best, it's a form of social lamination that can exhibit incredible strength.

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  The Windward Foundation 55 Windward Lane Klickitat, Washington 98628 USA windward@gorge.net (509) 369-2000