So many meaningful conversations happen in the Canyon.
Guests and campers slow down. They take time, they play together, and they have the freedom to really listen to each other and rediscover what it means to be good friends or good neighbors.
We value these relationships, and we continue to ask how these meaningful conversations can move beyond the Canyon. How can we encourage people to listen fully all of the time and not just when they are in the Canyon?
Everywhere I turn, people don’t seem to be listening to each other. Our country is more polarized than ever. Our conversations feel like boxing matches.
It isn’t just politics. Our society runs on individualism and busyness and noise. Families are distracted and overwhelmed. Instead of engaging directly, we binge-watch our favorite series or scroll through our social media, and we often don’t have the energy to learn more than what our selected news channels are telling us.
The Foundation wants to cultivate wholeness in people and institutions for the transformation of communities. For years, we have done our best work in the Frio Canyon, and for years we have asked how we can reach a broader network of people and institutions.
Currently, we are working on rural development in Leakey and Camp Wood. We researched San Antonio’s inequity and economic segregation. We made continued progress with our San Antonio mental health initiative. We are actively building the capacity of organizations that are already doing great work, like House of Faith in
San Angelo, the Good Samaritan in San Antonio, and many others.
Our daily work remains the same as it ever was—to serve families and children, to offer spiritual formation. We are working to change our little corner of the world, and we hope you’ll join us.
P.S. So many of us might not be here if it weren’t for the work of Dan Roloff who retired in March. The legend of Dan’s work here, highlighted in this issue, is as deep as Blue Hole and as wide as the view from Circle Bluff. Thank you, Dan.
