Our Mission

Living Life Together

Once upon a time the majority of Americans lived in the countryside, and they lived their lives together on the local level.

Of course, at that time everybody had to engage in some kind of manual labor and produce at least a minimal amount of their own food.

And property, knowledge, understanding & wisdom were often handed down from one generation to the next, providing each generation thereafter a leg up.

And given the limitations on transportation and travel, people had to rely on those within their physical midst to meet their daily needs. Therefore, they had to figure out how to get along with one another and cooperate.

This way of living evidently worked. And they learned from one another and ultimately grew in wisdom & strength.

I believe it was satisfying work — enriching even, when people came together with the desire & will to live, love, work, learn, share & exchange with one another. And I believe they found enjoyment in their lives and in each other’s company.

This is the way of life my husband and I want to live.

I’m not talking about being in a commune. We believe personal & private ownership is important, and people ought to be free to live as they choose without taking from or harming another.

I’m talking about a community of people who live in close proximity to one another — people, who are committed to taking personal responsibility for their own lives and the lives of their own family, employing themselves and voluntarily cooperating with their fellow man.

But I believe for this to happen, people need to realize they need one another in order to live — and at the local level that need must go beyond spiritual (emotional & mental) aid and support. It must include physical engagement.

For many people to have that kind of life, it might require them to move from where they are currently living. And it might require a change in lifestyle.

I believe we need to change from simply plugging into an economic system that provides everything for us to participating in an ecological system where everyone is responsible for providing for themselves.

And when that change started for us, the realization hit us very quickly that none of us can make it on our own like that.

It’s clear to me and my husband that the current way of life that most people are living today in America (namely within our economic system where we use USD money as a means of exchange, as well as partaking in a host of other systems tied to it) is failing. And it is leading everyone towards financial enslavement, severe lack, poor health (even death), and social unrest.

Despite what many may hope for, we don’t believe the current American way of life is going to just magically (or miraculously) change for the better on its own (or even with the help of a political overhaul). It’s likely going to keep getting worse.

So, we, as a family of five are striving to not simply take care of ourselves & our own but to also develop our own micro-community at the local level on our private homestead — a sort of ecovillage prototype within our borders. And our hope is to be a part of a greater localized ecovillage-type community in the future.

Therefore, we are working towards developing a network of people whom we know, and come to know, outside of our gates, from both near & far, with whom we can interact & engage in social, occupational, educational & economic exchange to meet our respective needs and desires.

Here’s my personal take on human connection.

If you would like to be a part of our world either at the local level in/around Fluvanna or Highland County, Virginia or from wherever you are, please contact me. If you’re unsure at this point, please read on.

[This page was written by Carrie (not Kelly) and last updated on 10/25/25.]