Support the Recovery of Monan's Rill

Monan’s Rill is a historic, intentional community in Sonoma County whose intergenerational members hold a shared commitment to the land, to core community values, and to one another. For over 45 years, the 414 acres of land have been  lovingly stewarded by individuals, couples, and families, and the land has been their beloved home. The recent Glass Fire wreaked devastating losses to Monan’s Rill. The fire burned hot and fast through the property on Monday morning, and destroyed 12 of the 13 homes, along with the barn, greenhouse, garden sheds, water pump, and power poles.

The only home left standing was handbuilt by two of the founders, Russ and Mary Jorgensen, longtime activists who were part of the hundreds of Freedom Riders who did jail time in the South during the early 60s for refusing to comply with segregated bus seating.  In addition to this one home, Monan's Rill's community building, shop with tools and equipment, and recently installed rainwater catchment system and solar array are still intact. These will be the seeds of a beautiful rebuilding of the community, but there is so much to rebuild, and the people of Monan's Rill need our help.

There will be a very large gap between what insurance will cover and the real financial cost of recouping and rebuilding from this catastrophic loss. Many families evacuated with little more than the clothes they were wearing.  Several newer families who were renting houses on the land lost everything and do not have rental insurance. Everyone who lived at Monan's Rill will need our support to pick up the pieces of their lives and begin to reimagine their futures, individually and collectively.



Please join me in helping members of the Monan’s Rill Community with a new beginning.  Your gifts will help the people of Monan's Rill meet short-term needs for living expenses and replacing lost belongings, cleanup of the extensive fire debris, and repairs to community infrastructure such as the water system and the garden which likely will not be covered by insurance.


Your donation will help the community stay connected and rebuild together a responsible, climate-resilient, eco-friendly, fire-adapted community of the future. This fundraiser is about so much more than 12 families losing houses. You can support Monan's Rill in their vision for maintaining a space where people care and support each other and model living on the land in ways that contribute to a healthier future for us all.


We appreciate any financial gift that you can offer in order to help the members of Monan’s Rill to rebuild their lives. This dynamic intentional community, rich in vision and craftsmanship, has worked in consensus for half a century, through thick and thin. They have built homes, grown food, raised children and animals, gathered other people in life, marriage, and death, all the while celebrating and carefully tending to the beauty of the land. You can help Monan's Rill become an even stronger beacon of hope for community, interdependence, resilience, and regenerative rural living. Please give generously today!


Monan’s Rill Association (MRA) is a collectively-owned intentional community on 414 acres in the Mayacamas Mountains within a 20-25 minute drive to Santa Rosa, Calistoga, and St. Helena. MRA is centered on the core values of Honoring Every Voice, Relationships and Caring for Each Other, Stewardship, and Stability.  For more information about Monan’s Rill and its members, visit http://www.monansrill.org/ or read the recent article from Made Local Magazine (https://madelocalmagazine.com/2020/06/a-rill-runs-through-it/).


When the land was purchased, the creek that runs through it was already named Monan’s Rill, from a line in a poem written by Sir Walter Scott:


“The stag at eve had drunk his fill, where danced the moon on Monan’s Rill.”


“At our best, we listen deeply, argue honestly, build our capacities, and model a joyful, equitable way to live on this earth.”  --Amy Robinson, Monan's Rill Member



Reflections from Friends of Monan's Rill:


“Monan's Rill remains beloved in my and many many hearts, and that is for all time. It is a blessed legacy and place.”  --David Hoffman


“Monan’s Rill is magical. I so hope you rebuild and rekindle the shining light of that place.”  --Beth Landau-Halpern


“I’m deeply sorry for the loss of history and craftsmanship, and more so for the loss of home to you all and those that came before. May the entire community - including LandPaths - be there to help in any creative way at our collective and individual fingertips. For a community founded in love of place and land I’m deeply saddened that this destruction has happened for you and your good neighbors. Tell us how we may help you.”  --Craig Anderson


“Such a tremendous loss for you all, and for all of us who know the Rill as a beating heart around which community turns.”  --Meg Hamill