Holistic Moms Network

My latest adventure has been starting a new local chapter of the Holistic Moms Network.  HMN is a national non-profit for families interested in holistic parenting and green living.  I love it.

I've been going to the meetings of the HMN chapter in the Fremont area for the past couple years.  T was invited to speak at one of their meetings about birth options but she had just come from a birth and was exhausted, so she asked if I could come with her to help with the talk.  After that meeting, I was hooked.  I love the community of super smart women who are interested in all the holistic stuff I love but who are also able to teach me more.  I learned how to can because of an HMN meeting.  I've learned some great tips for parenting (and marriage), as well as info about felt working, green cleaning, gardening, herbs, homeschooling, CSAs, and avoiding chemicals.  I've also solidly re-affirmed my stance on vaccinations and am completely at peace with it, thanks to the support of HMN.

The only complaint I had was that the Fremont chapter was so far from me and I really wanted to create a more local community.  So, with the help of the leaders from the Fremont chapter, I started my very own chapter right here.  We are called the Eden Area HMN and we cover San Leandro, San Lorenzo, Castro Valley, and Hayward.

I have a co-leader who lives in Hayward and who has been really helpful with getting our chapter up and running.  We now have a website and Facebook page.  Our kick-off event, which is open to anyone, will be on February 10th from 6-8 pm at the Castro Valley Library.  I'm working super hard to get the word out.  I even mailed paper flyers to every midwife in the county and asked them to invite their clients.  I'm also working to get some great raffle prizes donated for the kick-off.  I'm getting nervous as it gets closer, because I so want it to be a great event.

After the kick-off, we'll hold monthly meetings where we will switch from having a speaker one month to having a discussion topic the next, and back.  Our first speaker will be T talking about birth options, because it was such a popular topic.  After that, we'll have a meeting about green beauty products.  The next month will be a spring cleaning swap and discussion about green cleaning supplies.  Then, a panel of chiropractors.  We'll ask the kick-off attendees to rank their holistic interests, and we'll use that to plan the meeting topics for the rest of the year.

I'm beyond excited that this is actually happening!  I can't wait to see who shows up from my community and find out all the great stuff we can learn from each other!