Welcome to Salmonberry Cooperative: Supporting Families Through Compassionate Care

Environmental Stewardship Commitment

At Salmonberry Cooperative, we honor our commitment to environmental stewardship by integrating traditional Indigenous wisdom into our practices. Embracing sustainable methods, advocating for community involvement, and fostering partnerships are the cornerstones of our efforts to protect the environment. By working together, we can combat climate change and build a brighter future for families, farms, and the entire community.

We are a collaborative network of community partners committed to enhancing community resilience and sustainability. Through a shared dedication to supporting families, offering trauma-informed care, providing animal-assisted therapies, and addressing systemic barriers, we strive to create a more robust and compassionate community for all. Join us in our mission to foster a nurturing environment where every individual can thrive.

Unleashing Healing: Embracing the Power of Human-Animal Bond with Horses and Livestock Guardian Dogs in Animal-Assisted Therapies

Salmonberry Cooperative's leadership team leverages years of experience and education to support community resilience through trauma-informed interventions. With a strengths-based and solution-focused approach, our team blends individual skill sets and passions to create a powerful collective force. Committed to empowering families, addressing systemic barriers, and offering innovative non-traditional supports, we are dedicated to driving positive change within our community.

Crisis Intervention

Our Vision: We are committed to supporting families and organizers in their communities, and by addressing community challenges through collaborative efforts, we are able to partner together to help bridge systemic gaps and provide functional sustainability to caregivers and organizers.

Building Collaborative Networks: We recognize the critical support that caregivers and organizers need, and by helping them this helps create a sustainable model to preventing burn out. Whereas most existing programs are singularly focused or limited in scope, we will provide an adaptable and comprehensive model with wrap around support that helps address and advocate for the high rates of regional poverty and economic disparities, lack of affordable housing and homelessness, in combined efforts with multidisciplinary supports for disabilities and mental health.

Healing

Our Vision: We have a multifaceted vision for community engagement and animal-assisted therapy. Our aim is to remain flexible and responsive to emerging community needs while fostering partnerships with like-minded organizations to create a trauma-informed collective.

Animal-Assisted Therapies: We recognize the tremendous potential of equine therapy, as well as, Livestock Guardian Dogs as sources of therapeutic and educational experiences, and we have several focuses with nature-based animal-assisted therapy sessions to enhance mental health, school visits for comprehensive animal education, and self-sustaining nature hikes with our pack. Our rescue dogs will serve as ambassadors of emotional well-being and fostering the human-animal bond, enriching the lives of all those they encounter.

Community Building

Our Vision: We are committed to bio-dynamic and regenerative farming methods that protect pollinators, repair and heal the soil, and utilize conservation methods whenever possible. Additionally, we are fervently committed to engaging young individuals in agriculture and animal welfare. We love growing medicinal herbs and flowers, heirloom fruit trees, and a diverse range of hot peppers.

Collaboration with Schools: We aspire to form enriching partnerships with schools, enabling us to provide students with immersive field trips, mentorship programs, and hands-on farm-based educational activities. Our goal is to create unique opportunities for young minds to connect with nature, fostering a deep appreciation for agriculture and animal welfare.

“The trees act not as individuals, but somehow as a collective. Exactly how they do this, we don’t yet know. But what we see is the power of unity. What happens to one happens to us all. We can starve together or feast together.”

— Robin Wall Kimmerer, Potawatomi botanist, author, and the director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment; ‘Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants’

Cooperative Model

Salmonberry Cooperative, dedicated to strengthening community resilience and sustainability, has found an aligned partner in RedRoot Collective, a Native-descendant run organization committed to supporting families and organizers in their communities. This partnership is rooted in a shared commitment to leveraging our collective strengths, resources, and insights to address and bridge systemic gaps affecting families and communities. Both organizations, deeply invested in the principles of collaboration, empowerment, and long-term sustainability, are embarking on a collaborative venture. This venture is aimed at crafting and implementing innovative interventions designed to promote stability, growth, and the well-being of the community through capacity building and creative solutions.

  • Salmonberry Cooperative contributes a unique mix of community-centered services and education to this partnership, with a strong focus on trauma-informed crisis intervention, animal-assisted therapy, fostering the human-animal bond, and promoting agricultural sustainability. RedRoot Collective, with its roots in disaster response, navigating systemic crises, and supporting families and organizers within communities, brings invaluable expertise and a deep understanding of the importance of building relationships and connections to support families effectively. Together, we are set to offer a comprehensive approach to community support that not only meets immediate needs but also fosters sustainable growth and resilience.

  • Set against the backdrop of Spokane, Washington—a community brimming with potential yet facing complex challenges—our collaboration leads through grassroots solutions and rapid response mobilizations. By joining forces, we are not merely pooling our resources; we are utilizing new frameworks for community development that is adaptable and replicable in different contexts. Our combined initiatives, all designed with the goal of nurturing long-term stability and prosperity for the families we engage with, emphasize the importance of capacity building, creative problem-solving, and the power of relationships and connections.

  • In essence, the collaboration between Salmonberry Cooperative and RedRoot Collective stands as a powerful example of how working together towards meaningful, enduring change can transform communities. By filling systemic gaps and bridging silos with strategic, relationship-based interventions, we are laying the foundations for a community that thrives on inclusivity, resilience, and collective well-being. Our partnership expands beyond mere initiatives or services; it's about creating a model of community support that values deep connections, innovative solutions, and the collective good of all families involved.

“Nature is imperfectly perfect, filled with loose parts and possibilities, with mud and dust, nettles and sky, transcendent hands-on moments and skinned knees.”

Richard Louv, Journalist/Author, ‘Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder’

Ready to take the next step?

This is a movement where there’s a place for everyone. Whether you’re most comfortable contributing time to help achieve our advocacy goals or helping us tackle some hands-on projects, donations to help us grow and expand, or energy to put political pressure on our governments to change, we need you on our team. Plus, there’s always ways to help with the rescue animals, and get your daily quote of snuggles!

Let’s chat - - - while the digital world may help us connect, let's meet up in real life and continue to build relationships.

Want to partner, barter, or trade? Send us a message!

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