"Virtual Barn Raising" - Free Range

Free Range Expansion Fund - the "Virtual Barn Raising"

My name is Dawn Piper. I'm the one in the middle. I'm the owner of Free Range Yoga and Community Wellness Center in Macomb, IL.

On the left is Anne Dixon, my dearest friend, who has been with me from day one and teaches Zumba, dance, and stress management classes. On the right is Kindra Martin, she's our strength coach and nutrition advisor. We are all WIU alumni.


I started Free Range 3 years ago in June after several years of debating with myself about how crazy it was to quit a perfectly good job and jump into the unknown. After a month of doing both jobs, I took a big breath and made the leap and quit my full time job at WIU to run the studio and teach yoga classes. It was the best decision I have ever made and I LOVE what I do.

My dream was to create a Community Wellness Center on the Square in Macomb Illinois so that we could help people get stronger, healthier, and happier. I just knew it was what I was supposed to be doing with my talents and my skills.

And that's what we have built - a place that people come to and feel comfortable, no matter whether they have ever done yoga, lifted weights, danced, etc. before. An ego-free place where you relax as soon as you walk in the door. A place where everyone is welcome - all shapes, sizes, and conditions.  Free Range is a community of healing and hope. Laughter, joy, and friendship. And we give back - we give a lot of free classes, we raise money for charities in our community, we have Blood Drives, and anything else we can do to be a good community partner. We LOVE our community. We are proud of our town. And love WIU.

Well, we started out with just a few of us teaching classes. All the teachers are independent contractors - they work for themselves - because not only was it important for me to create Free Range - I wanted to create a place where people could make a GOOD living for themselves. Not a place where I got rich and others made a paycheck. I believe in everyone winning.

A win for our students. A win for our teachers. A win for me. Getting to make a living doing what I love and helping make other people's lives better.

So, the space that we had worked out for awhile, but we've grown out of our space. We have way more teachers than space.

And I hadn't fulfilled the second part of my dream - to create a place with treatment partners like massage therapists and others to heal the whole body/mind/spirit.

So, we had this amazing opportunity to rent out another whole storefront - that we have access to from our current space and basically start over again - expanding into a new business and really creating the Community Wellness Center part.

It's a WONDERFUL opportunity that I couldn't pass up.

But .... the opportunity to expand comes at a hard time for me financially as I'm saving up money for a Yoga Therapy Certification program which includes 5 trips up to Canada in the next 2 years. I didn't have the money set aside for expansion as it wasn't on my radar.

This decision has been SO HARD for me!! Because as my mom always says, "you can't get blood out of a turnip"....

But, as I told the teachers - I know this expansion needs to happen - for all of us. I feel it. I know that this is the best way to really serve our community.


So here's me. I'm not entirely sure what I've got myself into.

But I do know I can't do this on my own.

So, I came up with the idea of a "Virtual Barn Raising" to help us pay for the contractors, equipment, carpet, and paint necessary to help us open our "North Wing" by June 1st. Yes - JUNE 1st - crazy right?!

Come on and I'll show you what we are working on! I see PROMISE in this space! Want to help make it a reality?!

Here's the main room where we'll be doing strength training. There's platforms, weights, bars, and paint to buy to fix up this room. We're hoping the carpet will clean up and we can skip carpeting this room. We're hoping to get a crew of teachers, students, and family members to paint. ;)

I want to expand this door to make it accessible for people who use a mobility device like a wheelchair or scooter. The carpet in here is okay.

This is the bathroom. It needs a coat of paint for sure. ;) We will make do with the flooring. We'll need to put a door in and buy a screen to cover the furnace.

I want our Community and Wellness Center to be accessible to everyone, because everyone should be able to get healthier. No matter where you start.I know this place looks rough - and it is. And just like I debated about whether I should quit my job - I've debated about whether this is the right time to expand.But, we have to. We have 35-40 classes scheduled each week in June and our six teachers just can't split our current space any more to serve our students.As I told the teachers, "I know this expansion needs to happen - for all of us. I feel it. I KNOW it. I know all of you need this. And I am willing to bust my --- to make this happen - for you - for me - and for the amazing people who come to us.

But I can't do it on my own - not in three weeks. So the "Barn Raising" idea so we can get some help and get this project done - so we can get back to what we do best - and serve our community and teach our classes.

If you'd like to help us "raise our new barn" - helping us fund our expansion project please do. We appreciate anything you can give - from $5 to $5,000 and everything in between! As I told my students yesterday - no one has to give anything - but I will gratefully take anything given.

I've realized that it takes a community to build a Community Wellness Center.

This "barn raising" gives you the opportunity to contribute if you believe in what we do and want us to do more for our community.


I am looking to raise $5,000 which I'm told will put a dent in what we need to do.

I'm hoping that you'll help me make a big dent!

We only have until June 1st before we are opening the North Wing - so this is happening right now.

If you are as excited as I am and want to help us with our Barn Raising, I will gratefully accept your contributions.

Thanks so much for your support!

Check us out online at www.freerangeyoga.us!

Big hugs! :) Dawn