Dear Friends,

Ben and I are reaching out today as we are finding ourselves in a very tender and scary situation: we can't afford to pay our mortgage starting next month, and we are very scared of foreclosure.

This is the home where we have been raising our two children—the place where we’ve built family memories and poured so much love into creating a healing space for our community. We’re doing everything we can to stay grounded for our kids, but it's really hard.

We haven't had any income since March, so we’re struggling to stay above ground. We lost all the income from short-term rentals a few years ago, as the laws in Santa Fe changed.

Then we tried a long-term rent-to-own agreement, but the tenants unexpectedly stopped paying and backed out, leaving us without income and in a tough financial position. We’ve had the property back on the rental market for several months, but nothing has worked out yet.

Ben has been working full-time on our nonprofit retreat center, Black Bird Refuge, building structures for future retreats. But we haven’t been able to raise funds for the nonprofit, and he’s been doing this work without pay.

At the same time, our credit card debt has piled up, and due to a recent debt consolidation, we’re unable to access more credit or secure a loan.

It’s incredibly hard to ask for help — but we’ve exhausted all our options. We’re asking for support to help cover our family’s basic needs for the next six months while we work to stabilize our situation.

We’re hoping to raise funds to cover:

Mortgage: $3500/month

credit card: $1000/month

This support would give us time to secure a long-term renter or find someone who believes in this magical property and could take over its stewardship — while giving our children the stability they need right now.

If you’re able to contribute, or know someone who might want to invest, offer a private loan, or support this space in another way, we’d be deeply grateful. Every little bit helps.

Thank you for reading, and thank you for your love, care, and support.

With gratitude,

Bonnie and Ben Barta