Vibe Holistic Wellness Center Belize

Hello,

Before I introduce myself; please allow me to clarify, I am not asking for free money in order to complete my projects. To the best of my ability; I will compensate donations with services offered, whether that be coaching, training, stays at Vibe, yoga classes, e-copies of my book when published etc, etc. Every donation is being recorded and compensation for the kindness and generosity will be provided in the future. Please see "Compensation" at the end of this introduction and description.

My name is May and I am the founder of Vibe Holistic Wellness. I am from Canada but moved to Belize in 2023. I live off grid, in the jungle, on the beach, with 50 animals (mostly rescues). I moved to Belize with the intention of building a wellness center where people can practice yoga and meditation, connect with the serenity of nature, attend wellness retreats and receive holistic wellness coaching. I have built an open air yoga studio on the beach and a cabana for guests to stay in for their retreats.

I am so close to being able to open the center; at this time all I need is to build an bathroom for clients to use, a small simple casita, finish some maintenance and repairs, and pay for and submit permits and licensing. In the future, the goal is to build a couple more cabana's so that we are able to have more space for wellness retreat attendee's. I have a website being finished and on that platform I will offer online wellness coaching, personal training and nutrition, yoga and meditation, workshops on wellness & non-toxic living and much more.

As soon as I am able; I will begin working with other local businesses and entrepreneurs to offer larger scale wellness group retreats here in beautiful Belize. In addition, I plan on building a team of wellness coaches with varying skills, qualifications and specialties in order to better meet the needs of clients.

Working together with other members of the community, we want to provide eco-conscious, unique and empowering experiences in beautiful Belize. One of our fundamental principals is giving back to the community through conservation of our area, animal rescue support, eco-responsible building as well as sponsorships and employment of Belizean locals.

In addition to building the center, developing the website and working with the community; I am writing a memoir about my life in the hopes that my life story can inspire other people. I grew up in foster care in Canada, struggled with addiction (I have been clean from narcotic substances for over a decade), am currently going through a nasty divorce and experienced many other daunting challenges throughout my life; but I persevered though it all. I went to college and university to obtain a degree in psychology, am a personal trainer as well as a yoga teacher. I like to say "I have lived many lives." Despite the adversity I have dealt with; I managed to use my life experience to get me where I am today; fighting for my dream in Belize. I truly believe that every person on this planet is capable of achieving their dreams, no matter the circumstances and I hope that my life story is able to help others. The first part of the book will possibly be ready as soon as mid March for e-publishing.

By supporting me and my projects; you are helping me to help others, in a multitude of different ways. I am eternally grateful for any support you can provide. In return for your support I will be offering copies of my books, online wellness coaching, stays in my oceanfront cabana, wellness retreats, yoga and meditation classes and my eternal gratitude. (Please see "Compensation" below)

*Update* List of items that funding will go towards

-Groceries and drinking water for myself & the 50 animals that reside at Vibe Holistic Wellness Center

-Medications for myself & animals. I have a spinal injury from my previous job that has permanently disabled me (spinal disc deterioration of my cervical spine 3-8, surgery is required). I do my best to manage my symptoms with natural medicine and restorative yoga but at times I need pharmaceuticals. As most of my animals are rescues, there are medical issues and also flea and tick medicine that must be administered every month. My big boy Yogi caught tick fever last year and it is a very serious and deadly disease if not treated, so I opted to put them on the medication.

-Phone and internet

-UPDATE (FEBRUARY 16). The pump was purchased and installed! Pump for my cabana, unfortunately what I have on the cabana is not functioning properly and must be replaced with something with more power. This is to provide guests with bathroom sink, shower and toilet.

-Public bathroom for guests who come for yoga, meditation and workshops. This will require lumber, cement, toilet and sink, plumbing and electrical. For now I will connect it to the cabana's system (which runs off my house system-not ideal) but in the future I would like to have the cabana and bathroom on their own systems.

-Permits, licensing and visa extensions. I am an immigrant in a foreign country and obviously there are laws that I must abide by, and they cost money. For example a work permit is approximately 3500BZD for a year, a 1 month visa extension is 200BZD a month, business license is around 1500-1800BZD for a year, BTB licensing can vary-greatly depending on how much is needed to meet requirements but best case scenario around 2000BZD. These must all be paid in order for me to work legally in Belize. (2BZD=1USD)

-Hurricane shutters. Being alone and unable to board my house up for the last hurricane was terrifying. I have decided the simplest solution is to build hurricane shutters that are permanently affixed to the home that I can easily close on my own. (my house is 10 feet in the air and the current hurricane proofing is large plywood boards that are screwed into the house). This will require lumber, tools, time and effort. Shutters are required for my house, the cabana and chicken coop.

-Maintenance and Repairs-right now the roof of my house leaks (a lot) inside my house when it rains. I have asked the contractor who built my house for months to repair it but he has not done it. Living off grid is a lot of work and things go wrong sometimes. As I am not a plumber or electrician, I have to call someone to help, or jimmy rig temporary solutions to get by. Gas for my back up generator, stove and hot water. Vehicle maintenance and fuel ( I only leave the jungle once a week for groceries and errands but it is a long drive into town and typically takes the whole day). Tools and building supplies. There is much more; but I won't go on and on, I just wanted to give you a basic idea.

-A small casita for my groundskeeper to live in. He is currently living in the 1993 pop up trailer that I brought down from Canada. The plan is simple wooden structure; 10x10, 3 windows, 1 door. An outdoor kitchen will be built on the exterior. For those of you who are unaware-I live alone in the jungle-there is no police or hospital anywhere near me, my groundskeeper is absolutely important to me-he helps me with day to day jobs, the animals, projects, security, education and so much more. He is truly my friend and I rely on him so much. He deserves a proper house. He has been with me for couple of months and understanding my financial situation he has not asked for payment. He says "It's ok Ms.May when things are better."

I am so intensely grateful for this man.

-Guest area under the palapa. At some point the goal is to provide a screened in seating area under the palapa. This will require screen, cement and lumber

-Signage, advertisement, website etc. I live in the middle of nowhere in Belize. Even a lot of Belizeans do not know where I live. There is no signs indicating the name of the area. I would like to put a sign on the highway that will list list the businesses (I have a tattoo artist neighbor), make cards to hand out to potential clients and finish building the website for the company. (Also signage about respecting the beauty of the area, no garbage, no burning, clear cutting etc)

-In the future I would to build more cabana's (maybe 2 or 3) so I am able to have more guests.

-Security camera's. While I have guard dogs, fenced yard, etc being so far in the jungle alone is still unnerving at times. Security camera's would allow me to monitor the safety and security of myself and my guests.

-Fence. At this time only my yard is fenced off for the safety and security of my animals (predators). At some point I would like to completely fence the property to provide additional security and peace of mind.

*Update* Reason's I am in this position (doing a GoFundMe)

First and foremost-I have never borrowed a penny in my life until recently and this crushed me morally to do; but I believe the universe wanted to teach me a lesson. My pride and ego were stopping me from asking for help. As a hyper independent woman I have always taken pride in my ability to provide for myself. The universe has made it clear that I need to humble myself, remove the ego and pride, so that is what I am doing-humbling myself and it was incredibly hard to do this.

Reason #1. Divorce. I separated from my husband in October 2024 due to a multitude of reasons, one of them being his spending habits. He was not making any money, but he was going through what we had like water. Our relationship was not healthy and he was drinking, cheating and abusive. I was fed up and I am grateful that he is gone. He has not provided any financial support, despite making a significant monthly income but does have a brand new 2025 truck, new apartment, a side by side etc in Canada. He is threatening to take this property and business from me; despite having never contributed a penny to it and the business not even being started. I begged and pleaded with him for money, trying to do things the amicable way but he has made it abundantly clear that he does not care, letting all of our joint bills in Canada go NSF. I have spoken to the bank and let them know what is going on but there is not much they can do. Recently my foster father was kind enough to lend me the money to get a divorce lawyer so I can do what is necessary, but these things take time.

Reason # 2. I got married. See reason #1. I have to take responsibility for my actions (or lack thereof). I should have never married him but I was so desperate to be a part of a family unit, I thought I could change him. I could not. No I did not want to be single, alone, living off grid in the jungle but I also could not stay in that relationship.

I live a very simple, busy life. I eat the same thing everyday (farm fresh egg omelette, yogurt, fruits and veggies). I am busy from sun up to sundown (and past) with managing the day to day tasks of living off grid, trying to build my business, write my book and get divorced. My animals health and well-being is of the utmost importance to my happiness and sanity.

Through this process of starting the GoFundMe I have been made aware of other people having used this platform for unscrupulous behavior. While my words may not mean a lot to anyone who has been taken advantage of before; my actions can and will. I have put everything I have into building this business and every cent I receive will go towards the items listed above. Talk to each other, ask me for updates, ask for receipts, pictures; whatever will set your mind at ease that the funds are being used appropriately. I am not doing this out of selfish reasons, I am doing this because I know I can help others and just need a bit of help to get over the finish line.

Compensation

While I recognize that people donate out of the kindness of their hearts and to the best of their ability; I believe in what goes around, comes around. For each donation amount the following services are available. This is not set in stone but just an example of what I am able to offer at this time, please feel free to reach out to me to discuss.

(USD)

Up to 50$

-Free e-copies of my books, when published. The first one will be available within 6 months.

-2 Yoga and meditation classes online or in person. Can be gifted

-1 Wellness coaching session online or in person (1 hour). Can be gifted

-1 Personal training and nutrition session online or in person (1 hour). Can be gifted

100$

-Free copies of my books when published

-4 Yoga and meditation classes online or in person. Can be gifted

-2 Wellness Coaching sessions online or in person

-2 Personal training and nutrition session online or in person.(1 hour)

-1 Night stay in off-grid ocean front eco-conscious cabana in Belize

For donations of more than 100$ the compensation will be multiplied as the amount indicates. For example 1000$ would turn into 10 Wellness Coaching sessions (with a bonus free session of course), 5 night stay in cabana (1 free night of course) etc etc.

Each compensation will be discussed with each individual participant

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I appreciate any support you are able to provide

I will update this site when the website and book are ready to go live and as things progress.

Sending out good vibes from Belize

May