Help Us Launch the Good Medicine Well-derness Land Stewardship Project!
Let’s Meet a Time-Sensitive Matching Opportunity for the Good Medicine Well-derness Program
FireKeepers International is a Native American & Veteran run non-profit that has a rare opportunity to unlock matching funds through a matching grant so we can have a deeper impact in our local community- but we need to raise the matching dollars first.
How does $10,00 become $20,00? Because this campaign may be matched up to $10,000, every dollar given now can help us go twice as far.
This project is time-sensitive as a pre-requisite to unlock another grant we’ve been approved for. Having small ruminants on the land qualifies us for cost-shares of larger infrastructure needs like irrigation and permanent fencing. Yes, it kinda feels like putting the cart before the horse — but we don’t make the rules! In other words, bringing sheep onto the land is not just symbolic, therapeutic, and educational. It is a practical next step that helps open the door to long-term land stewardship funding.
There is also a very human story behind this flock… and a heritage story!
The Human Story
Mike, a new livestock mentor to FireKeepers, is selling his flock of sheep and is offering them to us at an extraordinary price. We hope to bring them onto the land. He has recently undergone surgery for cancer and is unable to continue caring for the sheep, but the income from their sale will help support him during his recovery. In addition to the practical uses for FireKeepers, your gift helps meet a real need for someone who has helped guide us. Ten percent of the funds raised will be allocated for benevolence to support Mike in his fight against cancer.
The Heritage Story
Two of these flock (a ewe and a ram) are Jacob’s sheep - the heritage sheep variety of the Biblical patriarch who came to be known as Israel. The entire flock has been domesticated, loved on, and handled in a way that makes them ideal for therapeutic encounters with traumatized veterans, visiting prospective homesteaders, and new shepherds (like us).
Your gift will help us complete this first phase of the Good Medicine Well-derness Land Stewardship Project, a Inidigenous-led resilience and land-based healing initiative in East Tennessee that facilitates healing from PTSD, Trauma, and addressing suicide-prevention for veterans and 1st responders.
What is the Good Medicine Well-derness Project?
Check out this link here: [insert link]
Funds raised will support:
• Small ruminants and initial animal-care setup
• Safety fencing, gates, and water-access materials
• Irrigation preparation and related land infrastructure
• High tunnel/hoop house completion, including re-tilling and erecting support structure
• Benevolence support for Mike as he recovers from cancer
This fundraiser accomplishes several important things at once:
• Helps FireKeepers meet the match requirement so donations can go further
• Places small ruminants on the land, helping us qualify for additional cost-share infrastructure support (that we’ve already been approved for)
• Advances the next phase of irrigation and permanent fencing readiness
• Creates the foundation for therapeutic animal experiences and land stewardship education
• Supports food resilience through high tunnel completion and hands-on growing opportunities
• Protects animals and participants through fencing, gates, and water-access improvements
• Provides timely support to Mike, our livestock mentor, during his cancer recovery
• Strengthens the Good Medicine Well-derness Program as a restorative place for resilience, learning, and community connection
These pieces work together. The sheep support land stewardship, therapeutic animal experiences, and eligibility for future infrastructure support. The fencing and water access protect both animals and participants. The high tunnel will help us grow food and create hands-on learning opportunities. And through this flock, we also have the opportunity to honor and assist a mentor who has helped us take this next step.
Through Good Medicine Well-derness, FireKeepers is creating a restorative place for resilience education, food and land stewardship, therapeutic animal experiences, and community connection.
Please give today to help us place small ruminants on the land, strengthen the foundation for future irrigation and fencing support, support Mike during his recovery, and launch this next phase of Good Medicine Well-derness.