50 and Beyond Shalom Stories
A community storytelling initiative honoring the people, experiences, relationships, and transformations that have shaped Shalom over the past fifty years.
Stories are being gathered through December 31, 2026.
Why This Project Matters
For fifty years, Shalom has touched the lives of thousands of people.
Some arrived searching for answers. Some came seeking healing, connection, community, or a deeper understanding of themselves. Many found friendships, teachers, experiences, and moments that stayed with them long after they left the mountain.
The Shalom 50th Anniversary Story Project is an invitation to preserve those memories and honor the people who helped shape this remarkable community.
Each story becomes part of a larger tapestry. One woven from countless experiences of growth, laughter, challenge, transformation, and belonging.
No one person can tell the story of Shalom.
Together, we can.
What Happens?
- Schedule a conversation
- Share your Shalom story
- Story is crafted into a first-person narrative
- Review and edit
- Choose title and photograph
- Story becomes part of the archive
The Growing Archive
Stories are currently being gathered from across generations of the Shalom community. Each interview preserves a unique experience, memory, or insight while adding another voice to the collective story of Shalom’s first fifty years.
As the archive grows, so does our understanding of the many ways Shalom has touched lives, fostered connection, inspired growth, and created a sense of belonging. Together, these stories become a living record of the community and the people who helped shape it.
Beyond
When I first added the word Beyond to my storytelling work, I wasn’t entirely sure what it meant.
Over time, I’ve come to understand that Beyond is about what continues.
Sometimes it is the story of someone we have loved and lost. A teacher, friend, family member, mentor, or fellow Shalomer whose presence continues to shape our lives long after they are gone.
Sometimes it is the story of a retreat, a conversation, a relationship, or a moment of transformation whose impact continues to unfold years later.
At Shalom, we often speak about the ripple effect of a single experience. One weekend, one insight, one connection can continue influencing a life long after the retreat has ended.
Beyond is an invitation to explore those stories.
The stories of what remains.
The stories of what continues.
The stories that are still living within us.
The Vision
The Shalom 50th Anniversary Story Project is an invitation to preserve the stories, memories, and experiences that have shaped the Shalom community over the past five decades.
The project will remain open through December 31, 2026.
As stories are gathered, they will become part of a growing digital archive. Once at least 50 stories have been collected, a commemorative book honoring Shalom’s first fifty years.
The book will serve as both a historical record and a celebration of the people, relationships, retreats, transformations, and moments that have shaped the community.
While the initial goal is 50 stories, every additional voice adds another layer to the story of Shalom.
Why This Project Matters to Me
I’ve been coming to Shalom for nearly fifteen years, and I often say it is everything I never knew I needed.
Over the years, I’ve attended retreats, participated in trainings, volunteered, cooked in the kitchen, laughed, cried, learned, and formed friendships that continue to shape my life. Each time I arrive on the mountain, I leave with something I didn’t know I was looking for.
Shalom has touched thousands of lives over the past fifty years. This project is my way of honoring that legacy and thanking the creators, stewards, teachers, leaders, volunteers, staff, and participants who have helped make Shalom what it is.
Writing has always been one of my love languages.
The Shalom 50th Anniversary Story Project is my way of giving back. One story at a time.
Support the Project
The unfolding of Shalom Stories and the broader living archive being created through Voices That Matter is sustained through community support.
Each conversation, story, and archive entry takes time, care, listening, and thoughtful stewardship. Your support helps make it possible to continue preserving the stories, wisdom, and lived experiences that might otherwise be lost.
If this work speaks to you and you would like to help it continue, financial contributions are deeply appreciated.
Thank you for supporting the preservation of stories that matter.
Entering the Story
At Shalom, story is more than an introduction.
It is often the doorway into the work itself.
Through story, we listen.
Through story, we connect.
Through story, we remember that we are not alone.
These stories continue that tradition.
What emerges is a meeting of three:
Storyteller
Listener
Community
Not every detail is included.
What remains is the essence.
The meaning it carries, the wisdom it offers, and the way it continues to live.
Storytelling as legacy. Listening as medicine.
Charlie-Walking the Camino with Shalom
My name is Charlie Hammerslough. I’ve been coming to Shalom Mountain since June 9, 2011. In the winter of 2019, I walked the last seventy
Barb-All of You is Welcome Here
What’s Cooking? What’s cooking? That’s how the mat trips always began. What’s cooking? When I think about my Shalom story, I have to start with
Kori-Coming Home to Love. Again and Again
Coming to Shalom I first came to Shalom when I was twenty-two years old. My uncle Doug had gone first, and when he came home,
Carol-Trust the Unfolding
The Beginning I first came to Shalom in 1977. My therapist suggested a retreat at Kirkridge led by protégés of Jerry and Elizabeth, and something
Craig-45 Years of Shalom
Finding Shalom I started going to Shalom in 1980, and looking back, I can honestly say it was one of the most important decisions of
Faye-I Am, I Can, I Will!
The Beginning John Bottone and I were married for 20 years, and we have two wonderful daughters. We remain quite close. I read his story,
Shalom is made of moments of Love.
Many spoken, many carried, many remembered in ways words can’t fully hold.
This project exists to listen, gather, and preserve what has lived here over time.
Because what has been shared here matters.