1440 Multiversity: Creating Hope for Living Well

We look forward to welcoming you back in 2021 as we expand our philanthropy and community-building efforts

With a heartfelt mission of creating hope for living well, 1440 Multiversity will increase its support of organizations and individuals seeking to inspire and enrich the world as it moves toward a strategic public campus reopening in 2021, prioritizing philanthropic initiatives, charitable giving and community building.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many retreat centers, hotels, resorts and other business closed their doors due to government regulations and limitations on social gathering. 1440 Multiversity has used this time to build and strengthen strategic partnerships, develop stronger communities, and create new programs in support of those in need impacted by current prevalent health, social and environmental challenges. Among several exciting changes, 1440 will expand its grant and scholarship program offerings to organizations and individuals – unbound by differences – to come together in community to explore, learn, reflect, connect and reenergize themselves through conversations around advocacy, community building, healthy living, belonging and unity, creating hope for living well by positively impacting the way people live, lead, love, work and wonder.

One of the first new grant programs to launch is Healing Our Healthcare Heroes, an all-inclusive campus and online initiative for frontline medical workers suffering from the moral injury of COVID-19. The initiative is designed to help these providers cope with the rigors of their work by learning to heal and care for themselves.  

"The decision to proactively suspend public on-campus programming until 2021 in order to focus on community building and philanthropic efforts felt like the right decision to make," said Joanie and Scott Kriens, co-creators of 1440 Multiversity. "While we are saddened to pause the work we so deeply care about and believe in, we remain optimistic that our future charitable program offerings at 1440 – led by our Healing Our Healthcare Heroes initiative and with the support of our strategic partners – will provide opportunity for everyone to live more productive and healthy lives while serving the global community in more impactful and relevant ways."

Community Building and Support During COVID-19
Building, supporting and maintaining community have been at the forefront of 1440 Multiversity efforts during the COVID-19 crisis and the 75-acre campus was quickly designated as an "essential business" by the County of Santa Cruz, Office of Emergency Services. In an eight-week span through April and May, the 1440 Multiversity team of over 30 culinary professionals designed new menus and prepared 40,000 nutritious meals that were distributed to more than two dozen county shelters and service sites to nourish community members in need. 1440 Multiversity also gifted the use of 15,000 square feet of its Redwood conference complex so the County could establish an Alternative Care Site to help expand local healthcare capacity in the community.

As Santa Cruz County was ravaged by the CZU Lightning Complex Fire this fall, a strategic community partnership with fellow 501(c)(3) nonprofit Operation BBQ Relief allowed 1440 to support the region even further, preparing and serving another 21,000 meals to fire evacuees and first responders during a five-week span in August and September. Through its Healing Our Community program, 1440 subsequently provided housing and meals for more than 30 families evacuated and left homeless by the wildfires.

Throughout the pandemic, 1440 Multiversity has remained committed to immersive wellness, and simultaneously launched its 1440 Multiversity Online Learning platform to continue its deep community engagement and keep its mission work alive virtually through webinars and classes while offering health and wellbeing resources in partnership with its renowned faculty. Accessible through the newly launched 1440.org, visitors to the site will continue to enjoy new complimentary content, including a special section dedicated to the 1440 Teaching Kitchen supplemented by a chef-led instructional video series centered around healthy and nutritional cooking basics. The new Eat Well Live Well series will debut in December.

Healing Our Healthcare Heroes and Creating Hope for Living Well
1440 Multiversity is raising funds to support its charitable community programs, starting with Healing Our Healthcare Heroes – a three-day, two-night all-inclusive workshop at the 1440 Multiversity campus (supplemented by a 12-month online continuing edu­­cation program) that provides frontline healthcare workers the opportunity and time to heal, connect and care for themselves as they cope with the fear and anxiety caused by the COVID-19 crisis. Born out of a debt of gratitude for the tireless efforts of these providers, the invitation program is free for frontline medical workers and will be funded by the generous support of corporate sponsors, foundations and donors in order to prioritize the mental health and physical, emotional and spiritual rejuvenation of healthcare staff.  

1440 Multiversity will look to further expand its support resources as it embarks on new impactful initiatives and fosters community building for the greater good of the global population, and the organization's mission of creating hope for living well is embodied in the brand pillars and offerings.

"We co-created 1440 Multiversity as a safe place to allow creativity to flourish and energy to renew," Joanie and Scott Kriens said. "A major focus of the organization in 2021 and beyond will center around deepening community and program support in healthcare, social impact, inner wellbeing, authentic leadership, and enriching the world, among many other categories that we are intent on helping."

With these deepened focuses at the forefront of its work, 1440 Multiversity will continue to welcome mission-aligned corporate and nonprofit groups to campus to work on essential social issues that positively impact and enrich the lives of their employees and communities. As the campus safely and systematically reopens in 2021, guests may once again be invited to book a Rest & Renewal stay, impactful learning program, private group off-site or join a scheduled community event featuring popular 1440 Signature Classes. Significant campus upgrades have been implemented to optimize guest and employee health, including the conversion of shared facilities into private accommodations accompanied by a comprehensive COVID-19 safety prevention plan.

Those interested in supporting or becoming a charitable partner for Healing Our Healthcare Heroes or other charitable programs at 1440 Multiversity – whether an individual, foundation or corporate donor – are encouraged to learn more by visiting www.1440.org/donate or emailing CreateHope@1440.org.