A small charity, on a 12-acre homestead, doing the same work since 2020.
Retreats. Community gatherings. A free Halloween event for kids who would otherwise miss one. Now formalized as a 501(c)(3) so the books match what’s been happening on the ground.
What Watercourse Way does.
Watercourse Way is a small charitable organization based on a 12-acre homestead in unincorporated Contra Costa County. We host retreats, run community gatherings, and put on a free haunted house for disadvantaged kids every October.
We use the word community carefully. We mean the people who show up — neighbors, families from local shelters, autistic kids and their caregivers, friends, regulars.
Programs run through the charity.
The land is owned privately and leased to Watercourse Way at arm’s length. The farm is organic — never sprayed. Costs that used to come out of someone’s pocket are now formally the charity’s.
The work is the same as it’s been. The books are cleaner.
Programs
| Program | What it is | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Retreats on the homestead | Small groups, real food, real quiet. Connection and rest, not religious observance. | Active |
| Community gatherings | Gardening classes, farm events, art-collective evenings, neighborhood meetings. Free. | Active |
| Haunted house for kids | A free Halloween event built around disadvantaged kids in the East Bay. Sensory-sensitive hour. Autistic kids welcome and accommodated. | Annual · Oct |
| Sailing on Ka Nalu | Classes for disadvantaged and disabled kids on a 1979 Hardin Voyager 45 at Berkeley Marina. | Planned |
| Teaching the I Ching, plainly | A practical reflection tool taught in plain English at community gatherings. Not religious instruction. | Active |
| Spiritual book publishing | Small-run editions given to readers at community gatherings and at the haunted house each fall. | Active |
The haunted house — every October.
Built from scratch in the old dairy barn each fall. Free for any kid who comes. A quiet hour for sensory-sensitive kids; the rest of the night is exactly as loud and good as it should be.