The Children’s Nature Retreat in Alpine is a ranch-styled retreat of 20 acres of natural terrain and home to more than 10 exotic animals and domesticated livestock from around the world. It was specifically designed to help children to discover and develop a sense of wonder for nature and its inhabitants with unstructured exploration and learning. Since its opening, it has offered tours for school children, private summer camps, memberships, daily passes and a plethora of special events to bring people an experience with nature.
But the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the recent fire in Alpine has hit the retreat hard financially. With a minimum monthly cost of $45,000 to operate the retreat, Executive Director Agnes Barrelet, said it is now surviving month to month, with no real sign of recovery in sight.
“I have incurred the costs of the running of the retreat and has put $4 million into the retreat projects,” she said. “I am not getting paid. That is why I need the help. We need more people, and we need more donations. It is not economical that the retreat still exists, and this retreat offers such a good life for all the animals that live here. It cost a lot of money to do this.”
Barrelet said that the retreat is more than a zoo, it is a space that heals people.
“The land is soothing and the presence of all the animals brings out your inner child or relieves you from daily stress,” she said. “Everybody that comes to the retreat feels good while they are on the grounds. They always tell me they feel so much better than what they did before they came into the retreat. That is the real power of the retreat. The animals here have a home, they are happy, they have space, so they are very at peace. There is no stress.” Barrelet said the largest problem is that the retreat is not getting the daily visitors and that the pandemic has made it worse. She said another thing is that there are many people, even that live in Alpine, that still do not know about the retreat and what it has to offer.
“I have spent thousands of dollars in advertising trying to get people to know about us,” she said. “I see people from Alpine coming here for the first time and saying they never heard about us. Everyone that knows about us and has come here before, they come back. We do not have a problem with retaining our guests, it is reaching out to the new ones. We need more exposure. I also think people are afraid that it might be too hot here in the summer, or that it is too far. But when they come, they talk about how beautiful the drive is out here, and the traveling time is not bad. I know what we do is great for the people and great for the animals, so that is not the issue.”
Barrelet said right now, without the donations, she has four weeks to sustain the retreat. “I was there four weeks ago, and we got enough donations to get us through the next four weeks,” she said. “We need that steady revenue coming in. Anytime we do a push, we get donations and it last about a month, then it dies down again, and we are back to square one. What we are missing the most is monthly donations. If we had more monthly donations, then we would have steady revenue coming in.”
Barrelet said she has worked seven days a week for the past six years and is unable to take a day off.
“I have to answer the phone, do computer work, post social media online, and I just cannot do things for free anymore and there are only so many hours in the day. I am doing everything except caring for the animals. I have someone overseeing that,” she said.
Barrelet said she recently held a fundraiser asking for $1,500 for big brushes for the horses, bison, and cattle. She said someone shut down the fundraiser and told her she should buy street brushes and build a totem to give the animals a brush.
“But I do not want to do that. I want to buy the right thing because those brushes, horses, in particularly get eye infections from those because it is not meant for that,” she said. “That is what people do not understand. I could give bad food, buy bad products for the animals and it would cost me half. But that is not what we are about.”
Barrelet said it is no longer providing tours for the elementary schools because the grant for those tours is gone. It was lost due to COVID, and she is not sure when they will be available again with the current state of the pandemic.
Barrelet said it does rely on volunteers, but COVID has had an impact on that also. Currently, St. Madeleine’s Sophie Center sends two groups that come in five days a week for two hours
“This is good because it gives them a job and being outside, we were able to continue during COVID,” she said. “We accept volunteers which is good, but it is not really what we need. Volunteers that are interacting and talking with our guests is good. But people helping with the animals, it is difficult because they need to come often to be able to work with us. Not many people have that time or commitment. What I have seen over the years, and it makes sense, is that the animals do not like change. They do not like to interact with new people when it comes to their care. They like continuity. It is very important that if I have volunteers they need to be here often. We have teenage volunteers that come in every Sunday and that works. The animals are used to them, the volunteers are used to the routine, and they can really help. Someone that comes in every three months there is not much that they can do.”
Barrelet said the retreat is in great need for volunteers that can help write grants, get the word out about the retreat, distribute brochures and some of the administrative parts of running the retreat.
There are several ways to help fund the retreat, said Barrelet. People can “adopt a pet,” donate different monthly levels to feed an animal, become a monthly donor, visit the retreat, and spread the word about your experience if you have visited the retreat.
“I am doing an event Dec. 12 for the Christmas tree lighting and a healing fair, and we are trying to get people to these events, but it is hard work, but it will help if we have more people on those days and that would be good,” she said. “And the field trips. If schools could come back for the field trips. Before the pandemic this was about 30% of our revenues. So, we have been without those revenues for almost two years now. It is hitting the pie little by little by not having those revenues every month. I think that teachers are scared, schools do not want to deal with it. And with COVID still here it is going to take a while and I am not sure if it will ever come back at this point. The virus is not going anywhere.”
Due to the cost and the lack of visitors during the pandemic, the Retreat is only open Saturdays and Sundays for now. Barrelet said she could not justify having it open when people were not coming through the gates.
“On the weekdays, we do private tours, group tours and if someone wants a guided tour, I will do that. It makes more sense to have one family or group, and I am guiding it, so it cost nothing to the retreat. This is better than paying someone to be at the ticket booth for four days to make $200. It does not make sense to do that,” she said. “If I had not had the financial situation that I have faced over the past two years I would not be stressed because I love what we are doing, and it makes me happy. Seeing our animals happy, caring for them, even when it is hard.”
On Dec. 2, Barrelet said they had to make a difficult decision. Orion, its gentle blind alpaca, who has been at the retreat since its opening in Judy’s little zoo, his back legs would no longer support his weight so the retreat made the decision to end his suffering.
“It was heartbreaking, it was hard, but at the same time it is beautiful,” she said.
Barrelet said the retreat has some upcoming events and hopes that they draw enough attention to get people there, learn more about the retreat, and help raise funds to keep the retreat open and caring for its animals.
On Dec. 12, Santa will be at the Retreat for photos beginning at noon, the shop opens at 10 a.m., and there will be hot cocoa and cookies at the Christmas Tree lighting ceremony at 4 p.m.
There is also a Healing Fair at the Retreat from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., where the retreat is inviting healing professionals of the mind, body, emotion, and spirit to share their healing gifts.
On Dec. 19, the Retreat is hosting a Healing Heart Seminar from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., a workshop for anyone that is feeling stuck and unable to move one after a romantic relationship breakup with someone who had a personality disorder such as narcissism presented by Dr. Pontrea Dianati and Agnes Barrelet. Enjoy the grounds, connect with the animals, relax in an indoor jacuzzi, full spectrum sauna and a catered lunch by the pool. Reserve a spot at
Reserve a spot at info@ChildrensNatureRetreat. org. For more information visit www.childrensnatureretreat. org.