Oct 01 2024 48 mins
Join us this week for a conversation with Hannah Schwartz about her life devoted to the service of community and people with disabilities in the context of the Camphill Movement. She was a founder and longtime leader of the Heartbeet Lifesharing Camphill Village in Hardwick, VT and is now engaged with the founding of a new community called Riverflow, in Monkton, VT. Riverflow aspires to create wholeness in life for everyone who is part of and connected to the community. United by meaningful work, community members with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities form friendships, gain vocational skills, and pursue dignified, self-directed lives.
Hannah formed and cofounded Heartbeet Lifesharing in 2000. She served as the community ’ s Executive Director and Development Director, drawing on her lifelong experience with social therapy and her commitment to bringing the lifesharing philosophy to community-based care for adults with developmental disabilities in Vermont. Hannah dedicated over 20 years to Heartbeet and during her tenure there joined national and statewide conversations and action to expand meaningful options for adult life, removing barriers and increasing opportunities for adults with developmental disabilities.
Hannah pursued a Masters in Special Education at Antioch New England, graduating in 2016. In 2020, Hannah felt called to leave Heartbeet Lifesharing, to deepen and expand her understanding of diversity, equity, justice and inclusion, through a social work and policy lens, at the University of Vermont in their Masters of Social Work program. Hannah has dedicated her working life to embodying alternative, diverse systems of care with a special focus on neurology. She is a social researcher, innovator and leader in cutting edge thinking who is dedicated to encouraging all to reach their highest potential.
Riverflow Community: https://www.riverflowcommunity.org/
Heartbeet Lifesharing: https://heartbeet.org/
Camphill Association of North America: https://www.camphill.org/