We are part of a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization which was formed when one, Marjorie Bard, became an "overnight indigent" due to a "marital con man"/violent husband and the corrupt legal/court system that refused her right to even attend her own divorce trial. She lost her home, money, and belongings -- and became what she labeled a "Shadow Woman," living a hidden existence out of her vehicle on a deserted island. Bard learned how to become self-sufficient, beginning two small businesses on the island, and then returned to UCLA for (another) M.A., a Ph.D., and law school so she could focus on revealing what she saw and heard: other women who were also living an alternative lifestyle which avoided any government system which would have taken away the ability to build an upward spiral of life.
Dr. Bard has been writing and making documentary films which have to do not only with alternative lifestyles, but information about successful self-sufficiency strategies by women farmers and business creators. She also has been documenting country-wide societal problems concerning rural sprawl, innovative communities/new towns for "pioneers" including the homeless, and environmental destruction by county and town commissioners/planners who choose developers' money over ecology.
We have "been there, done that" regarding "being in crisis." Some have lost everything due to such events as job loss and no new employment in sight, illness that prevents a "typical" lifestyle, some type of scam/swindle/victimization/discrimination that others should know about, and anything to do with living an alternative lifestyle. Most of us are now over 60, but the events that altered our lives may have happened much earlier!
Marjorie Bard, Ph.D. can be "Googled" with some of her books/articles and current and past contributions to web sites. She heads up this web site but other members will add their resources, information, and links.
OUR EMAIL FOR THIS SITE IS:
Just email islandr@goeaston.net and explain that you are inquiring about this site.