Brookwood Community

At the Brookwood Community, we cherish the slow life. We plan our schedules around surprise conversations, unintended celebrations, or pauses for prayer. When you take just a single step on campus, God willing, you will feel it. Can you imagine stepping into a world where every motion is done, every word is spoken with another in mind? Every action has consequences and the consequences here are glorious.

If you are unfamiliar with Brookwood, allow me to introduce you. Since 1985, Brookwood has educated and enabled hundreds of men and women with intellectual and functional disabilities to hold full-time jobs, live in a world built around them, and most importantly give back. The Brookwood Citizens hold jobs in any of our 9 enterprises: The Café, horticulture, ceramics, stone-casting, leather-work, and cement are just a few. With the fundamental (albeit uncommon) understanding that all humans are endowed by God with gifts and talents, Brookwood provides the tools and environment for the Citizens to contribute. When this understanding is held, amazing things happen. Primarily, the Citizens have become some of the proudest, happiest, and most dignified individuals on the planet. Next, the profound gifts of our Citizens are displayed in the tens of thousands of products they craft. These one-of-a-kind, handmade items are sold to the public and spurn profits that ALL come back to support the community. This has allowed Brookwood to abstain from receiving government funding. By freeing up government funds to be used elsewhere, we believe this freedom we strive to hold is a benefit to all of society.

The journey to create Brookwood began in 1957, when founder Yvonne Streit and her family faced the challenge of a disabled child, their one-year-old daughter Vicki. There was clearly a divine purpose at work – even though that purpose was far from clear at the beginning. Yvonne’s story, Everybody’s Got a Seed to Sow: The Brookwood Story, can be found here. The proceeds from the sale of each copy of this book go to Brookwood, its citizens, and its outreach programs.

We would love to host you for a tour and lunch, to shop, or volunteer so that you may see for the first time or for the hundredth time what a community built with God’s design looks and feels like.