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Sacramento Dharma Center

Imagine – a Message from the Board

Imagine

In 1980, not long after Jim Hare had moved from Eugene, Oregon to San Francisco, John Lennon was killed. The next day at the S.F. Zen center, all attendees of the morning service were invited to come to the altar and offer incense in honor of the former Beatle. This heartfelt offering for someone Jim admired and respected confirmed his decision to move for the sake of practicing in community.

About three decades later, now living in Sacramento, Jim had a spark of imagination—maybe if three local sanghas pooled their resources, they could buy a building—creating a permanent home for Buddhist practice in this region. Now, eight years after moving into Sacramento Dharma Center, we are working to secure its future.

Securing the Legacy

Since its founding, the Dharma Center has truly become a place for “Buddha’s wisdom and compassion in community.” The best way to continue the legacy is to reduce—maybe even eliminate—the mortgage, our biggest single expense. Free of this $3,000 monthly burden, it will be easier to transition to leadership by a younger generation. Newcomers want to serve, but with family and career responsibilities they do not have as much time to devote as the (mostly retired) founders. The move from an all-volunteer staff to a paid staff is the way of the future.

Within Reach–A Debt-Free SDC

Three years ago, we began a fundraising campaign to pay down $150,000 on our mortgage before we had to refinance in 2026. Astoundingly, with two years to go we have already paid down $250,000 of debt and now owe just under $132,000!

We need your help to continue this success. This year, four amazing donors have together offered $1 to $1 matching funds up to $42,000. This sets our campaign goal at $84,000. We humbly ask for your support to meet or go beyond this goal.

No Discouraging Words

Now it can be told—Jim Hare of Valley Streams Zen Sangha was the uncredited interviewer and writer of our prior profiles of Helen Hobart and Barbara Colton. This year, Dell Richards turns the spotlight on him.

Within days of his retirement in 2008, Jim Hare left home for a three-week intensive retreat at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center. On returning to Sacramento, he began a series of one-on-one conversations with acquaintances and friends within the Buddhist meditation community. Jim put forth a vision for a shared home for Buddhist practice, and asked, “Do you share this vision? Would you be willing to work on this together?” No one said a discouraging word, and from those conversations the effort to create the Sacramento Dharma Center was born.

Many hands have shared the work since those early days. After a year spent fleshing out the vision and forming a new nonprofit, the next order of business was to begin raising money.

“From the inception of the board in 2010 to 2016, we were always fundraising, which was very difficult,” Jim said. “We had to find the courage to ask people to give money for a vision.” After taking a workshop called “The Soul of Money,” the original board members began making the rounds to Sangha members, asking for pledges of $5,000 from each. Thanks to those initial donors and a few who were inspired to make larger donations, the board ultimately raised nearly half a million dollars to put towards a down payment.

Jim decided to leave the Dharma Center Board in 2015 to concentrate on Zen priest ordination. “I put a lot of time and effort into the beginning of the Dharma Center, but I was becoming more convinced that it was ‘now or never’ to complete the priest ordination that my teachers were encouraging.” Jim received the precepts in 2016 in a ceremony attended by many Dharma friends. He continues to stay involved in SDC committees. Last year, Jim and his wife Karen Hamilton designed and helped tile artist Shelby Kennedy install the new monument sign near the front entrance.

“The stability of the Dharma Center may be taken for granted now. But as our volunteers and donors get older, we need to do everything possible to ensure that stability continues. Paying off the mortgage in May 2026 will greatly contribute to that goal.”

“Compared to the first 25 years — when we had to deal with renting from other churches, synagogues, and temples—it has been such a boon to have a place we can use all the time. We are offering so much more than we could think of doing back then. We have created a refuge for Buddhist practice; a refuge that serves the Sacramento community.”

Owning the Dharma Center outright is within our grasp. With the help of generous donors like you we can pay off the mortgage in 2026 and leave a debt-free Dharma Center to serve a new generation of practitioners and seekers.

Thank you,

For the Dharma Center Board

P.S. Please return your donation in the enclosed envelope (indicate “Mortgage” on the memo line of your check). Or click the Donate button at the top of our homepage: sacdharma.org.

P.P.S. If you are 70½ or older and have a Traditional IRA, you can donate to the Sacramento Dharma Center by making a “Qualified Charitable Distribution” from your IRA, and you won’t have to pay taxes on the money you withdraw. This article explains how to do this: https://www.investopedia.com/taxes/can-i-use-money-my-ira-donate-charity/

Onward!

When Susan Orr was the Sacramento Dharma Center’s Board President, she signed-off her emails with the single word: Onward! – expressing her cheerful optimism that we would succeed in our quest to buy a building. And it is onward that we continue to go, though without our beloved Susan, who died in 2018. And as of this year, without Linda Dekker, who served SDC so selflessly from its inception through 2021.

Our founders thought of the Dharma Center as a legacy project, something precious they could leave to future generations – a home for Buddhist practice. Our current Board is committed to preserving and extending their legacy. One goal is to leave the property debt-free by paying down the mortgage. A second is to nurture younger leaders who will carry on managing, improving, and defining what the Dharma Center will be.

To accommodate the needs of younger leaders, the Dharma Center will need more paid staff and services. This is already happening and stretching our budget, and these needs and costs will undoubtedly increase. This is the reason why paying off the mortgage – our biggest single expense – remains a top priority.

Asking for Your Help

Two years ago, we began a five-year fundraising campaign to pay down the balance of our mortgage, which now stands at just under $300,000. We’ve had two tremendously successful campaigns, raising over $70,000 each year, all of which went to pay-down the mortgage to its current level.

The goal is to keep replicating this success. This year two donors have together offered $1 to $1 matching funds, up to $25,000. This sets our campaign goal at $50,000. We humbly ask for your support to meet or go beyond this goal.

‘The Way is to Volunteer’

The Sacramento Dharma Center (SDC) thrives due to the effort of volunteers and committed donors. Among the people who check those boxes, Barbara Colton stands out. Barbara, stepped into the role of SDC Board President in early 2019. She will finally “term-out” of her Board position early next year, so we asked her to look back at her spiritual path and her motivation for such long service.

SDC: Please tell us about your personal path of practice.

Barbara Colton: I came to the Dharma late in life, beginning with yoga practice in the 1990’s. My first meditation retreat was at Chochmat HaLev, a Jewish spiritual center in Berkeley. Though my spiritual bones were not very strong, I persisted and began to attend retreats at Spirit Rock, the Insight Meditation Center in
Massachusetts, and started going to Sacramento Insight  Meditation (SIM). I completed the two-year Dedicated Practitioners Program at Spirit Rock, which included five long retreats, as well as the Heavenly Messengers Program with Frank Ostaseski, which provided support for my work then as a hospice volunteer.

SDC: What motivates your spirit of service?

Barbara Colton: I’ve learned that if you want to get involved in something, the way is to volunteer. Shortly after I joined SIM, I volunteered to set up the meditation hall; eventually I was on the SIM board. I wanted to experience how a board could work based on Dharma principles. When the SDC Board President position
became vacant, I told the Board that “president skills” were not my strong suit, but I would do it. I hoped to improve my leadership skills and to contribute to the ongoing health of the Board according to the Dharma.

SDC: What are your hopes for the future of SDC?

Barbara Colton: The Dharma Center needs to have a sense of identity that new people can understand. We are working on that. We produced a poster explaining the role of SDC and we are working on another one as the run-up to this fundraising campaign. All our efforts are so that SDC can to continue to exist and be a Dharma home for people who come here.

SDC: You have been a consistent donor to SDC. Would you talk about that?

Barbara Colton: One of the important teachings for me is Dana (generosity, giving). I’ve learned that it is important to support those things that one believes in. SDC is an expression of that. For me the Dharma started out as a conceptual scaffolding. Through my practice I’ve come to experience the truth of the teachings. The Buddha’s insights are profound. For me the Dharma works, and I would like there to continue to be a home for people to explore how the Dharma works for them too. I think the crude expression is ‘you put your money where your mouth is;’ or more accurately for me, ‘put your money where you want to be
(silent, on a cushion.)’

SDC: Do you have a message for prospective donors?

Barbara Colton: People can see and enjoy the investments we have made in this building: the new bathrooms, the remodeled West Hall, new roofs and solar panels, the North Garden area, the fledgling trees in the ‘back forty.’ What they can’t see is the $3,000 per month mortgage payments, our biggest single expense. Donating to pay down the mortgage is the most effective way to ensure the future of the Dharma Center.

Thank you,

Kenny Bender

For the Dharma Center Board

Making a Donation

To make a contribution of any amount, please press the button below and you’ll be connected to the Dharma Center donation page. Thank you!

P.P.S. If you are 70½ or older and have a Traditional IRA, you can donate to the Sacramento Dharma Center by making a “Qualified Charitable Distribution” from your IRA, and you won’t have to pay taxes on the money you withdraw. This article explains how to do this:
https://www.investopedia.com/taxes/can-i-use-money-my-ira-donate-charity/

Or mail your donation to Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA 95826, and indicate “Mortgage Pay Down” on your check.Thanks!

MEMORIAL SERVICE HONORING THE LIFE OF KYŌJI LINDA DEKKER

Please join us on July 9th, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. to honor and celebrate the life of Kyōji Linda Dekker. The memorial service will be held at the Sacramento Dharma Center, with a reception to follow. We would appreciate those attendees who are able to bring a snack, sweet, or fruit to share.

The Sacramento Dharma Center and its sustaining sanghas offer their deepest gratitude and respect to Kyōji Linda Dekker, one of the founders of SDC and Valley Streams Zen Sangha. Linda passed from this life on April 2nd after a long illness, surrounded by her family and friends. She is survived by her son Bryn, partner Nuala, and grandchild Parlee, as well as her best friends, Gwen Roedel Green and Garry Green, her honorary grandson Nathaniel Green, many close friends, and Dharma brothers and sisters.

A devoted practitioner, Linda became a student of Tenshin Reb Anderson in the late 1990s and practiced with him in residence at Green Gulch Farm. She served as Ino (head of the meditation hall) at VSZS from 2015 to 2018. Linda’s commitment to the Sacramento Dharma Center can be traced all the way to the roots of the organization. She was a founding member of Valley Streams Zen Sangha and a strong contributor in the early days of the Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group. This relationship placed her in a position to help in drawing the sanghas together and encouraging the conversations that led to the vision of sharing a permanent home and future.

Linda strongly supported the idea to seek out a shared space for inter-sangha practice and committed herself to making the venture a reality. She served on the Inter-Sangha Coordinating Committee as a representative for Valley Streams and worked to find the best path forward for securing a home for the sanghas. After a year of discussion, the group decided to form a nonprofit, the Sacramento Dharma Center, to act as the entity responsible for finding, purchasing, and maintaining a permanent home for VSZS, SBMG, and Sacramento Insight Meditation.

Linda’s contributions to the formation of the SDC were immense and began with the work of incorporating the nonprofit, creating its structure, and pursuing a tax-exempt status. She served on the SDC Board of Directors and dedicated herself to the challenging work that the board faced in securing a property for SDC. Linda and other board members took a fundraising seminar and worked together to build the network of donors that sustain SDC and our sanghas to this day. The board’s search committee diligently looked for properties that would accommodate the needs of the three sanghas. Finally, in 2016, the property on Wissemann Drive was presented as a possible site and Linda toured the location along with SDC president Susan Orr. Seeing the promise of the property, the board made the decision to purchase it. Linda’s leadership and dedication to the project were crucial through the long process of negotiating the purchase, securing the loan, and beginning renovations once the sale was finalized.

Linda would serve a total of eight years on the SDC board, while also sitting at times on the VSZS board and commanding a variety of roles and responsibilities. She served on the SDC Art and Design Committee, and worked to enrich the aesthetic and spiritual environment that makes SDC the inviting and peaceful refuge it is today. Linda also served as the first office manager for SDC, taking on the immense duties of managing the property, maintaining the financial health of the organization, and scheduling events. As Jerry Simpkins, an early SDC board member and friend, remembered, “Linda always showed up. She was there for all and provided support and ideas and presence for all whom she encountered.” In every room of the Dharma Center, in every area of its history and workings, and in the deep practice of its sanghas and members, Linda’s contributions can be found.

Even with all of her service to the Dharma, Linda will be remembered best as a friend and a fellow traveler of Buddha’s Way. “Linda was an extraordinary friend, a friend who was direct, honest and supportive in the truest sense of those virtues,” remembers John Penfield, a long-time friend and VSZS member. She shared her passions and interests with her friends, from literature and movies to gardening to cooking, and was always happy to swap a book or recipe recommendation. Decades of deep practice and intensive retreats created strong friendships with many as Linda supported the Dharma path of her fellow practitioners and encouraged their efforts.

Through her sustained practice in the Dharma and her devotion to the strength and future of the SDC mission, Linda walked the bodhisattva path. The communities that she brought together and supported recognize her selfless and compassionate work in creating a home for their sanghas and a place to offer the Buddha Way. She worked tirelessly for the benefit of all practitioners who seek out SDC for community, healing, and authentic practice. Linda will be deeply missed by our community as we move forward to honor her legacy with sustained practice and a dedication to celebrating the Dharma. We invite all to join us in honoring Linda’s memory on July 9th at the Sacramento Dharma Center.

Getting Time on Our Side – a message from the Board

Climbing the Mountain

A single step, then another. It’s how to reach the top of the highest mountain – or accomplish any goal.

The goal in front of us is steep — to cut our Center’s mortgage in half in five years. And with your help, we can get there. If we make extra payments each year — small steps – we can cut our debt in half by May of 2026, when our loan comes due and we refinance.

What is most exciting is that an anonymous donor is helping us get started on this multiyear campaign! For every dollar pledged, we will receive one dollar in matching funds, up to $10,000. In addition, this generous benefactor will donate an additional $10,000!

That means that we can reach our initial goal of paying down the mortgage by $30,000 at the end of this year with your help raising another $10,000 in donations from our supporters.

Why Undertake this Journey?

Our mortgage payment is our Center’s biggest financial burden — almost $3,000 a month. If we can pay down our loan, the road ahead will be much smoother.

Five years into running a Dharma Center, we have learned that taking care of the building and grounds solely with volunteer labor is not sustainable. Already we’ve found it necessary to hire outside services for lawn care, cleaning, and bookkeeping.

The work of our volunteer building and office managers has been simply extraordinary, but soon we will have to pay for more office and building administration services.

By reducing our mortgage debt, we’ll free up resources to pay for needed services. With paid staff, we’ll be able to enjoy our programs and classes, secure in the knowledge that day-to-day operations are being taken care of. We’ll be able to concentrate on our core mission: building and maintaining a shared sanctuary for Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

Getting Time on Our Side

It makes financial sense to begin to tackle our mortgage now. The clock is ticking — our ten-year loan comes due in less than six years. When the balloon payment is due, we plan to refinance our debt.

It is almost guaranteed that the loan market will be a lot harsher. The very low interest rate (3.81%) we obtained in 2016 will be hard to find in 2026.

If we can pay down our outstanding loan to $200,000 in 2026, instead of $400,000 without prepayments, we’ll lessen the shock of projected higher interest rates.

The benefits of mortgage pay down are IMMEDIATE. Reducing the principal you owe today means that you save money in the long run. A $30,000 prepayment in December 2021 on our existing loan will save $5,715 in interest charges by the time our loan comes due.

Make a Donation online here on the website or send your contribution of any amount to Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA 95826, and indicate “Mortgage Pay Down” on your check.” And thank you!

If you have any questions, please email Larry Smith, SDC Treasurer at sdc3111@outlook.com

With gratitude,

Sacramento Dharma Center Board

P.S. We are launching our mortgage pay down in part due to popular demand. Now that our critical building renovation and repair projects are behind us, it’s time to improve the financial future of SDC.

One Step at a Time…

Dear Sangha Friends a Letter from the Board

Dear Sangha Friends,

Nearing the end of this extraordinary year, in which our commitment to the Dharma and practice has sustained and supported us, we find ourselves ever grateful for you, our friends and supporters! Your continued generosity has enabled us to pay the bills and maintain our Dharma Center, even though we have been unable to dwell in our home since March. We want to take this opportunity to update you and express our gratitude.

With the safety of our Sangha members uppermost in mind, sadly, we do not know when we will be able to resume our usual meetings. We are encouraged by how well everyone has adapted their full schedule of activities, including weekly sittings and Dharma talks, one-day retreats, classes, book groups, board and committee meetings, and a range of other activities to online. Almost all programming is now conducted via Zoom videoconferencing. Some Sanghas have even reported increased participation in many events!

Because of the success of online programming, the Dharma Center Board has taken steps to respond to the Sustaining Sanghas’ expected need for enhanced online capabilities. When we are finally able to open our doors to meeting in-person, this new technology will allow sangha members to participate who otherwise would not be able to–whether because of distance, transportation, illness or physical impairment, or other factors. When COVID restrictions are relaxed, a number of sangha members may still be reluctant to resume in-person participation. To address these needs, we have acquired the audio/video hardware to allow remote participation in onsite programming when those activities resume.

Also, this year we had an amazing response to our appeal for funds to pay for a new roof! And then you really stepped up again to our matching funds challenge, and donated the entire amount needed for the solar panels that will be installed this December. We anticipate the full benefits of the solar panels will begin to accrue in mid 2021. We are pleased to have taken this step towards sustainability, acknowledging that how we live in the world is an expression of the Dharma in our lives. Deepest bows for your amazing support.

For now, our Dharma hall is quiet and empty but for the cushions and chairs awaiting the return of Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. We continue to rely on your generosity to sustain the Center as we prepare for a possible reopening sometime next year. We anticipate that the Center will require additional income to support vital services that have been provided on a volunteer basis until now. So far our generous monthly donors pay for most of the everyday expenses of maintaining the building. These monthly gifts from sustaining donors provide stability. It is not surprising that during this year the number of monthly donors has decreased. It is vital for survival that this trend reverses in the coming year!

If you are not yet a monthly sustaining donor, or are a lapsed donor, dana at any level is much appreciated. Pledging a monthly donation on our website with your credit card or arranging with your bank to send a bank check automatically each month generates a stable stream to keep the teachings alive. Monthly amounts of any size add up to a significant gift over the year, really helping with budgeting, and are deeply appreciated. One-time, or annual donations, whether towards our general budget or in response to a specific need, are also most welcome, especially as the year draws to a close!

With your help we can continue to provide a home for our Sanghas and a refuge to all who seek an end to suffering. Please join us in making a gift to the Center today.

With gratitude, wishing you a healthy and safe new year ahead,

Barbara Colton, President, on behalf of the Dharma Center Board

P.S.

Did You Know?!!…

This year the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act offers significant tax incentives to stimulate charitable giving. All taxpayers (those who itemize and those who use the standard deduction) can deduct $300 in charitable giving to public nonprofits in 2020. And for those who itemize their taxes, the CARES Act significantly raises the amount of the charitable giving deductible from 60% of a filer’s adjusted gross income (AGI) to 100% of AGI. There’s never been a more compelling moment to give!  More details HERE

Donate here now

Or mail checks made out to Sacramento Dharma Center to
3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, 95826, attention, Linda Dekker

Fall News ~ Outdoor Events Now Permitted

Outdoor Events Now Permitted

Indoor events at Sacramento Dharma Center (SDC) are still on hold due to coronavirus, but we are now allowing limited outdoor meetings on the grounds of the Center. Sanghas were given the green light at the end of September and scheduling for outdoor events is underway.

To keep everyone safe, organizers and participants must follow a set of guidelines developed by SDC’s Committee on Re-opening. For example, participants must be fully masked and must stay six feet from other participants at all times. The bathrooms will be open, but socially-distanced queues must be maintained. A sangha member who has undergone training in the SDC safety protocols must be present and ensure that the guidelines are being followed.

Scheduling at least three days in advance is crucial as only one outdoor event per day may be held on the property. Only groups that have previously met in the SDC and are sponsored by one of the sanghas or SDC may schedule an event.

The complete protocols governing outdoor use will soon be posted on our website, sacdharma.org. To have an event coordinator trained and schedule an event, please go to https://sacdharma.org/scheduling/.

Valley Streams Zen Sangha held an outdoor retreat on October 10th

Indoor Re-opening Not on the Horizon

Resumption of indoor meetings at the Center is not likely in 2020. After taking into account the sentiments of many members of the sangha community and the level of coronavirus risk in the larger community, the SDC Committee on Re-opening (made up of health professionals and members of each of the sustaining sanghas) concluded that the time was not yet right. The committee is now on stand-by and will be called back to develop policies guiding indoor use when re-opening the building seems warranted.

New signs!

Video Streaming is Here to Stay

Our three sustaining sanghas had to adapt quickly and go online at the start of the pandemic. Chances are that video streaming of events will continue and become a permanent component of in-person events even after indoor meetings resume. To prepare for this hybrid future, the Center is purchasing the equipment necessary to conduct interactive video meetings via platforms like Zoom and to transmit live-streamed events. All this technology (a video camera, a laptop, and microphones) will be placed on a portable video cart and will be available for use by trained sangha members. SDC’s Wi-Fi system has also been upgraded to provide better coverage throughout the building and our internet service has been upgraded to provide faster speed. We owe a big thanks to the members of the Audio-Visual Committee.

New signs part 2