Photo credit: Harry Connolly for Nature Sacred | Pictured: Remy Shaffer Gomes, President, Nature Sacred; Alden E. Stoner, CEO, Nature Sacred; and Erin Robertson, Chief Mission Officer, Nature Sacred.
|Press Release | National nonprofit now operates at city-park scale with 200 Sacred Places nationwide, built through community co-creation and sustained by long-term stewardship
ANNAPOLIS, MD – January 5, 2026 – Nature Sacred, a national organization dedicated to creating and supporting healing green spaces within communities, today announced significant leadership expansion and the completion of its ambitious five-year goal of adding 100 new Sacred Places to its pipeline. The organization now supports a national network of 200 Sacred Places – a scale comparable to the park systems of cities like San Francisco or Pittsburgh – with 135+ already open and thriving.
The announcement introduces Nature Sacred’s expanded executive leadership team: Remy Shaffer Gomes will serve as incoming President effective January 1, 2026, while Erin Robertson has been promoted to Chief Mission Officer. Alden Stoner continues as CEO, focusing on growing Nature Sacred’s impact and the movement, nationally and beyond. This leadership expansion positions the organization for its next strategic phase as it approaches its 30th anniversary in 2026.
Unlike traditional city park systems, Nature Sacred operates through a distinctive model rooted in community-led design, non-ownership of land, and ongoing stewardship of the people and relationships that sustain these spaces. Rather than owning or managing properties, Nature Sacred guides communities through a creative process that transforms design into community building, then maintains long-term relationships to support both the physical and emotional life of each space.
‘Cities maintain parks. We help communities create and sustain Sacred Places – green spaces born from care, and kept alive by it,’ said Alden Stoner, Nature Sacred’s CEO. ‘Across time, the reflections within them have become a living, temporal record of how nature connects and heals us. This leadership expansion ensures we can continue this work with the depth and care it deserves.’
The milestone comes as Nature Sacred has evolved from its origins as a family foundation to a sustainable national organization addressing public health, equity, and environmental well-being through its unique methodology connecting nature, design, and community health.
‘I first encountered Nature Sacred’s mission during the creation of the Garden of Reflection and Remembrance, the Sacred Place at University of Maryland College Park (my alma mater) more than 15 years ago. I feel grateful and excited to now join the team as Nature Sacred looks to scale our impact and expand our capacity to support communities in creating and sustaining the healing spaces they envision for themselves,’ said Remy Shaffer Gomes, incoming President.
Erin Robertson, who originated and launched the National Firesoul Network in 2018, and will serve as Chief Mission Officer, emphasized the importance of Nature Sacred’s long-term stewardship approach. ‘What has impacted me most in this work are the connections made with Firesouls – the people devoted to bringing nature, hope, and healing into the places they serve,’ Robertson said. ‘I see every day how their presence is what sustains our Sacred Places over time. The Firesoul Network was carefully crafted for them: a space where they are supported, properly resourced, able to share skills and experiences that strengthen their work. The bonds fostered within this Network demonstrate that the real magic isn’t just in building a Sacred Place, but in the ongoing care and connection that allows it to stay thriving and responsive for community long after the ribbon is cut.’
The organization’s next five-year strategic plan, ‘Finding a Better Way,’ builds on 30 years of learning and collaboration, advancing Nature Sacred’s unique approach to connecting communities with nature as a pathway to health and healing.
Nature Sacred was founded in 1996 and has since created a national network of Sacred Places that serve diverse communities – from hospitals to prisons, universities to underserved neighborhoods – across the United States. Each Sacred Place is developed through extensive community engagement and maintained through ongoing partnerships with local leaders called Firesouls.
