Board of Directors

Rachel Lietz, Vice President, finds her sanctuary in nature. Choosing a slower pace of life that honors and aligns with cycles and rhythms, she allows ample time to relish and play in the beauty of life. A natural curiosity to explore, learn, and grow has been a spark that has guided Rachel’s journey, both internally and externally. She strives to embrace a life of purpose and passion that continually unfolds in the most magical ways. With familial roots in farming and living off the land that were becoming distant stories passed down, Rachel felt the strong connection and interdependence with the land, the elements, animals, ancestors, food as medicine, and the relationships that weave us all together. Many of her interests and studies are in body/mind/spirit health and wellness, energy and sound therapies, embodiment and trauma-informed modalities, yoga and meditation, regenerative and therapeutic agriculture, outdoor recreation, homesteading, natural building, and decentralized thriving sustainable communities. She looks forward to sharing ideas, developing meaningful connections, and co-creating with the SLC family and wider
community!

Alan Eisner, Treasurer, is a piano teacher, homesteader, and former board member, The Dome School. Alan moved to the Illinois Valley in 1999. He has a BA in Finance from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is raising a family on a small farm near Cave Junction, and teaches piano lessons.

Margaret Hall Morton, Secretary, was born and raised on a small family farm in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains of southern Virginia. She volunteered as a family intervention worker for the Pace County Florida Guardian Ad Litem program from 1990 to 1994, while attending West Florida University. For ten years she worked as a youth social worker, helping to start grant-funded family integration programs throughout the country. She moved to the Illinois Valley in 2005, where her family owns and operates an off-grid farm, raising and preserving eighty percent of their annual produce consumption. She currently works with youth dealing with the foster care system. Margaret has been on both the SLC Board and Stewardship Committee, supporting us in various roles such as Membership Coordinator and now Secretary.

Meredith Hunt, Director, moved to the Illinois Valley 18 years ago. She is a homesteading mother/grandmother with many rural living skills. She set up the family’s off-grid solar system, cares for fruit trees and animals such as pigs, cows, goats, chickens, guineas, geese, turkeys, and rabbits. Meredith attended the Cave Junction Farmers Market with her family for the past decade. She has also participated in the IV Gleaning Project over the years, leading gleans, and distributing produce throughout the valley. She is currently lead organizer for our monthly Pop-Up Food Pantry.

Emily June Ring, Director, arrived to the Illinois Valley the year of the Biscuit Fire as an Americorps intern. She is a resident at the end of the Takilma road along the banks of Dunn Creek. She has been a previous Board Member of SLC and a longtime supporter of its events, fundraisers and programs. Since she believes that there is strength and health in diversity, she supports a variety of organizations and groups that all have their own pieces of the local puzzles they live in. She has worked as a health and crisis case manager, physical science technician for the National Park Service and other fun things. She was the Josephine County Assistant Emergency Manager and in Lane County she was on the Board for Friends of Buford Park & Mt. Pisgah and West Pisgah Community Visioning. She is a Board member for SOEA (Southern Oregon Emergency Aid). Emily currently splits her time between the Umpqua Valley and the Illinois Valley communities, and enjoys promoting skills, sharing, and sustenance in both.