In 1993 while Simply Living was in its infancy here in Central Ohio, the Northwest Earth Institute was in its infancy in Portland, OR. At that time Dick and Jeanne Roy had made a decision that Dick would leave his prestigious job in a law firm and become a full-time volunteer to work for the healing of our planet. Out of intentional explorations about how they might most effectively do that, they made a commitment to create an organization that would offer courses for individuals to participate more fully in the planetary healing.

In May of 1996, Marilyn and Bob Welker, who had been participants in the founding of Simply Living, contacted the Roys and asked to meet with them while on a trip on the Pacific Northwest. The Roys invited them to dinner, and Marilyn asked if Simply Living could begin offering the courses that the Roys had developed and been piloting in Oregon. Dick's reluctance to let the courses be offered outside of the Portland-Seattle areas was melted by the good fortune of a group in Wichita, KS, who received a very large grant to found an Earth Institute there.

So it was that in December of 1996, Dick came to Columbus, spoke his passion and vision, and the Earth Institute courses were successfully launched here in Central Ohio. Underlying all of this is the beautiful truth that through individuals and our commitments, great things can happen!

The courses are now offered through a project of Simply Living known as the Eastern Heartland Earth Institute or EHEI.

To the Eastern Heartland Earth Institute homepage.