Hello
Bob Berg
Founder & Visionary
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About Me
Tell us a little about yourself and where you come from:
I was born in Chicago, Illinois a looooong time ago. I was married once, and I have a son and daughter and 3 grandkids. I am a Vietnam era, non combat veteran. At this stage of my life I'm an Auricular Acupuncture Technician, and I'm an ordained Animist Minister with the title of Parson, which makes me a Parson person.
What experiences have shaped who you are today?
There are 2 main experiences which immediately come to mind. The first one happened when i was in my 30's soon after my divorce. I jumped out of an airplane and survived. Luckily I did have a parachute on. I did that twice for fun and decided twice was enough...but that experience literally changed me. I am not the same person who first climbed into that airplane. I was a meek, quiet, go to work-come home, boring nobody. After the first parachute jump I said to myself "If I can do that I can do ANYTHING!" I feel I have been two completely different people in one lifetime.
The second experience was otherworldly. I had a one man construction company in northern Illinois. I had a small work van full of tools. A very important tool was a bottle of tequila I kept under the driver's seat for easy access. I knew I had a problem, but was skilled at ignoring that.
Early one morning on the way to a job I had a thought, a feeling, an insight that right now was the time to quit drinking. As soon as I had that thought a powerful energy entered me and the compulsion to drink was completely taken away. Immediately after that I was given a sign that I was healed from the fatal disease of alcoholism that I had...the clouds parted and the sun shined directly on me. I think we all have a Higher Power and i believe that spiritual energy came from my Higher Power. This was my miraculous experience.
Afterwards, i was thinking "Why me?" Why have i been cured of what to most is a fatal disease? The answer has come slowly to me, not all at once..... I have been gifted a miracle so that i can do things like this...start a nonprofit that will help others. How special is that?
What other work has prepared you to create Rick’s Place?
For the past six years, I have been a director/caretaker at Santa Maria Centro de Salud y Paz in San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico. Santa Maria is a healing and retreat center where people gather for workshops, retreats, classes, spiritual exploration, and community connection.
During that time, I have helped facilitate weekend retreats led by Norma Reyes that have welcomed more than 600 women over the past six years. I have also offered workshops introducing people to animistic practices and have initiated people into the 9 Munay-Ki Rites.
I helped create the Center’s Kiva and have guided women as they learned how to offer ceremonies there. This experience has taught me a great deal about holding space for people, creating community, and supporting personal growth. It has also helped prepare me for the work of building Rick’s Place.
What values are most important to you?
Honesty...integrity...compassion
What led you to want to create a place specifically supporting women?
Over the years i have come to find out that there was incest in my family...many of my female friends have shared stories of incest and rape and abuse...i became aware of the official government statistic that one out of three women in the United States are sexually abused. I have seen how this abuse takes power away from the woman which can lead to alcohol and drug abuse...and have lasting effects on a woman's boundaries, sense of safety, self worth, lead to abusive relationships, and an overall inability to build a fulfilling life for herself.
I have tried to do my part in small ways to enable women to recover their power.
If you could describe the heart of Rick’s Place in one message, what would you want people to understand?
It's time for change. It's time for sanity to prevail in the world. It's time to return to balance. It's time for women to reclaim their power as creators. Rick's Place wants to help in any way possible.
And so it is...namaste
I was born in Chicago, Illinois a looooong time ago. I was married once, and I have a son and daughter and 3 grandkids. I am a Vietnam era, non combat veteran. At this stage of my life I'm an Auricular Acupuncture Technician, and I'm an ordained Animist Minister with the title of Parson, which makes me a Parson person.
What experiences have shaped who you are today?
There are 2 main experiences which immediately come to mind. The first one happened when i was in my 30's soon after my divorce. I jumped out of an airplane and survived. Luckily I did have a parachute on. I did that twice for fun and decided twice was enough...but that experience literally changed me. I am not the same person who first climbed into that airplane. I was a meek, quiet, go to work-come home, boring nobody. After the first parachute jump I said to myself "If I can do that I can do ANYTHING!" I feel I have been two completely different people in one lifetime.
The second experience was otherworldly. I had a one man construction company in northern Illinois. I had a small work van full of tools. A very important tool was a bottle of tequila I kept under the driver's seat for easy access. I knew I had a problem, but was skilled at ignoring that.
Early one morning on the way to a job I had a thought, a feeling, an insight that right now was the time to quit drinking. As soon as I had that thought a powerful energy entered me and the compulsion to drink was completely taken away. Immediately after that I was given a sign that I was healed from the fatal disease of alcoholism that I had...the clouds parted and the sun shined directly on me. I think we all have a Higher Power and i believe that spiritual energy came from my Higher Power. This was my miraculous experience.
Afterwards, i was thinking "Why me?" Why have i been cured of what to most is a fatal disease? The answer has come slowly to me, not all at once..... I have been gifted a miracle so that i can do things like this...start a nonprofit that will help others. How special is that?
What other work has prepared you to create Rick’s Place?
For the past six years, I have been a director/caretaker at Santa Maria Centro de Salud y Paz in San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico. Santa Maria is a healing and retreat center where people gather for workshops, retreats, classes, spiritual exploration, and community connection.
During that time, I have helped facilitate weekend retreats led by Norma Reyes that have welcomed more than 600 women over the past six years. I have also offered workshops introducing people to animistic practices and have initiated people into the 9 Munay-Ki Rites.
I helped create the Center’s Kiva and have guided women as they learned how to offer ceremonies there. This experience has taught me a great deal about holding space for people, creating community, and supporting personal growth. It has also helped prepare me for the work of building Rick’s Place.
What values are most important to you?
Honesty...integrity...compassion
What led you to want to create a place specifically supporting women?
Over the years i have come to find out that there was incest in my family...many of my female friends have shared stories of incest and rape and abuse...i became aware of the official government statistic that one out of three women in the United States are sexually abused. I have seen how this abuse takes power away from the woman which can lead to alcohol and drug abuse...and have lasting effects on a woman's boundaries, sense of safety, self worth, lead to abusive relationships, and an overall inability to build a fulfilling life for herself.
I have tried to do my part in small ways to enable women to recover their power.
If you could describe the heart of Rick’s Place in one message, what would you want people to understand?
It's time for change. It's time for sanity to prevail in the world. It's time to return to balance. It's time for women to reclaim their power as creators. Rick's Place wants to help in any way possible.
And so it is...namaste