Who we are

The Neighborhood Flamekeepers are a community of neighbors drawn to support others through life’s joys and sorrows, who are seeking community, practice, and growth in how they show up for others — tending to the “flame” of the human journey.

You may resonate if …

• You feel drawn to better support others through life’s joys, sorrows, and transitions.

• You have served your community through forms of human connection — such as mentoring, peer support, mediation, hospice, or companionship.

• You’ve felt a calling to grow your skills of human connection, and may have considered paths like therapy, coaching, or other helping roles.

You might be a “Flamekeeper” — someone who tends the “flame” of the human journey in those around them.

Why Neighborhood Flamekeepers come together

Flamekeepers seek to …

• Serve together. We seek opportunities to serve our communities through human connection and emotional support, by “creating space to honor the human journey”

• Grow and learn. We strive to develop our skills to grow as human beings in all parts of our lives.

• Find belonging and support. We seek like-hearted individuals to share in growth, service, and mutual support.

• Take part in an important cause. We are doing our part to address our society’s “crisis of connection” at a level we can make meaningful, tangible impact: our neighborhoods.

We are a diverse community of neighbors bridging across differences, but we share a belief in the inherent and equal dignity of every person, and seek to embody that conviction through our local, interpersonal practice of honoring our human journey among neighbors.

What we do

For 3-month seasons at a time, active Neighborhood Flamekeepers volunteer at Neighborhood Offerings, build skills together, and provide mutual support:

💛  Neighborhood Offerings

Neighborhood Flamekeepers have the opportunity to practice their intention and care through co-created SF Contemplarium Neighborhood Offerings that include:

• 🗓 Events – currently:Reflection Jams, Seasonal Ingatherings, Flamekeeper Workshops

• 🕯 Installations – currently:Reflection Stand Park Pop-ups; in the future: Creating a physical storefront space, collaborating with other spaces

• 🪑 Support – in the future: House visits, support groups, mediation service

We’re continuing to explore and iterate, building on our experiments over the SF Contemplarium’s first year.

🧰  Skill-Building

Through ongoing workshops with local practitioners, reflection, and peer coaching, Neighborhood Flamekeepers continuously work on their emotional support and human connection skills:

• 🤲  Presence – Offering nonjudgmental and compassionate attention

• 🪔  Ritual – Using symbolic words or actions to honor an experience’s significance

• 🧭  Accompaniment – Offering shoulder-to-shoulder navigation through an important life moment or transition

🌱  Mutual support

Neighborhood Flamekeepers support each other in community through:

• 🫂 Deepening & Care  – e.g. regular Listening Circles and Journey Groups

• 🎉 Social Connection – e.g. potlucks and movie nights

• 🏛️ Shared Leadership – Deliberative governance, task forces, and financial support

Our Values

1. Learning, we seek growth and curiosity in our experiences and each other.

2. Support, we show care and compassion through our words and actions.

3. Service, we earn the privilege to serve others through conscientious, sincere, and joyful service.

4. Hospitality, we actively welcome, include, and foster safety in the spaces we create.

5. Openness & Courage, we show up with truth and integrity even when it isn’t easy.

6. Shared Leadership, we each contribute to our shared purpose.

7. Respect and Mutuality, we respect each others’ dignity as moral equals.

Joining a cohort

Because building a high-trust community is vital to our purpose, all Neighborhood Flamekeepers begin their journey by committing to shared 3-month season together with a New Flamekeeper Cohort, with a shared orientation and co-creating a neighborhood gathering. Cohort experiences will take place in person in San Francisco.

Cohort Orientation

In mid-May, we will hold several immersive Cohort Orientation sessions where New Flamekeeper Cohort members will participate in hands-on, interactive exercises to build trust, practice skills, and familiarize with the SF Contemplarium’s approach to Flamekeeping. The idea is to create a “lab” where we can practice, try things on for size, and learn and discover together.

Session times are TBD in mid-May and will be selected based on the availability of cohort members, for a total of about 12-16 hours together. These sessions will cover:

• Part 1: 📖 Stories of purpose and practicing presence

• Part 2: 🕯️ Honoring existential concerns through ritual

• Part 3: 🌱 Offering structures to grow into our values

• Part 4: 🔥 Flamekeeping our neighborhoods together

The Orientation sessions are led by Seanan Fong, SF Contemplarium’s Founding Director, and designed with input from expert practitioner partners. But most importantly, they create the intentional structure to draw on the wisdom and experience you and your cohortmates already have.

Seasonal Ingathering

In the weeks following the Orientation, the New Flamekeeper Cohort works together to co-create and lead — alongside SF Contemplarium staff and active Flamekeepers — a Seasonal Ingathering for the neighborhood, in which the local public is invited to mark the turn of the season together. This Spring 2026 Cohort will be preparing for the Spring Ingathering scheduled for May 31.

First Season Together

New Flamekeeper Cohort members will take part in their first 3-month season alongside active Flamekeepers, where they will serve their neighborhoods, build their Flamekeeping skills, and support each other along the way (see the “What We Do” section above).

New Flamekeeper Cohort members are required to join a weekly Journey Group that runs for 8 to 10 weeks during the season. These are small groups where new and old Flamekeepers gather to offer mutual support through listening circles and continue skillbuilding in a small group setting. For the coming season from late-May to mid-August, we expect to offer a Tuesday evening option and a Thursday evening option, but final times are TBD based on availability.

Graduation and Future Seasons

At the end of the 3-month season, New Flamekeeper Cohort members graduate at a small ceremony together. At that point, they along with all Neighborhood Flamekeepers have some time to make a decision about whether to participate in the following 3-month season, or pause active status to rejoin again in a future season!

Spring 2026 Cohort Dates

• Applications to join the next Cohort — due May 10, 2026. Apply now →

  • Estimated time to complete: 20 mins

• Cohort Orientation (required): Specific session dates TBD in mid-May

  • We are looking at times across Saturdays and Sundays May 16, 17, 23, and 24, but may consider other dates, for a total of 12-16 hours together.

• Spring Ingathering (required): Sunday, May 31

• First Season Together: late-May to mid-August

  • Weekly Journey Groups (required): tentatively Tuesday evening option and a Thursday evening option, but may be open to other times based on availability

Sustainability

We have fortunately secured some grant funding (yay!) to help launch the Neighborhood Flamekeepers program, so that will help cover much of the cost of our initial New Flamekeeper Cohorts. But for this community to be sustainable and civically-aligned, we need shared financial leadership to keep our purpose alive long-term. We ask for every Neighborhood Flamekeeper to contribute to the cost of making a community of mutual support possible:

• Shared Orientation: $200*

  Your contribution will defray a small part of the venue and facilitator costs, and serve as a one-time initiation contribution. Grant funding will cover the remainder of the venue and facilitator costs, administration costs, supplies, and coffee/snacks.

• Flamekeeper Community Dues: $20/mo* (or $60/season)

  Your contribution will sustain Flamekeeper-only events to enable mutual support as a community: regular meeting places, snacks, hosting materials, and a shared budget for regular learning and deepening opportunities.

*Support for financial accessibility is available through the Flamekeeper Fund, which you can request at registration after acceptance into a cohort. This support helps ensure that all Neighborhood Flamekeepers have the opportunity to participate in our full range of activities.