Enter the connection flow.
YUMARA is a space to nurture intentional community. It’s an invitation to gather with purpose — to join a living web of relationships and practices where we remember we are one in our diversities. Another vision of community is possible, one where everyone belongs and thrives together.
Come as you are.
Who we are
This is not a co-living project. You don't need to move here to belong.
YUMARA is an invite to co-create a flow of connections. It comes alive when people, place, and shared practices meet with intention and gather with purpose.
Our understanding of community has been shaped by years of working alongside displaced communities and migrants in places affected by war and disaster. Through those experiences, we learned that everything is interdependent, that we deeply belong to one another, and that our own flourishing is inseparable from the flourishing of others.
We believe that inner awareness and outer action are inseparable, that the practices we cultivate invite us to remember who we are, in unity and diversity. And that the table is always wider than we think — there is always room for another story, another connection
YUMARA is not a community that is simply given. It is one we create together, through presence, shared practice, and genuine encounter.
It can happen here, but it doesn't belong only here. Wherever people create the conditions for belonging and care, it unfolds again.
You are not entering a service. You are entering a flow of connections.
YUMARA Youth
Young people aren't just the future, they are already the present. Iumara Youth exists to walk alongside them — not just with programs, but with presence and care. A place where they are known, valued for who they already are, and guided to explore questions of meaning, possibilities and personal and collective purpose.
Spiritual Journey
Space for young people to explore their being, cultivate inner life, and discover how our interior world can shape the reality around us.
Integrated Education
Engaged, interdisciplinary learning to better understand the world we inhabit and imagine the one we want to live in.
Creative Workshops
Hands-on sessions in art, music, storytelling, and gardening — opportunities for young people express who they are, discover new capacities, and make something beautiful together.
Cooking & Balanced Nutrition
Learning to cook real delicious food and understand how nourishment connects to personal wellbeing and community connections.
Music
Singing, playing, and listening together — discovering music as a language of connection, expression, and joy.
YUMARA Eats
Food is a great equalizer and an opportunity for connection. Around our table, recipes and stories cross cultural lines, newcomers find a first sense of home, and what it means to belong becomes tangible. There is always room for one more.
Cooking Classes
Hands-on cooking classes (Italian, Thai, American, and other cusines) led by community members — learning technique, culture, and the joy of feeding others.
Welcoming Around the Table
Dinners designed to welcome newcomers, migrants, and refugees — a warm seat, a shared meal, to create a of belonging from the first day.
Farm to Table
Pickling, fermenting, preserving, and processing seasonal produce — reconnecting with where food comes from and how to honour it.
YUMARA Learn
Everyone has something to share. Everyone has something to discover. Learning is something we do together. Through conversations, workshops, story tellings and hands-on experiences, community members share knowledge, practices and lived experience, creating space for curiosity and mutual growth.
Meditation and Contemplation
Space to center, practice presence and awareness. Sessions may draw from different traditions, with room for both individual practice and shared experience
Creative Expression
Opportunities to explore creativity through art, music, movement, writing, and other forms. No prior skills or experience needed; just curiosity and a willingness to create and share.
Non-Violent Communication
Learning to explore and practice how we listen, communicate, and navigate differences. Through the principles of Nonviolent Communication, we learn to express ourselves, listen with empathy, and build mutual flourishing.
Story Telling
Storytelling creates space to listen , exchange experiences across cultures and generations, and discover the connections that emerge when we tell our stories.
Grass Volleyball
Informal games and classes that bring people together through play, and a little friendly competition. All levels are welcome.
Other - Your Idea
YUMARA flows when we co-create. If you have a skill, practice, passion, or idea you would like to share, your proposal for workshops, gatherings, and activities that contribute to community life are welcome. Bring your ideas.
Open gathering space
xxx square feet of open sheltered outdoor space where the community can gather for meals, workshops, events, celebrations.
The Forest
A quiet natural space for personal and group meditation — where trees, silence, and presence meet. The Forest can be an integral part of all our (and yours) events.
Indoor Gathering Space
A flexible multi-purpose indoor space for workshops, events, and community gatherings of all kinds (coming 2027)
YUMARA Commons
The Commons is a shared space for gathering, connecting, and contributing. It includes spaces and resources that can be used whether to spend time together, enjoy a quiet moment in nature, exchange resources, or simply meet others.
Come in. Stay a while
THE PEOPLE BEHIND YUMARA
YUMARA was born from a bond, a shared conviction, and a place in the country. Roberta and Coy come from different countries, different cultural worlds, and similar values — that sense of unity in diversity is exactly the point.
Roberta Romano
Co-Founder · Partnerships & Community, Events,
Roberta grew up in Italy and has spent many years working internationally, particularly alongside displaced and migrant communities. These experiences shaped her understanding of belonging , not as something we can take for granted, but as something that requites care and genuine encounter. She brings to IUMARA the belief that a meal, a welcoming space, and a conversation across differences can create connection, nurture belonging, and sometimes quietly change things.
Coy Isaacs
Co-Founder · Events, Music & Kitchen
Coy is a humanitarian worker, a cook, a musician, and a caregiver at heart. He has spent many years working in humanitarian response, coordinating health care and assistance in emergencies and supporting communities affected by crises around the world. NC native and deeply rooted in the land, he has a gift for making people feel at home the moment they arrive. When he is not busy coordinating humanitarian aid, you’ll likely find him cooking, playing music, working outside, or tending the fire. At IUMARA, he brings all this together to make everyone feel welcomed.
Anna Carolina Isaacs
VOLLEYBALL · KIDS · ANIMALS
Anna Carolina, 15, is a volleyball player with a big heart for children and animals. She loves being active, spending time with friends, get creative and lending a hand—especially when younger kids or animals are involved.
Gloria Rosalie Isaacs
BOOKS · MUSIC · KITCHEN
Gloria, 13, is a social butterfly who loves planning and socializing. She is an avid reader, loves singing and playing music, and enjoys to experiment in the kitchen.
YUMARA is the Calabrian pronunciation of fiumara. Calabria is a region of Southern Italy, where Roberta, one of our co-founders comes from.
A fiumara is a seasonal river. At times it runs full; at others, it may appear dry. Yet even when the water disappears from the surface, it continues to flow underground, while the riverbed remains—holding the space and the path for the water to return.
This image captures something essential about our understanding of community. The flow of connection is always potentially alive, even as its expressions change. What matters is having a space that holds the possibility of connection—a place where people can return, reconnect, gather, and allow something new and generative to emerge, while entering into a deeper flow that never entirely runs dry.
YUMARA is that riverbed: a place rooted in the land, holding space for people to gather with purpose, and for practices of connection, sharing, and care to emerge.
Enter the connection flow.
Upcoming Events
YUMARA comes alive through the people who gather here and the experiences we create together. Throughout the year, we host a changing mix of gatherings—some created by us, others offered in partnership with people and organizations whose ideas and practices resonate with the spirit of YUMARA.
From shared meals and music to workshops, creative experiences, contemplative practices, conversations, and activities for young people, each gathering is a different way of entering the connection flow.
October 3, 2026
Menstrual Health & Hygiene Workshop for Teens
An engaging and supportive workshop designed to help teens better understand menstrual health, hygiene, and their changing bodies in an open and comfortable environment.
More details & registration
November 7, 2026
Introduction to Nonviolent Communication for Teens
An interactive introduction to Nonviolent Communication (NVC), giving teens practical tools to better understand their own needs, listen to others, navigate differences, and communicate with greater awareness and empathy.
More details & registration coming soon
Cooking Classes
Coming this Fall
Come together in the kitchen to cook, learn, experiment, and—of course—share what we make. Classes and dates will be announced soon.
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Our Name
YUMARA is the Calabrian pronunciation of fiumara. Calabria is a region of Southern Italy, where Roberta, one of our co-founders comes from.
A fiumara is a seasonal river. At times it runs full; at others, it may appear dry. Yet even when the water disappears from the surface, it continues to flow underground, while the riverbed remains—holding the space and the path for the water to return.
This image captures something essential about our understanding of community. The flow of connection is always potentially alive, even as its expressions change. What matters is having a space that holds the possibility of connection—a place where people can return, reconnect, gather, and allow something new and generative to emerge, while entering into a deeper flow that never entirely runs dry.
YUMARA is that riverbed: a place rooted in the land, holding space for people to gather with purpose, and for practices of connection, sharing, and care to emerge.
Enter the connection flow.