Our Story:

The vision for Cultivating Beloved Community (CBC) developed organically between three single friends and their shared desire for a purposeful life. As they neared midlife they started thinking about the idea of legacy and since none of them had biological children they wanted to build something that would potentially outlive them and continue to do good in the world long after they were gone. 

Sarah Dornbos always pictured herself living and working overseas. To jumpstart that process, she participated as an exchange student in France in high school and in college at Daystar University in Kenya. Those experiences helped her see that the way she was raised was only one way of seeing and being in the world. She graduated with degrees in Art Education and Theater with a Missions minor and later earned her Masters of Social Justice from Kilns College in Oregon. When she was in high school her mom became a Kids Hope mentor at the local public elementary school and Sarah had no idea how God was already at work weaving her story and desire for a meaningful life together. In 2006 Sarah was an intern and the Kids Hope mentoring program again crossed her path. In 2007 she became the director of Kids Hope at Eagle Rock elementary school and in 2024 she expanded to a second school site: Delevan Drive. Through the transformative power of these relationships she came to understand the power of beloved community - that there’s really no such thing as “someone else's child” and committed to seeing not just her students, but their mentors and families thrive and live more compassionate lives in relationship with one another. She understood more deeply how systems contribute to marginalization and owes much of her learning to the Kids Hope families she’s worked with over the years. Cultivating Beloved Community grew out of these experiences and expanded on them to connect more lives together.  Sarah oversees our community education arm of CBC because she believes in the power of education to transform lives. Our focus began in 2025 with racial justice education and we hope to expand and offer classes for different demographics and a range of topics. This education is not a place we ever fully arrive but continually cultivate as we learn and grow together. 

Sarah Obermeyer was introduced to spiritual direction through a silent directed retreat in 2008.  After experiencing the gift of being companioned by a director during that retreat space, she received direction for two years before she felt called to training.  She was trained in spiritual direction at Mercy Center in Burlingame, earning her certificate as a Spiritual Director in 2011.  Since then she has found herself in formal and informal spaces offering spiritual direction and holy listening and through attending more retreats, she noticed that in many retreat spaces, there was a lack of historically marginalized folks.  As the three CBC founders began to dream together, the idea of offering spiritual direction and retreats that created inclusive, racially aware and trauma-informed practices became an exciting opportunity for lessening the disparity in contemplative spaces.  The contemplative care pillar of CBC was born out of this desire. CBC will continue to work to offer asynchronous offerings and synchronous virtual and in-person opportunities to engage contemplative prayer and compassionate awareness of the work of God in the world around us.

Rochelle Miles has served the community at large in various ways since coming to Los Angeles from the San Francisco Bay Area in 2002.  Upon her arrival, she became a member of Faithful Central Bible Church and developed a heart for God and what serving those in need might look like. It was there she discovered through prayer, guidance and discernment that she possessed the gift of help, something that she had known deep inside from childhood.  Having earned her law degree at USC, she set out seeking work that would enable her to operate fully in her gift.  She has worked as an attorney for the County of Los Angeles where she advocates to ensure that children have the support and care they need from their families.  This work often involves understanding the attendant needs of parents and children and directing them to services that can address those challenges.  She has also volunteered in various capacities with organizations such as A Sense of Home, School on Wheels, Reading to Kids, Kids Hope, Greenline Housing Foundation in Pasadena, Union Rescue Mission, the City of LA Neighborhood Justice Project, and the Center for Restorative Justice. The goal of the compassionate action pillar is to ensure that everyone has the justice and equity that is their birthright. To that end, we will provide care and resources to meet the diverse needs of individuals and families, through partnerships within the community to offer holistic support to those in need. Whether it's championing the voiceless, empowering the unemployed with job assistance, providing refuge for the unhoused, enriching children with educational resources, or extending crucial financial aid to those facing crisis.  That is what compassionate action looks like. 

And so on October 22nd, 2023, in Rochelle's living room in Los Angeles, the Cultivating Beloved Community seedling was planted.  As the CBC logo depicts, the three pillars of our organization are deeply connected and originate from the same soil of compassionate, active justice.  As we planted the seeds of our organization, we knew that time and community investment would be needed to grow this seedling into an expansive tree of shade for the surrounding community.  We invite you to become a part of our beloved community as we grow and invest together.