What would you do if you had a day to just rest? In partnership with Mailchimp, Getaway and Rachel Cargle want to make that happen.
Getaway initially announced 100 Nights of Rest in June 2020 and received over 3,000 heartfelt nominations in the first few hours, extending the initiative to A Year of Rest to provide one year’s worth of free nights to people who were nominated by friends, family and colleagues. The partnership will provide another 365 nights of rest for Black people working for change—whether a community organizer, healthcare worker, parent, teacher, artist, or friend—”who’d benefit from a night of rest,” per the company.
Conveniently located within a two-hour drive from most major U.S. cities, Getaway helps guests escape the daily grind of everyday life and appreciate the quiet beauty of nature—something we’re in need of now more than perhaps ever before. It’s the ultimate retreat for Black women — and Black people — to practice self-care so we can recharge, refresh and rewire for action and to show up as our best selves everyday.
“In my line of work, the work is constant,” says Dr. Courtney Gilliam, a pediatrician in Seattle who does research on diversity, equity and inclusion focused on medical education who was a recipient of rest in 2020. “Boundaries become a blur, because there is always something to do. I feel like the most valuable lesson is from Audre Lorde, when she says ‘caring for yourself is not self-indulgent, it’s self-preservation.’ I’ve really had to give myself that permission, because it benefits me and my patients. Getaway gave me the time to be ‘off.’”
Cargle, whose foundation provides mental health resources for Black girls and women, cited a recent restful weekend of her own as the catalyst for the partnership in an Instagram post last year.
As Cargle noted on Getaway’s website, “My history with rest has always been one of reward. I had to do something, perhaps extreme, in order to feel like I was deserving of rest. This new relationship to rest is one, not of reward, but of maintenance. This understanding that when I rest, it’s an ongoing investment into my continuous growth.” Nominations are open today, July 27, through August 9 at getaway.house/rest.
