Hello, Dear Friends of the Center for Compassionate Living,

The Center for Compassionate Living (CCL) is closing at the end of the year. We are so grateful for the extraordinary opportunity we have had to share Compassionate/Nonviolent Communication (NVC) with thousands of people over the years.

Our journey began when Bryn attended a weekend workshop with Marshall Rosenberg in Santa Barbara, California, in 2000. She was so enthusiastic about the possibilities of people having tools to connect with others and themselves that she jumped in to share the work that Marshall had developed.

Not long after, she began offering classes and starting practice groups in Bend. Soon, other enthusiasts joined to organize a weekend workshop in Bend with Marshall Rosenberg. Dozens of people attended, and a core group came together to practice and share NVC.

In 2009, Beth Hanson, Evelyn Doherty, and Bryn Hazell founded The Peace Center of Central Oregon (PCOCO), which would later be named the Center for Compassionate Living. We first met in a small cottage behind the Old Stone Church on Franklin, then on Hill Street, before moving to Century Drive, and finally to Industrial Way. Perhaps some of you remember meeting in these venues? So much learning, connection, and growth over the years.

Early on, Carol Delmonico joined Bryn in co-directing the Center, teaching classes, and presenting workshops. In March 2013, Denise Torres attended her first NVC class and joined Bryn as a teacher and co-director of the Center later that year.

Since our inception, dozens of people have volunteered to organize events, serve on the Board, raise funds, do publicity, and even paint the walls! We deeply appreciate the many, many folks who generously donated their time, effort, and financial resources. For nearly ten years, CCL provided NVC classes and practice groups for hundreds of men at Deer Ridge Correctional Institution in Madras. You made a difference in so many lives!

While the closing of the Center marks the end of a meaningful chapter for Bend, the spirit of this work continues to ripple outward. Practice groups will still meet, and each day offers a fresh chance to bring NVC into the wild terrain of our everyday lives. Bend has been deeply enriched by all who led, volunteered, practiced, and supported the Center across the years, and that enrichment will continue to echo far beyond its doors.

We also want to thank every single person who came to learn, to share their experiences, and to support each other. Your questions, journeys, and insights are also the source of much of our growth and understanding about who we are and how we most want to live.

One last very special thank you to Barb Troyer, whose skills, creativity, and sensitivity made our newsletters and website beautiful, clear, and user-friendly through the years.

Please remember that, though this is not an easy time, we have our NVC skills to contribute to a more wonderful world. As Marshall Rosenberg said, “What I want in my life is compassion, a flow between myself and others based on a mutual giving from the heart.” Let us do the same.

Thank you from our hearts,

CCL Board of Directors
Bryn Hazell, Beth Hanson, Denise Torres, Sarah Mason, Joanne Diepenheim

P.S.

The website will be available through February 2026. We encourage you to visit it now if you’d like to access any of the articles and resources.
Practice groups will continue. Please contact Bryn or Denise if you have questions about them. After February, you can reach Bryn at brynhazell@msn.com or 541-350-6517.
Denise will have copies of the articles that have been posted on the website over the years. Please ask Denise if you’d like to reference an article. She’d be glad to send it to you.
All remaining funds will be donated to the Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC), a solid and dynamic organization that trains instructors, supports research, and carries this consciousness to more than 65 countries.
The Center for Compassionate Living is not collecting donations via auto deduction, nor have we been accepting donations this past year. If you receive an email or other inquiry asking for updated banking or financial information and using our name, it is a scam. Please do not respond, and feel free to report it.