Mission & Vision
Why the work exists
We exist so adults in the Hudson Valley have a reliable, affordable place to learn communication, community ethics, and group facilitation — in a setting with published rules and accountable hosts.
This is a long-term public-benefit build, not a short-term project. Programming, membership, and the facility campaign all serve the same outcome: a stable education center that belongs to the community.
Theory of Change
Need. Activity. Result.
Grant reviewers can read LASC as a simple chain: a documented community need, a set of programs that address it, and results we can count.
The gap
Adults in our region have few affordable, well-supervised places for interpersonal education and civic belonging. Informal gatherings are common. Structured, staffed adult education is not.
What we run
Scheduled classes, workshops, facilitated discussion, volunteer host training, and a capital campaign to purchase a permanent community education center in the Hudson Valley.
What changes
Participants leave with usable skills. Programs stay accessible because fees are low. The community gains an owned facility instead of depending on a landlord.
Official Statements
Mission
Lifestyle America Social Club Inc. (LASC™) provides structured adult education, community programs, and a well-managed gathering place for people 18 and older in the Hudson Valley and across the Northeast. We operate as a 501(c)(3) public charity: education first, fees kept low, and decisions judged against community benefit.
Vision
A permanent, community-owned education center in the Hudson Valley (LASC-HVLC) that hosts year-round adult learning — and, over five to ten years, a multi-day education campus in Eastern Tennessee (LASC-ETMR) built on that same foundation.
How We Work
Operating principles
These are the standards we use to plan programs, review membership, and spend money. They replace slogans with rules a board can hold us to.
- Education firstEvery gathering has a learning purpose: a class, a workshop, a facilitated discussion, or host training. We do not exist to sell tickets.
- Safety of people and placeTrained hosts, a published Code of Conduct, and a zero-tolerance rule for harassment, discrimination, and violence.
- IntegrityNonprofit finances, public program fees, and a capital campaign whose purpose is a community-owned facility — not private profit.
- InclusionAdults 18 and older of every background are welcome if they agree to the Code of Conduct and complete orientation.
- Affordable accessNo annual dues. Modest program fees so income is not the barrier to participation.
- StewardshipVolunteer labor, board oversight, and a two-phase facility plan that does not outrun our current capacity.
Two-Phase Strategy
Build here first. Expand later.
Hudson Valley facility (LASC-HVLC)
Purchase a permanent property in the Hudson Valley as the community-owned home of The Lodge. Owning the site ends rental risk, protects the calendar, and gives donors a lasting public asset.
Eastern Tennessee campus (LASC-ETMR)
A multi-day education campus for longer programs than a single evening allows. It is in early planning only. ETMR is possible after the Hudson Valley facility is secure and operating.