Making legal psychedelic
healthcare possible.
Move your cursor through the mycelium
The people behind the work
What I learned is anyone that has contact with the justice system is holding trauma and stress.
I really wish psilocybin services could be more accessible for people above ground, more financially accessible — because it was really the most tremendous gift I think I've ever received. People need this, because the world is only getting harder to deal with.
We're excited to support the liftoff of SEF's Psilocybin Access Fund because we simply need to help more people have access to the healing potential of psilocybin. Not having the money for it should never be the barrier for greater health! Thanks SEF for showing bold leadership to make that happen!
Every state weighing public coverage of psychedelic care is running into the same wall: the fiscal case. ORCHID is the kind of research infrastructure that can answer those questions with payer-grade evidence from Oregon and Colorado. This is the evidence base that gets us there.
This project is meaningful because it looks beyond whether psychedelic care can help and asks whether it can change healthcare utilization, costs, and access. Those are the questions that will determine whether this model reaches the people who need it most.
For state-regulated psychedelic care to become accessible beyond those who can pay out of pocket, we need evidence that payers, policymakers, and public programs can trust. ORCHID is the kind of research infrastructure that can help translate real-world psychedelic care into coverage, policy, and access.
ORCHID could be a turning point for the state-regulated model. By producing payer-grade evidence from Oregon and Colorado, it can help move psychedelic care from an out-of-pocket service toward a more equitable healthcare pathway.
Over $1,000,000 in care — and we're just getting started
Starting in 2021, the Sheri Eckert Foundation began organizing and funding the nation's first real-world research projects in the legal, state-regulated psychedelic therapy model — while putting money directly into the hands of the people who need it most.
Founded by Tom Eckert & Nate Howard to carry Sheri's wish; granted 501(c)(3)-status project and launched the Fellowship Program.
Co-created and hosted the first Horizons Northwest at the Portland Art Museum.
76 Fellows awarded ~$300,000 in training scholarships, graduating from nearly every Oregon-licensed school; second Horizons Northwest.
Launched the Psilocybin Access Fund and Research Incubator; first real-world studies and the Insurance Initiative with OPEN at OHSU.
Launched the Inward Dive Fund and Community Leaders Resilience Fund; $674,000 issued or earmarked across 481 applications; ORCHID developed with UC Berkeley & UCSF.
Expanding to Colorado; a no-cost July retreat for justice-impacted people; CLR Fund cohorts; ORCHID recruitment and growing policy work.
A nonprofit built to widen the door
We carry the legacy of our namesake, Sheri Eckert — who created the nation's first state-regulated psychedelic healthcare model, now being adopted in states across the country — to make psychedelic healthcare eventually affordable and legal for all Americans: directly funding legal psilocybin therapy for people who couldn't otherwise access it, and incubating the nation's first real-world research — the evidence needed to build the system that makes that access possible.
We unite academic rigor, compassionate care, and policy innovation under one roof — and we do it three ways.
Fund access
Needs-based grants put medicine directly in people's hands. Four funds, on a sliding scale:
- Psilocybin Access Fund — our statewide sliding scale; 481 applications, $674k issued or earmarked.
- Inward Dive Fund — for previously incarcerated and justice-impacted people.
- Community Leaders Resilience Fund — for leaders facing or approaching burnout.
- Soul Liberation Fund — for individuals facing addiction and those who have experienced homelessness.
Incubate research
The nation's first real-world studies inside a legal model — anchored by ORCHID:
- ORCHID — now led with UC Berkeley's Collaborative for the Economics of Psychedelics and UCSF's Carhart-Harris Lab.
- A study of group psilocybin therapy for depression among low-income participants.
- An alcohol-use study with the Healing Advocacy Fund and InnerTrek.
- New 2026 research with previously incarcerated participants at our July retreat, with academic partners (incl. Princeton).
- A partner and supporter of the OPEN research at OHSU (recently bolstered by a multimillion-dollar NIH grant).
- Further partners include People Science, Synaptic, Dr. Bronner's, and NUNM.
Shape policy
We help write and pass the laws that make this care real and lasting:
- Helping craft the strategy and write the laws that make psychedelic healthcare possible — and reach people faster, with speed that never sacrifices safety or efficacy.
- Helping build and pass the Medical Advanced Healing Act (MAHA) in the Idaho legislature.
- Advocacy in Colorado's Natural Medicine Program, and support for advocates in Washington & California.
- Founding board of the new Center for Psychedelic Policy with Sam Chapman, pursuing a $1M Medicaid pilot study.
- Founder & board member of the 501(c)(4) Portland Psychedelic Society Action Fund, which helped pass Portland's Psychedelic Health & Safety Act.
We exist to accelerate the safe integration of psychedelics into healthcare and society — driving research, informing lawmakers, and funding care for those who can't afford it.
A no-cost legal psilocybin retreat — July 2026
Through the Inward Dive Fund, we're offering a fully funded, legal psilocybin retreat for formerly incarcerated and justice-impacted people — held in a small cohort, with reverence and care.
- Open to people 21+ who are justice-impacted, with financial need — anywhere in the U.S. and beyond
- Grants cover the cost of licensed facilitation; the psilocybin itself is donated
- Led by facilitator Henry Fields, with preparation and ongoing integration support
Getting medicine to the people who need it
We believe getting money directly to people who want this medicine — but normally couldn't access it — is the best way to create healing now. Each fund covers facilitation costs on a sliding scale for those facing financial hardship or from underserved communities.
Psilocybin Access Fund
A statewide sliding scale for psilocybin services — already 481 applications and $674,000 in grants issued or earmarked to more than 100 people, with psilocybin generously donated by Satori Farms PDX.
Learn moreInward Dive Fund
Created with facilitator Henry Fields for people impacted by the justice system — the formerly incarcerated, their families, attorneys, advocates, and corrections staff. Includes a no-cost July 2026 retreat.
Learn moreCommunity Leaders Resilience Fund
For nonprofit, faith, environmental, and public-service leaders carrying burnout. Covers group facilitation, lodging at Fernlove, meals, and a Community Steward. 2026 cohorts include Jewish, BIPOC, environmental, LGBTQ+, and Christian leaders. Seeded by the Riverstyx and LLS Foundations.
Learn moreSoul Liberation Fund
Expanding access for communities who have long been excluded from safe, supported, and legal psychedelic care.
Learn moreThe first real-world psychedelic research, in the open
For over 50 years, promising psychedelic medicine was kept from the public by prohibition, propaganda, and high costs. As a nonprofit incubator, we're changing that — running the nation's first studies inside a legal, publicly available model rather than only the laboratory.
"Psychedelic care has shown real promise. But without evidence on costs and outcomes, it remains out of reach for most people… we have a rare opportunity to make psychedelic care accessible to everyone, not just those who can afford it."
— Elliot Marseille, DrPH, Director, Collaborative for the Economics of Psychedelics (UC Berkeley)We've partnered on studies with leading institutions and organizations:
Why more research?
Decades of FDA-regulated studies have supported only about a thousand participants in dosage sessions. Meanwhile, over 30 million Americans report having used psychedelics. The data generated within state-regulated models can help answer essential questions of safety, benefit, cost, and access — for the whole field.
The evidence that unlocks reimbursement pathways for psychedelic care — the first study to link real psilocybin care to real medical claims, and show whether it lowers health-system costs.
Nate Howard, SEF's Executive Director, originated ORCHID while building the foundation over the past five years. As ORCHID's Research Project Founder & Senior Advisor — and a Senior Strategist on Oregon's Psilocybin Services Initiative — he leads its finances, provider partnerships, and strategic direction.
Take a breath. Trace the path.
No goal, nothing to achieve — only an invitation. If you'd like, slowly move your finger or cursor around the circle, and watch what unfolds when you give it your attention.
Where our grantees find care
Grantees of our Community Leaders Resilience Fund and Inward Dive Fund receive their psilocybin care at Fernlove — Oregon's only licensed psilocybin service center with on-site accommodations, set within 30 acres of forest about an hour west of Portland.
Fernlove works exclusively with licensed facilitators and psilocybin from licensed manufacturers, weaving time outdoors, gentle movement, and reflection into every journey — from the calm of the Administration Room to the solitude of the cabins, Airstreams, and on-site trails.
From philanthropy to states that fund the care
While we create access for people who otherwise couldn't receive psychedelic therapy, we're building the evidence for something bigger: states deciding to adopt, build, and fund the model Sheri helped create — so residents can receive subsidized or fully covered psychedelic healthcare, with insurance coverage following close behind.
Early data suggests it may be possible to save states as much as $7 for every $1 spent providing residents psychedelic care — the kind of return that makes a publicly funded model not just compassionate, but fiscally rational.
Seed the field · 2021–2023
Fund facilitator training so a diverse first cohort can serve the new model — 76 scholarships, $300,000 awarded.
Increase access & prove it works · underway
Build a statewide sliding scale while running first-of-their-kind research like ORCHID. In 2026, we begin expanding to Colorado.
States adopt & fund the model · the goal
Driven by evidence that every dollar saves the state more, states pass and fund their own state-regulated psychedelic healthcare — and insurance coverage follows, so access scales far beyond philanthropy.
We helped bring Horizons to the Northwest
The Horizons Northwest conferences — co-created and presented by the Sheri Eckert Foundation and Horizons PBC.
David Bronner, Tom Eckert, and Nate Howard — the Founding Board Members of the Sheri Eckert Foundation and co-creators of Horizons Northwest — share reflections, goals, and aspirations, alongside leaders in the psychedelic medicine movement, at the second Horizons Northwest conference at the Portland Art Museum.
Alongside Horizons PBC, the Sheri Eckert Foundation co-created and hosted the first two Horizons Northwest conferences — the largest psychedelic learning and community event in the Pacific Northwest — both held at the historic Portland Art Museum, opening in September 2022 and again in December 2023. A share of every conference's proceeds funds our needs-based scholarships, so the more people who gather, the more healing it supports.
Revisit Horizons Northwest
Three days exploring the psilocybin model, the science, and psychedelics in the world.
Visit the conference Recorded talksWatch the 2023 sessions
Full keynotes, science briefings, and panels, recorded live at the Portland Art Museum.
Watch on YouTubeMeet the team behind the organization
A small team and board carrying a big mission — organizers, advocates, and practitioners who've helped build this field from the ground up.
Nate Howard
A systems-change organizer and senior strategist behind Measure 109; co-creator of InnerTrek, the first state-licensed facilitator school.
Lorena Dame
Producer of the Horizons conference for five years and a death doula at Mount Sinai; advances the Access Fund and Insurance Initiative.
Sam Chapman
Campaign Manager for Measure 109, founding ED of the Healing Advocacy Fund, and founder of the Center for Psychedelic Policy.
Henry Fields
A trauma-informed practitioner and licensed psilocybin facilitator who founded the Inward Dive Temple and pioneers care for justice-impacted people.
Alexandria Turner
Drives complex initiatives from concept to delivery, blending program and project management with deep operations expertise.
Nikia McCoon
The all-around unicorn who keeps the trains running on time — from data and funds administration to communications.
Tom Eckert, MS
Architect of Measure 109, founding chair of the Oregon Psilocybin Advisory Board, and co-founder of the foundation with Sheri.
David Bronner
Cosmic Engagement Officer of Dr. Bronner's, whose support helped power Measure 109 to victory.
What I learned is anyone that has contact with the justice system is holding trauma and stress.— Henry Fields, lead of the Inward Dive Fund
I really wish psilocybin services could be more accessible for people above ground… it was the most tremendous gift I think I've ever received. People need this, because the world is only getting harder to deal with.— A community leader, two months after a psilocybin session in Oregon
We simply need to help more people have access to the healing potential of psilocybin. Not having the money for it should never be the barrier for greater health!— Mark Holloway & David Kahl, Full Potential Fund
Sheri Eckert
The Sheri Eckert Foundation was established in 2021 to honor Sheri's legacy and fulfill a clearly stated wish. A co-creator of Oregon's Measure 109, she spoke often of building an institution — guided by on-the-ground community leaders — to support facilitator training, community education, and service delivery for underserved populations.
She passed away in December 2020, and is remembered for championing the unique spirit residing in each of us, and for helping deliver the nation's first above-ground psychedelic therapy framework — a program infused with her perseverance, integrity, and loving, inclusive embrace.
“If you take the time to explore yourself, to listen to your spirit, to walk among the many less frequented paths within your mind, I am sure you will be amazed at the mesmerizing beauty you will find.”Sheri Eckert
Your gift becomes someone's healing
Every dollar supports equitable access to legal psilocybin services for people with financial need — and helps build the research that brings coverage closer. Our funds run entirely on donations, so the more we raise, the more grants we can offer.
Want updates instead? Read the latest from our team
Support the funds
Give once or monthly to fund psilocybin therapy for people who couldn't otherwise access it.
Donate to the fundsMore about our 501(c)(3) status
The Sheri Eckert Foundation operates as a project of the Oregon Research Foundation (ORF), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN: 33-3344942). All donations are processed through ORF and are fully tax-deductible. You can view ORF's IRS tax-exemption letter here, or learn more about the foundation.