Second Haven is a Minecraft server and Discord community created for people whose lives don’t always allow for consistent social connection: people living with chronic illness, fatigue, disability, pain, or long-term mental health challenges. Friends, family, and allies are welcome too.
Second Haven offers virtual spaces designed to be gentle by default. There are no expectations that you log in regularly, attend events, or contribute in visible ways. Some days you may feel like building or exploring. Other days you might just wander, sit quietly, or not log in at all. All of those rhythms are valid here.
We create an ever-present, lasting space where connection can happen when people are ready, and nothing is lost if it doesn’t. Like a shy cat, community tends to appear when there’s patience, safety, and recurring opportunities for low-key communication.
Behind the scenes, Second Haven is maintained to be fair, supportive, and resilient. Admin and moderators are deeply dedicated and responsive to each person’s needs. For example, we regularly offer orientations for people who have never played Minecraft, and we love special requests.
If you’re looking for a Minecraft space that understands variable energy, honors quiet presence, and doesn’t demand more than you have to give, Second Haven is here when you’re ready… and still here when you’re not.
Mission Statement
Our mission is to offer a safe and engaging virtual space where people with chronic conditions can explore, create, and connect.
Why is it called Second Haven?
The word “haven” suggests safety, rest, and tranquility. That part needs little explanation.
The idea of a second haven is loosely inspired by the notion of “third spaces,” places outside of home and work where people can spend time among others (like parks, cafes, libraries, and city street festivals). They aren’t necessarily special destinations. Instead, they are settings that nurture social connection, kindness, and belonging. For those of us living with chronic illness or pain, third spaces can seem really far away.
Third spaces are usually described as physical places, but havens can exist in other forms. Our first haven is within us, whatever instincts toward kindness, compassion, and generosity we may carry even when we’re depleted. Our second haven exists between us, a shared haven where kindness and belonging can grow without demand, comparison, or expectation.
Second Haven is named for that shared space. When it becomes impossible to bring our physical bodies to a third space, we can still bring our hearts and minds to a second haven.
Who Runs the Server?
Second Haven was built by Lisa Lindeman, who manages the Minecraft and Discord servers. Lisa earned her BA in psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1999. At Berkeley, she studied the relationship between cognition, emotion, and physical health. The profound overlap between physical health and emotional well-being informed the choice of target audiences for Second Haven (chronic conditions that are physical, psychological, or both). At the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where she earned her doctorate, she established an independent lab to study the role of conceptual metaphor and embodied cognition in generating emotional experience.
Between 2010 and 2020, she worked for multiple non-profit organizations dedicated to supporting the emotional development and well-being of children and adolescents. For seven years, she was the Director of Research at Prime Time, a non-profit in Palm Beach County, Florida, where she evaluated the impact of supportive adults and high-quality social settings on the social and emotional well-being of children.
After leaving Prime Time, she became a research consultant for the Palm Health Foundation, Youth Speak Out International, and QTurn, thought leaders that offer support and education to children and youth across the country.
After 2020, she developed long COVID, and in 2022, was diagnosed with Stage III cancer. She is currently in remission but continues to cope with complex, chronic illness (primarily myalgic encephalomyelitis, or chronic fatigue syndrome, and postural orthostatic tachycardia).
(Her username, MomLisa, comes from her Minecraft beginnings: playing with her two sons when they were young.)
