Healing Farms

Healing Farms helps young adults with disabilities to find their place and purpose in community through community-based supports and opportunities for social enterprise.

The Need

Every year between 150,000 - 200,000 special education students are aging out of local school districts all across the United States into the adult world finding themselves unemployable and having no options for support services while their parents work.

How We Deliver Exceptional Results

• We have designed our programs to be easily replicated in any city or community.

• We have developed a sustainable financial model relying heavily on social enterprise - businesses whose profits fund our programs.

• We meet in small, well-matched small groups that can go anywhere and do anything that meet the needs of the individuals in the group, accomodating all kinds and levels of disability.

• We work out of small, community based hubs, each with five activity centers: an urban farm, a technology lab, a creativity/arts station, life/vocational skills, and community based education and recreation.

• We get results beyond typical expectations because we work a peer system. Folks always do best when they are making friends with peers. Friendships foster trust and inspire our participants to take on new challenges.

• We focus on the individuals gifts and talents to help them find ways to contribute in some way.

• We believe the family is an integral part of sustainability. We build relationships between families so that there is a village of support and accountability – addressing the fear of who will love and care for my child when I am gone.

We are proving that empowerment and development in the special needs community yields high benefits for everyone. Families get the support they need. Talents and strengths emerge among participants and hopelessness vanishes. Community perceptions change and we are able to live in true community. Expensive “care” evolves into genuine relationships. This revolutionary approach is easier, less expensive, and more effective.

How You Help

Healing Farms has been at work proving this concept. We are now at a critical point in our organization where we need your financial support to help us reach more young adults and go beyond the Charleston area.

• Give - Your generous donation helps us provide the supports and services these young adults need.
• Shop - We have a social enterprise called Super Simple Salsa and the funds raised from this business help us cover the day to day costs of the support we provide.
• Promote - Help us reach our goals by sharing with your friends and family about the work we are doing. Follow us on twitter and like us on Facebook to stay up to date with how you can stay involved.

Find Out More

Click here to find out about our first social enterprise Super Simple Salsa and watch us on abc news 4. For more information please visit our website.