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ABOUT THE FARM
Wild Embrace Farm will be an innovative farm education space focused on equity, sustainability, and resilience. Programs will focus on gardening, cooking, art, and animal husbandry as alternative therapies to heal, build confidence, and foster a sense of belonging.
There will be various programs including workshops, classes, events, and after-school or
daytime care. Most of these programs will be based around life on a farm, and be
tailored to specific marginalized groups.
A focus of Wild Embrace Farm will be to provide daytime care for children and youth with
high needs: Autistic, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, other developmental disorders, or
mental illness. They will employ Support Workers who will run after-school programs where they teach age-appropriate nature-based life skills like cooking, gardening, and animal care, as well as facilitate recreation-based activities tailored to the needs and goals of the clients.
The farm would also offer field trips for local schools, in-person classes, and event hosting.
Daily and weekly workshops will range in topics but be centered around nature and
community. For example, classes could teach about growing food, planning a garden,
learning to cook, talking about Climate Anxiety, support groups for queer youth, and art
classes for seniors.
In the summer months, they will have a 12-week CSA box (Community Supported
Agriculture), a weekly box of fresh produce that is sold to subscribers. These will include
fresh produce from a portion of the garden.
Later goals include day camps for neurotypical as well as neurodivergent youth will take
place during summer, spring break, and pro-D days. Underserved populations and their
families will be a priority but not exclusive. For example in a family with multiple kids where one child has a diverse learning ability, all the family’s kids would be accepted into the program. Another long-term goal is for Wild Embrace Farm to offer overnight respite care for youth.
Wild Embrace Farm is led by a Board including founders Kat and Hannah Glasspoole,
Vernon Thompson, and Tatiana Thompson, as well as Celine Miller, Samantha Stade, and
Madison Sutcliffe, with backgrounds in administration, marketing, operations, childcare,
education, and culinary arts collectively. Kat and Hannah have been running a successful
pet store in Vancouver for 8 years and plan to take their business knowledge to the
non-profit sector.
Learn more about Wild Embrace Farm here.
LAND REQUIREMENTS
The land leased should be around 2 acres with a minimum 0.5 acres of workable land in the Greater Victoria area – preferably in Sooke or Saanich.
Ideally, it would have a building for running indoor programs, even a basic one like a barn or workspace that could be upgraded to be comfortable all year round.
(Note: All buildings and bathrooms will need to be accessible for wheelchair users.)
A living space on the land for staff to stay in would also be ideal but not a necessity. If it is possible, they would love to have chickens and goats.
Wild Embrace Farm believes relationships, communication, and flexibility will be integral to building a positive environment, which applies also to the landowners.
They are searching for someone who believes in their vision, and they are willing to make adjustments to our plan to fit into the space available as long as they have shared values:
- Sustainability
- Diversity
- Community
- Indigenous Rights
- Advocacy
- Equity
- Empowerment
- Resilience
GET IN TOUCH
Do you have land that might be the right fit for this farmer? If you have land (or are looking for land) and are interested in learning more about this farmer and the B.C. Land Matching Program, please contact the Vancouver Island Land Matcher at kiyomi@youngagrarians.org.
Learn more about the farm (and other Land & Farmer Listings in your region) on the Young Agrarians UMAP. For more about the B.C. Land Matching Program, please visit youngagrarians.org/land.
The B.C. Land Matching Program is funded on Vancouver Island by the Province of British Columbia, with support from Cowichan Valley Regional District and the Real Estate Foundation of BC.