We are developing a special area at our farm geared to the needs of seniors to allow them to experience working at the farm with raised beds and ergonomically correct tools to meet their particular needs.
As we move into a second generation of young people growing up disconnected from nature, we find older adults isolated from nature due to their living situations, physical challenges and growing poverty. Our goal is to bring together the wisdom of the elders with the enthusiasm of the young to celebrate nature and the Earth. Our farm is a community that welcomes everyone at every age.
In 2010, Habitat for Humanity moved Sister Sophia’s Mission House shed from the other side of the Motherhouse property to the farm area and started the refurbishing process. Home Depot generously donated and installed state of the art windows to preserve the shed by closing up the open spaces created in the first step of the refurbishment. An Eagle Scout is scheduled to complete the work.
In 2011 Homecoming won a competitive grant from the Association of Fundraising Professionals to create this intergenerational area which will continue to honor the memory of Sister Sophia.
In 2012 Matt Carrigan built a custom gazebo for Sophia Garden as part of his Eagle Scout project. Martin Viette Nurseries has donated their time and design skills to develop the area. Other Eagle Scouts have made commitments to future projects to help create a warm and welcoming therapeutic environment for children, seniors and the physically challenged.
Cornell Cooperative Extensions Creating Healthy Places in Suffolk County/Family Health & Wellness have committed to providing ergonomically correct tools.
“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder…he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.”
Rachel Carson, The Sense of Wonder