Why the World Needs More Care Farms: A Dream Years in the Making

Many ask me, "Why did you start your Care Farm?" It's actually a question that I think about quite often and this question comes with so many emotions.

Throughout my life my dream has been to live on property, surrounded by many animals and children, to have space to explore, create, and get dirty. When I thought of what my "Dream Job" would be if you could do ANYTHING that you wanted, it was always to help children learn and heal by working with animals, preferably horses. It was something that I had never heard of before, but even back then it made so much sense to me. I remember writing about this in my journal as early as my teenage years and even continued to write about this "Dream Job" into my 20's.

One day I remember being brave enough to share the ideas of my "Dream Job" with a few friends and students in college and I remember their responses like it were yesterday. It was complete shock, a lot of crazy comments, and even a bit of laughter. I did not expect to hear those responses from them, and once I did, it immediately shut down my down my dreams, what I thought would be forever. I pursued my interests in different ways, acquiring my degrees, without knowing that someday it would all come together, it just may take many years and unfortunately suffering many tragedies to come into play.

Throughout my life I have suffered many tragedies as many of you may know, losing my younger brother to suicide in 2006, losing extended family members, and a few very good friends. Throughout these tragedies I have had to continue to overcome many emotions while trying to help keep my children and others in our family on their healing journeys. This was very difficult in times because, I too, was struggling and trying to find my way through grief, fear, and so many unknown emotions. Through it all, I continued to study and find ways to get through the grief so I could help others to do the same. In reflection, I can see how this period of my life was one that truly changed everything for me!

In 2016, I decided to start writing a blog called The Giggling Life, which was a perfect name for all that we had been through at this point of my life. Raising four kids, 3 boys and a girl was quite the journey, one that kept my husband and I on our toes and laughing all of the time. It was the perfect name for the journey I was on.

The purpose of the blog was to encourage others who were walking through similar seasons of life - to help them find peace, hope, and joy while sharing simple yet powerful ways to shift their mindset during life's difficult moments.

For me, that transformation began with one simple practice: gratitude. I can honestly say that learning to be grateful- not just for the blessings, but for every lesson and every challenge- changed everything. It reshaped the way the way I viewed my life, my circumstances, and my future.

Who would ever know that something so simple could be so powerful.

Gratitude is powerful and it inspired me to learn more, grow more, and write more. It gave me strength, confidence, brought me joy, and gave me the courage to put my writing out there. This was an amazing time of discovery for me, something that I could not have seen myself doing 10 years prior. It was incredible chapter of my life as I loved learning and writing. Not knowing that things would change once again. You can read more about my story here.

At the beginning of 2018, we unfortunately suffered 2 more losses that really rocked our worlds. My sons best friend and roommate in the Navy suddenly passed, and then just 3 months later, my 18-year-old nephew passed in an accident, which was a blow that hit our family terribly hard.

He was my youngest son's best friend and was very close with all of my children, myself, and all of the kids that were living in our house at that time. This was a point in my life that I honestly did not know where to turn, I did not know how to keep all of these children on the right path. I felt that I could barely keep my head above water. We had just gotten through rebuilding our house after it had burned in 2016, and this felt like the final blow, and it was just too much for any of us to handle.

Everything that I had studied about, wrote about, and applied to my life, somehow seemed irrelevant at that time, although I knew it wasn't. We just needed to time to breathe, grieve, and figure out to get through this next phase of life. Honestly, it was at that time, when I didn't know what else to do, that I witnessed something magical starting to happen.

I have always been lucky enough to have all sorts of animals in my life, my favorite being horses. At an early age I was mystified by these animals. They were the ones that brought so much joy and comfort into my life, especially when I needed it the most. They brought peace, comfort, and a level of understanding that I didn't know existed anywhere else. They were animals that I could trust on every level. They were my best friends, companions, therapists, and my saving grace and I didn't really understand the depth of this until this point in my life.

At this time of utter darkness, trying to manage the deep emotions of the 6 kids in my home (5 being teenagers), my parents, my brother, and myself, is when I started witnessing a transformation in the kids. Something so subtle in the beginning, but it was SOMETHING, and that time in my life that is just what I needed. I needed that little SOMETHING to hold on to, to give me hope, and to give me light.

We had two beautiful horses at this time, 2 chickens, a bunny, 2 cats, and two dogs at the time on 5 acres of empty land with a creek that ran the property line filled with crawdads and toads. The property was open enough to do whatever you would like, and it gave the kids the option to explore, be outside, have fresh air, get dirty, and just BE.

The beauty and magic that I was witnessing came when the kids would wander outside with the animals and spend time feeding them, grooming them, exploring, sitting in the dirt talking, hanging at the creek catching crawdads while horses hung over their shoulders. It was after those moments that I started seeing the shift.

The kids didn't have their phones, they were off their screens, they were being PRESENT, facing their emotions while breathing fresh air, putting their hands on the horses, getting dirty, moving, and all of that started a shift within them, one that they didn't even realize was happening.

I noticed a shift in myself from being out with them, watching them, spending more time than usual with the animals, but it was a very noticeable shift in them. They seemed lighter, their faces were bright with color, and magically some smiles would appear, which would then turn into laughter over time.

This is when it all came together, this all meant something, going back to my childhood, having horses, being outdoors, fresh air, movement, all of this was part of my healing journey, and quite noticeably it was becoming theirs too.

This is when I knew that I needed to create something special for other children to experience and this is how The Giggling Life Care Farm came to be.

Why I Started the Giggling Life Care Farm

With the help of the animals, the outdoors, and having a safe space to just breathe and BE, I witnessed so much healing happen within our family. It was at that time that my husband and I decided that all children needed to have access to something like this.

All children and families should be able to have a space where they can learn about how nature and agriculture and how it can help us reset and restore in a way that nothing else can. This is when this idea became my life's mission.

I wanted to create a safe place that was available for all kids to come with their families, to immerse themselves in agriculture and nature, all while learning mindset, gratitude, how to overcome obstacles, create relationships, work as a team, and the importance of just being still in nature.

In March 2019, I started my first class here at GL and this crazy journey has completely transformed my life and so many other children and families as well.

You may ask, how is that possible? I will tell you exactly how. Agriculture, Nature, Connection,

Building Relationships, and by giving children the space and freedom to be creative, breathe, and letting kids just be kids!

What I have Learned Over the Years

I have learned so much on my journey while building GL and every day I am grateful that somehow, I was given the chance to follow my childhood dream. Who knew it would be created the way it was, through many years of struggle and sadness, however, I believe 1000 percent that it was meant to be, as I have seen so many transformations within children and their families.

As we continued to grow and explore throughout the years here at GL I found that kids LOVE learning and working through their emotions while being hands on in their environment, so we continued to create experiences for them doing just that. From grooming and feeding animals, to planting and growing the garden, helping create new shelters for animals, storm prepping, or just sitting still in the quiet in nature surrounded by these animals. the possibilities have been endless here and that is what is so magical about this space.

I have seen children gain so many things from their experience here at our Care Farm that it is truly hard to fit in one blog, so I will be continuing to share my experiences in the future with you. Here are just a few key items to share with you.

Character and Life Skills:

• Confidence

• Responsibility

• Patience

• Compassion

• Empathy

• Respect

• Kindness

• Gratitude

• Problem Solving

• Leadership

• Teamwork

• Independence

• Perseverance

• Courage

• and MORE!

Social and Emotional Growth

• Positive Mindset

• Connection

• Self Esteem

• Mindfulness

• Trust

• Communication

• Purpose

• Happiness

• Friendship

• Healing

• and more!

Agriculture and Animal Education

• Animal Care

• Stewardship

• Agriculture

• Life Cycles

• Gardening

• Farm to Table Learning

• Responsibility for Living Things

• and more!

Hands-On Learning

• Critical Thinking Skills

• Exploration

• Creativity

• Sensory Learning

• Observation

• and more!

Physical Development

• Gross and Fine Motor Skills

• Strength

• Balance

• Outdoor Play

• Healthy Living

• and more!

Honestly, there are just too many benefits that children and families receive when exploring Care Farms. Some of my very favorite things to witness is their compassion for animals that I have, the amount of responsibility they take because of their love for nature or an animal, the confidence that is beaming out of them from being in this space, the amount of gratitude that they have for nature and agriculture after spending time here, the kindness that I witness when they come, the healing that takes place in their little souls, the amount of weight that is lifted from them, and what is the best is the pure joy that I see after spending time outdoors with these animals.

My heart and soul have been fulfilled on this journey. I love going to work, as it is my passion. and it fills me with so much joy every single day.

I never could have imagined that all of things could be possible in one small little space, however, I was wrong, EVERYTHING is possible, no matter the size of the property or how many animals that you have. It is giving them the space that they need that is important.

With the ever-changing world our children need these spaces now more than ever before.

The transformations are endless, the amount of joy is unmeasurable, and the complete satisfaction of being able to help families in my community is worth every sacrifice that I have endured during my journey.

That is why after many years of learning and creating, many ideas failing and succeeding, refining, testing, and dreaming, we are honored to open the doors and officially share The Giggling Life Care Farm's Business Model.

If you have ever had this dream or have ever experienced the joy that nature and agriculture can provide together, now it is the time to turn your passion into purpose and create your own special Care Farm to help enlighten the children and families in your community.

Over the past 8 years we have overcome so many obstacles, made countless mistakes, failed, succeeded, and learned every lesson the hard way, costing us so much valued time and money, and this is why we are so excited to share this Business Model with you.

Instead of learning the hard way, wasting countless hours on things that do not matter, stressing, and worrying all of the time about if this is the right path, we have created a plug and play system that is proven to work, it replaces the stress with the joy of having the foundation ready for success right away, literally from the very first thought until the last, we have it covered.

The framework is built. The curriculum is ready. The systems are proven and in place. Now all that is missing is you.

If you have ever dreamed of creating a place where children can discover confidence, kindness, healing, responsibility, a lifelong love of learning through animals, agriculture, and nature, we'd be honored to walk alongside you as you bring that dream to life.