Blawesome is a Chapel Hill-based flower farm and design studio that offers beautiful, locally grown, organic arrangements. Our farm is owned and co-operated by a young man living with autism. When you buy flowers from Blawesome, you are taking part in a celebration of the beauty and uniqueness of both flowers and humanity.
Why farming?
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines social determinants of health as the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. Social determinants of health are mostly responsible for health inequities – the unfair and avoidable differences in health status seen within and between populations. Health is greatly determined by access to social and economic opportunities, the resources and supports available in our homes, neighborhoods, and communities, and the quality of our social interactions and relationships. For individuals living with intellectual and developmental disabilities, access to quality social and economic opportunities are few and far between. The WHO identifies employment conditions and social exclusion as two key concepts that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.
Farming is an innovative solution to address multiple social determinants of health. Farming provides opportunities to engage in purposeful work, demonstrate competence, test limits, establish meaningful connections (both with nature and people), establish autonomy in a safe and semi-controlled, but not clinical or institutional environment, take risks in a space where there is some measure of predictability in the variables around you, be seen as someone who has worth, and value, and potential.
For everyone, but especially for individuals with I/DD, these are the things that foster growth and positive outcomes, and that impact mental and physical health. Blawesome Farm is working to alter societal perspectives about the potential and capabilities of individuals living with disabilities.