The Farm at Penny Lane’s innovative programs help mental health clients become more self-sufficient.
The UNC Farm at Penny Lane, located on 40 acres in northern Chatham County, uses a holistic and sustainable approach to enhance the quality of life of individuals with severe and persistent mental illness by offering opportunities to become healthier and more self-sufficient. Therapeutic actives take place at the Farm, which consists of a large growing area, heritage-breed chickens, beehives, a learning kitchen and a walking trail. They use organic practices to grow their crops; community volunteers, clients with serious mental illness and staff cultivate the garden.
The farm offers a variety of programs in partnership with the UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health and the nonprofit XDS Inc., including horticulture therapy, animal-assisted therapy, music, cooking, expressive arts and yoga.
Penny Lane is currently in the process of a building an affordable tiny home village for clients who may want to live permanently on the premises. The 15-home community will include amenities, food, transportation and direct access to activities.
Recovery and Rehabilitation Programs
Recovery-oriented programs include a list of complimentary approaches to traditional therapy and medicine: horticultural and other nature-based therapies, yoga, movement and breathing, expressive arts, music and healthy cooking. Therapeutic skills groups focused on symptom and self-management are also offered, but in a non-clinical setting with a therapeutic garden as the backdrop. The Farm strives to find facilitators with their own lived experience in recovery as peers to offer the various groups and classes.
These programs provide ample opportunities for meaningful social engagement that are important to mental health recovery. Lessening stigma and allowing clients to feel less isolated, willing to maintain their connections with other people, and capture the experiences in their lives that are most meaningful to them. The UNC Farm at Penny Lane aims to be a place of positive reciprocity and show that the path of recovery is a hopeful one.
Most of the groups are open and run throughout the year. For additional program information, contact: Farm Program Manager, Jeff Neer.