Northeast Ohio Care Farm Creates Community for Compassion, Caring and Connection for Youth and Young Adults with Disabilities
Focus on Developing Pathways to Regenerative Agriculture Careers for Youth and Young Adults with Disabilities
Pure joy, in the form of a deep, warm baritone melody, drifts up from among fresh soil mounds lining the crop row that Garrett and Sam are tending this early spring morning—a joy that is palpable as the sun hits their faces and slowly evaporates the dew while they tend a flower bed in the early morning hours at Farming with Friends, a rapidly evolving Northeast Ohio (NEO) care farm. For Garrett and Sam, young men in their early 20s, the farm is not just a place to grow flowers and vegetables, but a community where they have found purpose, a place for their passion for farming, and a pathway toward a future career in regenerative agriculture. Sam has taken on the title of “FlowerGuy,” and Garrett, “VeggieMan.”
Across the farm’s 21 acres adjacent to Cuyahoga Valley National Park, six part-time farmhands—young adults with disabilities—work in the 10,000-square-foot garden and in four high tunnels, three dedicated to flowers and vegetables and one transitioning from aquaponics to tabletop gardening on wheelchair-accessible growing platforms. The farm focuses on empowering youth and young adults with disabilities through inclusive, accessible, and community-based agricultural work, where typically abled individuals and people with disabilities work side by side, breaking down stigma and fostering a creative, connected community that extends beyond the farm’s perch on a Cuyahoga Valley National Park ridge and into the community below.
The nonprofit care farm was launched in 2023, and in its first iteration was an outlet for one NEO family to bring joy to their daughter, who loved farm life, fresh air, and working in the garden. The farm received the Patrick O’Bryan Faithful Servant Award from the Catholic Commission of Ashland, Wayne, and Medina Counties from Catholic Charities in 2025 in recognition of its unique approach to building community and opportunity for young people with disabilities.
Farming with Friends has further honed its mission since its inception three years ago, focusing not just on providing individuals with disabilities access to farm life and volunteers the opportunity to work alongside them, but on establishing a workforce development program that will provide a pathway to careers in local regenerative agriculture. The farm is now in a critical phase of growth as it transitions from a small pilot, proof-of-concept program toward developing a manualized workforce training program for high school youth and post-graduates, and building partnerships with local organizations to funnel youth into the program and place them in the community to sustain the program long term.
“Farming with Friends recently joined the National Care Farming Network and is excited to learn from established care farms across the country. As a young organization, we’re focused on building a diversified, stable revenue model to support long-term sustainability. Our goals go beyond financial strength. We are committed to deepening program quality, expanding inclusive employment opportunities, strengthening communitypartnerships, and continuing to create a place where people of all abilities can grow, work, and belong,” said Ginnette Simko, Farming with Friends Executive Director.
Simko, mom to Sam, one of Farming with Friends’ farmhands, has spent over a decade in regenerative agriculture, including helping steward this very land during its time as Countryside’s Beginning Farmer Training Farm (part of The Countryside Initiative, which established working farms in Cuyahoga Valley National Park). She saw firsthand how land, when cared for, can grow not just food, but people.
In 2023, everything shifted when Sam experienced a sudden, life-altering neurological event. In that moment, Simko’s life’s work took on new meaning. The same land that once trained beginning farmers became the foundation for something deeply personal—a place where her son, and others like him, could find purpose, dignity, and belonging.
Today, Farming with Friends stands as a continuation of that legacy, transforming not just soil, but lives. What began as one family’s dream for their daughter, and one mother’s response to unimaginable change has grown into a community where youth with disabilities are empowered to work, connect, and thrive.
“This year, I am taking on a leadership role on the farm,” said Sam, “taking control of my own group and supervising the work they do. While it may look like nothing is happening because it’s early in the season, we have been working hard, and soon the farm will explode with plants.”
“Farming with Friends aims to fill a critical gap: the significant drop-off in services for youth with disabilities after high school graduation. When students exit the school system, structured supports and vocational pathways diminish dramatically, creating what many families describe as a ‘service cliff,’” said Simko. “While filling this gap, it also provides a much-needed regenerative agriculture training program, critical because our farming workforce is being depleted as farmers age out, intentionally designed to be accessible for youth with disabilities.”
Farming with Friends is building partnerships with local high schools to facilitate a clear pathway to its workforce development program, including the Medina County Career Center (Career & Community Experience), a local vocational training center. Additional workforce development partners include Revere High School and the Cuyahoga Valley Career Center, both of which are partnering with the farm to expand pre-and post-graduation career opportunities for youth with disabilities.
Farming with Friends is also cultivating partnerships with local organizations serving the disability community, including Out ‘N About, Insightful Minds, Teammates Center, LLC, and CRU. These day programs visit the farm regularly to volunteer and provide opportunities for growth, development, and a unique farm experience for their clients. Farming with Friends anticipates expanding services to these partner organizations once certification is received from the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD), certifying them as a DODD service provider. Becoming a DODD provider would increase access to this unique on-farm experience.
“In a world that’s increasingly disconnected from nature and grounded connection, Farming with Friends is creating rare opportunities for people, both typically abled and those with disabilities, to return to the land,” said Alyssa D’Amico, Director of Out ‘N About.
A crew of volunteers from local businesses and organizations is the backbone of FwF, providing countless hours of work—composting, tilling, planting, and weeding on the farm—and, importantly, building community and connection. In 2025, volunteers provided 2,110 hours of work, valued at $68,398.10. “The volunteers who come to the farm appreciate that typically abled people can work alongside young people with disabilities, forming bonds that extend beyond the farm and translate into expanded employment and social opportunities in the community,” said Krista Yoho, Farming with Friends Board Secretary and Old Trail School Parent Volunteer Coordinator.
Youth volunteers from local schools, including Old Trail School, Walsh Jesuit High School, and Archbishop Hoban, can often be found tending the farm, along with teams from local organizations such as United Way, Progressive Insurance, and Charles Schwab, who typically spend a day working alongside the farm team – veteran crew members Dennis, Alex, Sam, and Andrew, and new hires Garrett, Tim, and Steve.
As the farm has grown over the last two years, Sam has evolved as well, working through the neurological event that left him without the ability to walk. Nearly two years later, and “without the help of his walker,” Sam noted, he is now on the farm working as a Team Lead, guiding new farmhands in the day-to-day work of growing flowers and produce, planting and harvesting for the local community, with excess going to local food banks and increasing access to fresh vegetables for all.
Farm Assistant Dennis and farm hands Alex and Andrew round out the returning team. Alex is celebrating two years with the farm, and both Dennis and Andrew have been with the farm since May 2025. In 2025, farmhands received paid crop production technical skills training using regenerative agriculture practices, along with safe tool use and equipment handling. They developed consistency, stamina, workplace readiness, and practiced communication and teamwork while growing vegetables and flowers for local sales.
Funders like the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), Diocese of Cleveland, also recognize how the farm nurtures a creative, connected, and compassionate community. “For more than fifty years, CCHD has invested in grassroots initiatives that uplift the dignity of individuals, strengthen local leadership, and promote systemic change. Your project stands out as a powerful example of how faith-driven action can transform lives and foster long-term justice and opportunity,” said Anthony Camino, CCHD Director. Work at the farm has largely been funded by individual donors who have come together to build this inclusive farming community.
“Since inception, in just a few short years, FwF has served hundreds of individuals and families through programs rooted in dignity, inclusion, and meaningful work,” said Simko. “In 2026, we will focus on strengthening program quality, launching Year 2 Leadership Training, expanding access to underserved participants, deepening corporate, community, and school partnerships, and building long-term organizational stability. We are thankful for our host, Old Trail School, our many partners, and countless individual volunteers. They make it possible for us to cultivate the confidence, joy, resilience, teamwork, and pride that grow here at Farming with Friends.”
