09/03/2026
Farming with Friends Will Close September 30, But Our Work Will Continue 🌱
After much thought and careful planning, the Board of Farming with Friends has made the difficult decision to dissolve our nonprofit organization. Our final day of operations will be September 30, 2026.
While Farming with Friends as an organization is coming to an end, the work we built together is not!
We have spent the past several months thinking carefully about what comes next and how we can preserve the things that matter most: meaningful opportunities for people with disabilities, the farm community we have built, and the partnerships that have made this work possible.
Beginning October 1, Rhythm and Reach, an Ohio-certified developmental disability service provider, will carry much of this work forward. Heads Up Flowers, a business enterprise of Rhythm and Reach, will take over agricultural programming at the Old Trail School Farm, creating opportunities for meaningful work, skill-building, and connection. Most of our current participants will move forward with us into this new chapter, through farm employment and programming, as well as community wellness experiences.
Our partnership with Crown Point Ecology Center will also help preserve important parts of Farming with Friends, including inclusive volunteer opportunities and our annual All Abilities Fall Fest (10/3 - save the date!).
We are carrying the mission forward financially, too. As part of our dissolution, our remaining assets will be dedicated to continued farm operations at Old Trail School and to establishing the Farming with Friends Legacy Fund at Crown Point Ecology Center. The resources our community entrusted to us will continue doing what they were intended to do: creating opportunities for people of all abilities to grow, contribute, and belong.
This decision was not made because we stopped believing in our mission. Quite the opposite. We chose to make this transition while Farming with Friends still had the resources, relationships, and community support to ensure that what we created could live beyond our organization.
And what a community we created together!
You planted and harvested. You hauled compost and pulled weeds. You learned new skills and taught them to someone else. You welcomed people who needed a place to belong. You donated, volunteered, partnered, cheered us on, bought our produce and flowers, attended our events, and believed that people of all abilities should have meaningful opportunities to work and grow together.
Because of you, Farming with Friends became much more than a farm.
Want to stay involved? There will still be plenty of ways to be part of what comes next. You can support Heads Up Flowers and the continued work at the Old Trail School Farm, volunteer through Crown Point Ecology Center, participate in and support the All Abilities Fall Fest, and contribute to the Farming with Friends Legacy Fund as it grows. Stay tuned!
There is a lot to celebrate, and even more to carry forward. The organization may be coming to an end, but the community and the work are not. We will keep growing, keep building community, and keep farming with friends, old and new.
Thank you for growing with us, believing in us, and helping us build something worth carrying forward.
Empowering All Abilities to Grow Together. Always. 🌱
