Peacehaven Community Farms

Scotty and Hannah talk to Corey Phillips and jeff Pigeri about a thriving community caring for those with learning disabilities.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to Carolina Cares. It's ScottyBlaisdell with Hannah Tyler and I love when
we have these fresh faces come in. Hannah. I'm you too, Scotty.
We have two of them today.There's a lot of energy in this
room, which I am here foron a Sunday morning. Really. Corey
Phillips is here, he's the directorof marketing and Communications. And then we
have Jeff Pegary. Did I getit? Okay? Yes, they're with

(00:21):
peace Haven Community Farm. And I'mgoing to let you step up first,
Corey and explain what is the visionfor peace Haven Community Farm. Sure.
Peace Haven is a little old farmin wits At, North Carolina. If
you're familiar with the Red Oak BrewingExit, we'll refer to it as or
just a mile past that down theroad on sixty one. This farm came

(00:43):
together around a vision of two families, and it exists to rethink and reinvent
intentional community. It started out withtwo families who are raising children with intellectual
and developmental disabilities. I'll probably callthose idd moving forward through the conversation and
rather than tuck them away in aplace that they would be cared for,

(01:03):
but certainly separate from the rest ofthe community. They wanted to create a
space where people of all abilities cancome together and not just live, but
thrive in harmony. And it justso happened that it became a farm.
I don't know about you, butwhen I'm outside out of doors, digging
in the dirt, it's really easyto kind of forget everything else. It's

(01:25):
weighing you down and caring for somethingas simple as a seed, nurturing it,
watching it grow really translates nicely intowhat we're all about at peace An
or for me planting it and watchingit dwindle. Well, okay, now
I'm going to let you introduce oursecond guest here and tell me how you

(01:49):
connected with Jeff. Sure. Oneof the wonderful things about peace Haven is
we knew that in order to createthat community, that a home need to
be part of it. And webuild a beautiful house called Susan's View and
partnership with our friends at Habitat forHumanity and so many countless community members and
filled it with big hearts and soJeff Pegary is one of our original core

(02:12):
members. We call them our coremembers because they are at the core of
everything we do, and I actuallyand I actually and I actually build the
house. It was actually my ideato make sure that this house is affordable
and people come check us out.So what's it like working on the farm.
What do you do every day?Well, of course, I like
you listened to nine nine point five. I like to listen to my music.

(02:32):
It's challenging because I was actually growingup in New Jersie. And excuse
me. We easy get up inthe morning. I usually check the news,
see what's happening, and then Iusually go white to walk and I
usually hummus tune. And what kindof things do you grow at the farm?
We go foods. We got veggieand we got a lot of love
and a lot of caring. Ohokay, And what is your favorite I'm

(02:58):
sure it's it's work, But whatis your favorite thing to do? My
favorite thing to do is to letthe community know the day was a place
and not kind of the day ofthe place, no, kind of that
dreams do come true and dreams docome true. And what's it like you
also live on the farm and youhave quite the community. Just do you
have roommates? How does that work? I have actually a five move mates
five my good friend and my goodfriend Ben, my good friend Adam,

(03:23):
and my good and the newest comingabout autumn, and we all share.
We all say a kitchen, wesay a living which is challenging, but
hey, we know, like right, living with roommates can always be a
hassle. Sometimes, yeah, Iagree. Now, do you guys share
chores for your living situation? Sometimes? Yeah. We actually have a schedule
which is like a schedule, kindof like waking up at seven am.

(03:46):
Sometimes I like to sleep in.Lunch usually at twelve o'clock, which then
dinner time is usually on five thirties, and then we usual Monday, Wednesday
and Fridays. We like to watchWe love fortunate Jeopardy. Yes, are
you good at it? I amsometimes good at it? Like old movies
and old music, souse, that'swhat I like. Yeah, Okay,
Corey, I have to ask you, what is it that you feel when

(04:06):
you're at peace Haven Community Farm thatyou don't get other places. That's a
phenomenal question and it's a big answer, but I'll narrow it down to one
word. Hope. There are somany families, just let's just narrow it
down to smaller numbers right. SoNorth Carolina, five percent of the population
falls under what we would call thatintellectual developmentally disabled community and within a twenty

(04:30):
five mile radius. That's a bignumber to even think about. When families
are raising a child, that's onething because there are so many services available
to that child and to that family. However, there's this, there's a
word used in our world called thecliff, and it is when that child
becomes a twenty two year old anda lot of those federally funded, locally

(04:54):
funded programs stop. And then whatAnd so you think about Jeff and his
core members and the families that areraising these young adults. Now what happens
twenty thirty forty years down the roadand Peaceaban exists because we wanted to be
a part of that answer. Wewanted to be a place where folks could

(05:15):
trust their adult children too, andnot only know again that there is just
a place where they can be,it's a place where they can thrive alongside
people of all abilities. A greatway to put it is, how can
we create a space where we canall be different together? So when someone
comes into work there at PCD,I know you had the five core members,

(05:39):
but are there other people that willtransition in and transition out? Absolutely,
if you think about the growing season. So we'll get in the farm
talk a little bit. From Apriluntil October, we have our Saturday Garden
Workdays and it's a two hour blockof time where people are invited to come
on. If they want to learnabout planting, great, we've got that.
If you want to walk the farmand just enjoy our ninety acres,

(06:01):
great, let's do that too.But most often we're doing simple projects that
everybody can get engaged with. Wealso have what we call fiber arts.
We take wool and one of thesimplest projects is we encase the wool around
soap and you've got kind of asoap brilopad if you will. Folks can
sit down, tell stories. We'vegot all ages. There's a senior community

(06:26):
down the road. The veterans loveto come in and swap stories and just
I get to sit there and listen. Jeff gets to gorilla on music history,
and all the while we're making productsthat are available on Peace Haven's Etsy
store, for example. And italso gives if I may speak for Jeff
for just a moment, Absolutely itgives Jeff and our core members and families

(06:46):
who are bringing their kids in purpose. At the end of any given day,
right, we just want to knowthat we were seen, heard and
valued, and that happens every dayat Peace Haven. What do you think,
Jeff? I would agree with him, Commune, I would agree with
them. The biggest one that Ithink would be is it will community and
love because on the pandemic. Whois challenging for some of us when it
comes to planting practices? How areyou guys being accommodating towards people with all

(07:12):
different abilities? The nice thing iswe are on organic farm and the land
is there for us to take careof and that means that transversely, the
land is there to take care ofus, and so we practice and plant
in ways that are accessible in avariety of different methods. Whether you can
get down on the ground and diga little bit, whether you want to

(07:32):
visit the hydroponics and the green room, the greenhouse, excuse me, we
have raised beds when you think aboutaccessibility in those methods. And the nice
thing is there are a lot offamilies who come and I mentioned this a
moment ago, but bring their familiesout and just want to explore and roam
and not be kind of locked upor locked off in some other space.

(07:55):
And so it's all of those things. We don't grow just vegetables, we
grow people too. We're talking toCorey and Jeff from peace Haven Community Farm
intentional Community. I love that phrase. No, Corey or Jeff can people
come to the farm and buy yourproduce. Absolutely. In fact, one
of our fun programs is called Riseand it works with individuals that are seeking

(08:16):
employment that just need an opportunity tosit down for that interview and show what
they're all about and who they are. And so Rise exists and the way
that we can give them practice isby hosting a pop up market, right
and so Jeff mentioned our Facebook page, our Instagram. We always are really
good about putting the word out aheadof times. Folks can drop in honestly
anytime, and if we're in thegrowing season, we love to see new

(08:39):
faces talk a little bit about whatwe're up to, and then if we
could send them off with a bundleof produce, then hallelujah. And what
is I think you said? Carefarming? That's it it is. Yeah,
there's a lot of folks out therethat have discovered really just kind of
going back to our roots as acommunity of growing together in all the ways
that that word can entail, right, And so we have found that although

(09:03):
we are quote unquote building the planeas we fly it, when it comes
to peace Haven and where we're aboutto go, we could use some advice
on those things as well. Andso we've reached out and we found this
care farming network, other organizations whoare similar in practice, doing slightly different
things here and there, but weput those legos together, all of a
sudden we've got a really great collaborativeunit. That's right. And Jeff,

(09:24):
you've been with peace Haven for morethan ten years, now, what makes
you stick around? I think it'sactually my family. It's going to have
both with educators and I'm growing upin the Josie. I went to U
and GG, and I see myselfup to U and G G. Do
I need to live with my parentsor do I need to live in FUM
And then and then's commune and wecame out to Hobe celebration, which by
the way, will be October twentiethif I'm quicked. And then I got

(09:48):
accepted. You mentioned intellectual disabilities ETcetera, and all kinds of people with
different disabilities. What are some ofthose that you've accepted into your program that
if someone's listening right now and theysay, I don't even know where my
child is going to work, Idon't know what's going to happen to them
in the future, it seems likea great place to get started. What

(10:09):
qualifies someone to come and work?I would think to put it in clear
terms, cognitive disability is one way, is a pretty popular way when you
start to do research. Anybody who'sever had to jump into oh my gosh,
this is now a reality in mylife. They hop on the internet.
So cognitive disability, limitations and mentalfunctioning and skills, So think about

(10:31):
communication, self help, social skills. Me I think the perfect way today
is inclusion. We need be inclusiveabout people with disability. And it's me
no matter if we have the worldis not perfect. As I say that
every day. That's one hundred percentright, and amen to that, Jeff.
So to answer your question, honestly, it's hopping on psavianfarm dot org.

(10:54):
There's a great resource there of howthey can get in touch with us.
Just come out to the farm doorthat's right on the website and we'll
start the conversation. We have realizedsimply by having those conversations that there is
such a high demand and need.We talked about the cliff right and we're
sitting on eighty nine acres outside ofwitsit and we're only currently operating eight of

(11:18):
those. However, with some movesand changes and some really significant growth around
the opportunities that we have to beof service to the community or we're now
in this massive growth phase and we'regoing to develop the we'll call it the
Back eighty eight cres. We'll callit the Back eighty and that includes a
state of the art community center.And I mentioned before building the plane as

(11:41):
we fly it, that is totallywhat we are doing. How can we
take the footprint of this new buildinghas yet to be to be broken ground
on yet and cram it with asmany opportunities and accesses for people who are
looking to have that purpose, tohave that impact in their life. Totally
trying something new. Podcast, We'llhave a podcast studio. You think about

(12:03):
organizations in the triad like a specialblend great employment opportunities right around a cup
of coffee, what a great concept. How can we support that endeavor?
How can we open a cafe?How can we provide touch sensory How can
we assist the medical community in away that hasn't been done one of Jeff's
he mentioned his friend Ben Ben isan incredible nonverbal communicator and autumn as well

(12:28):
nonverbal communication. What can we dothat hasn't been done yet that allows them
to have an air quote a voicerather than telling them how they need to
communicate with someone like me, howcan I step into a space and meet
them beyond just the middle and finda way to hear them right? Because
hearing takes effort. It's not justsomething that happens. We have to really

(12:52):
lean in to listen. Say thatagain. It can be a miracle.
We're growing miracles, guys. Yes, I gotta say this last section here
where you're just talking and the passionis coming out. It is so exciting
because fectious what I'm hearing. AndI know you're talking about literally breaking ground,
but it seems like you are breakingground in so many ways. And

(13:13):
if if someone has a thought oran idea, or they want to take
it to another level, it seemslike they could approach you and say,
hey, have you thought of this? And you're going to say, let's
do it one hundred percent. Andit comes from partnerships, that comes from
collaborative storytelling. You know, youthink about the radio analogy. You guys
are there. If no one's listening, then it's all for not. And
so we're trying to create spaces whereagain, people of all abilities can come

(13:37):
together. If you're familiar with bluezones, what would it look like if
a blue zone suddenly popped up inour area? Blue zones are these these
there's five communities across the world peopleare consistently living past one hundred years old
and healthy, not this decrepit onehundred year old, but a healthy,
thriving community. And it's because theyhave found a purpose and a place and

(14:03):
a community, you know, withthe right purpose anyhow as possible. I
agree with him. I'm gonna letyou get the last word here, Jeff.
If you're trying to tell someone tocome visit peace Haven Community Farm,
why should they do that? It'scommunity, it's fun, it's on Saturday
mornings, it's it's actually a funplace for anybody. As Corean mentioners excise

(14:26):
me from anybody excise me screaming awayfrom babies to ninety nine hundred. It's
actually a community that we opened itup for anybody and just come out and
try us. Please check out theFacebook paid Instagram with us the website.
Website's gonna be lost maybe today,but then I when it's gonna be lunch,
I was happy because it's actually annit's gonna I excu Actually the voice

(14:50):
of a of a radio posted outit because because I left those at twenty
four seven. If I had to, that's awesome. We may put you
to work. Let's hit that websitewhen we're time. That's Peacehavenfarm dot org
and Facebook and Facebook and Instagram.That is Corey Phillips, Jeff Pegary,
thanks so much for coming in again, peace Haven Community Farm. And this

(15:11):
is Carolina Cares. Thanks guys,thank you appreciate chu