The Cottage Farm concept is based on the belief that people with mental disorders, like those with other chronic illnesses, undergo a recovery process. While recovery is not the same as a cure, with appropriate supports, most will go on to live meaningful and satisfying lives. The residential therapeutic farm community is a unique and innovative option for recovery.

Who Will Come to Cottage Farm?

Clients will be adults, aged nineteen and older, with a mental illness who want to recover and become more independent. This will include for example, people diagnosed with bipolarity, schizophrenia, depression and post traumatic stress disorder.

Residents will have to be willing to participate in farming activities and to work closely in therapy with mental health staff. Some residents will have previously misused substances such as drugs or alcohol and must demonstrate that they are no longer actively using. Residents must be assessed as not being at risk of harm toward themselves or others and must be able to function as responsible citizens within the therapeutic community.

Cottage Farm will be a therapeutic environment where the benefits of treatment are enhanced by living and working side-by-side with staff and volunteers. It is the relationships in a therapeutic community that provide the foundation for recovery. When people are treated with equality and respect they regain their self-confidence and ability to live in society. At Cottage Farm, people will receive support for mind, body and spirit.

Life on the Farm

Cottage Farm will have 36 residents in recovery along with staff and volunteers who live on the property or outside in the community. The farm will offer a balance of agricultural work with support in developing the skills and stability needed to live independently. A typical day will consist of 4 – 5 hours of farm work (depending on the ability of the individual) along with other therapies and activities. The daily routine and respectful, caring environment will help people develop a sense of self worth, an ability to socialize and the skills to live independently.

Farm work will involve

• organic food production
• caring for animals
• building and land maintenance
• processing food produced on the farm

Therapies will include

• psychotherapies and psycho education
• medication management support
• coping and life skills development
• relapse prevention
• substance use education and counseling
• nutrition, wellness, spiritual support
• leisure and recreational opportunities

Staffing will include a farmer, psychologists, psychiatrist, health care workers, a nurse, house supervisors, nutrition and recreation counselors and other therapists.

Volunteers may include farming students, like WOOFers, people who are seeking a retreat and have other skills to offer or student interns who want experience working in a mental health therapeutic environment.

Community Involvement and Day Programming

Cottage Farm hopes to link with the surrounding community in a number of ways.

Food production: the farm could contribute to food security and local food sustainability on the Coast.

Education: training opportunities, residencies and internships will be available for secondary school students (such as chef training, horticultural training, psychology education) and for people in post secondary programs (such as psychology, social work, nursing, physician, etc.)

Day programming: Cottage Farm may be able to include other residents of the Sunshine Coast in some of the programming such as farm work.

Meals for Seniors / Food for Schools: the Farm can participate in community programs where people attend for an inexpensive meal or where food is supplied for community programming (such as the School Fruit and Vegetable Program)

Spiritual Retreat