Plowshare Farm
Sharing joy, work, and meaningful lives in a caring community
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
People with developmental disabilities, particularly those from low- and moderate-income families, in New Hampshire struggle to find opportunities for education and employment that both meet their support needs and challenge them to unfold to their full potential. Traditional employment options often do not recognize both the individual challenges and hidden potential each person carries within. Socially, people with developmental challenges often find themselves severely isolated, without peers or a healthy social life. Plowshare Farm’s residential and daytime opportunities fill this void, blending meaningful work, practical learning, and inclusive social interaction in tailored, carefully designed individual plans that support the developing abilities and evolving needs of each participant.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Inclusive Community Life & Work
Plowshare Farm is a sustainable, locally-rooted alternative to the marginalization, limited work opportunities, and social isolation that many people with special needs face. At Plowshare, people with and without developmental disabilities thrive, forge deep relationships, and become innovators in a fully integrated, quintessentially rural New Hampshire community.
Plowshare is more than a program. It is a way of living that is sustainable both for people – including people with developmental challenges – and for the land. It is precisely this overlapping of intentions, social and ecological, that make Plowshare strong, unique and relevant. Our inclusive living and vocational realms support people with diverse capabilities to grow and thrive in the company of each other. Individual challenges are met while inner potentials are drawn out. By working together toward common goals, people with special needs become co-creators rather than the objects of someone else's work.
Where we work
External reviews
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of adults with disabilities receiving sufficient social and emotional support
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of adults with disabilities finding fulfillment in meaningful work
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
People with intellectual disabilities
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Plowshare Farm aims to create an environment where people with and without developmental disabilities thrive, forge deep relationships, and become innovators in a fully integrated, quintessentially rural New Hampshire community. Plowshare offers a sustainable, locally-rooted alternative to the marginalization, limited work opportunities, and social isolation that many people with developmental disabilities face. Plowshare offers a way of living that is sustainable both for people – including people with disabilities – and for the land. It is precisely this overlapping of intentions, social and ecological, that make Plowshare strong, unique and relevant. Our inclusive living and vocational realms support people with diverse capabilities to grow and thrive in the company of each other. By working together toward common goals, people with special needs become co-creators rather than the objects of someone else's work.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Plowshare Farm provides unique opportunities for people with special needs (including people on the autism spectrum and with other developmental challenges) to learn practical vocational and social skills, experience meaningful work, participate in creative and cultural activities, and build lasting relationships of mutual respect at Plowshare and in the wider community. Plowshare’s approach centers around vocational and experiential learning environments wherein people with and without special needs work side by side in a variety of settings – as farmers, gardeners, cooks, bakers, crafters, builders, storekeepers, and baristas. In addition to these vocational activities, people join in a variety of creative and cultural activities at Plowshare and in the wider community, including concerts, plays, festivals, contra dances, and more.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Plowshare has, over 30 years of deliberate growth, developed the human expertise and relationships, the physical infrastructure, and the organizational structures and culture to support high quality vocational and experiential learning environments that advance social therapeutic goals in a growing range of settings, including our farm and gardens, bakery, community kitchen, land stewardship and sustainability, craft studios, and café/store.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Over 30 years, Plowshare has grown from one to seven homes, each with its own constellation of adults with developmental challenges, caregivers (there is no traditional “staff” as we are all community members), international volunteers, and children who together form an extended family household. About 45 people call Plowshare home. Others, both experts in their field and those participating in vocational training, join us each day, and every summer we host a vibrant summer camp for 25+ adults with special needs who eagerly anticipate their time at Plowshare.
Plowshare Farm's impact reaches broader as a model of inclusion (in co-creative work and integrated social life) and sustainability (through our fully-functioning farm, organic gardens, and use of farm-based solar, geothermal, and advanced wood gasification boilers replacing fossil fuel sources).
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Plowshare Farm
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2022
Ms. Barbara Goldsmith
Bay Donat
Founder, Plowshare Farm
Thomas Quarles
Divine Millimet, Attorneys at Law
Kimberly Dorn
Director, Plowshare Farm
Roswitha Imegwu
Camphill Village USA
Kumar Mal
Camphill Village USA
Barbara Goldsmith
Retired
Ken Kunhardt
NH Community Loan Fund
Kim Pfeil
Plowshare Farm
Paul Corcoran
Retired
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
Transgender Identity
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data