SMILE FARMS INC
Creating Smiles, One Job at a Time!
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Smile Farms Inc. works to address the lack of vocational training and employment opportunities for people with disabilities, 80% of whom are unemployed. Each year, 150,000 – 200,00 students with disabilities age out of Special Education services, which build their skills and provide a structure for their days. After these services end, families often scramble to find affordable, quality resources. 69% of adults with disabilities live at home. Lacking sufficient structure and stimulation, they can regress, presenting emotional, physical and financial challenges for themselves and their families. Employment provides them with a meaningful occupation and the opportunity to master new skills, interact with people outside their families and increase their self-esteem and confidence. Smile Farms demonstrates how businesses and non-profits can collaborate to create inclusive workplaces so no child born today is shut out of a job when they reach adulthood.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Smile Farms at Independent Group Home Living Inc. (IGHL)
Smile Farms at IGHL, Moriches, NY - the organization’s flagship campus - provides programs, services, and support for people with intellectual disabilities. Smile Farmers grow annuals, perennials, and herbs in 19 greenhouses; plants are sold in an on-site retail store and wholesale to local florists and businesses.
Smile Farms at IGHL Administration Building
Smile Farms at IGHL Administration Building, Manorville, NY features a greenhouse and four raised beds where Smile Farmers grow produce for use in IGHL kitchen and residences.
Smile Farms at IGHL
Smile Farms at Holly’s Guest House (IGHL), Center Moriches, NY, hosts IGHL families at its on-site bed-and-breakfast. Smile Farmers grow organic vegetables across eight raised beds; produce is used to create meals for guests of Holly’s House. Peppers grown at this site are contributed to Smile Farms’ Heat with Heart hot sauce.
Smile Farms at Cornell Cooperative Extension
Smile Farms at Cornell Cooperative Extension, in partnership with IGHL, Yaphank, NY, serves as a nonprofit community education resource where Smile Farmers grow organic vegetables to offset food costs at IGHL facilities.
Smile Farms at LETC
Smile Farms at League Education & Treatment Center (LETC), Brooklyn, NY, serves adults and children with psychiatric and intellectual disabilities. Smile Farmers tend eight raised beds, a hoop house that allows for year-round operations, and a sensory garden.
Smile Farms at The Viscardi Center
Smile Farms at The Viscardi Center, Albertson, NY, runs a transitional program for young adults and adults with developmental disabilities and educates children with severe physical disabilities. To prepare future gardeners, The Viscardi Center has incorporated horticulture into its science curriculum. As a result, the newest generation of Smile Farmers are benefitting from programming at this campus.
Smile Farms at Family Residences and Essential Enterprises, Inc. (FREE)
Smile Farms at Family Residences and Essential Enterprises, Inc. (FREE), Oakdale, NY, provides vocational training for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Smile Farmers tend 24 raised beds, growing vegetables and herbs, with the harvest put to use in FREE’s on-site culinary program. Recent highlights at this campus include a Mobile Market to provide fresh produce and nutrition education to underserved communities (2019) and the creation of FREEpods: groceries, medications, and Smile Farms-grown fresh produce and tips for simple, raw preparations delivered to over 300 home-bound individuals.
Smile Farms at Riverpark
Smile Farms at Riverpark Farm, in partnership with the Center for Family Support, provides support services for individuals with developmental disabilities, who grow produce to supply Riverpark restaurant next door. This campus was our first to include a for-profit enterprise, Alexandria Real Estate Equities. As of 2021, Smile Farms at Riverpark Farm is under construction.
Smile Farms at CP Unlimited
Smile Farms at CP Unlimited, creates opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities, including Cerebral Palsy, to grow produce, providing them with marketable skills, independence, and mental wellness benefits. The facility’s greenhouses feature raised beds growing sweet and hot peppers for Smile Farms’ signature hot sauce, as well as herbs and other vegetables for the NYU Langone Hospital – Long Island Farmers’ Market.
Smile Farms at Nassau BOCES: Rosemary Kennedy Center
Smile Farms at Nassau BOCES: Rosemary Kennedy Center, Wantagh, NY, educates students with mild to severe developmental disabilities: 10 teachers guide 78 students to tend 12 raised cedar beds growing peppers, midnight tomatoes, and other specialty crops. 12” grow labs inside classrooms allow students to learn about food production. Nassau BOCES employs a paid part-time former student as a Smile Farmer. The harvest at this campus is used in on-site student lunches and is donated to the Town of Hempstead Conservation and Waterways and Senior Center and the Meadowbrook Alternative Program at Brookside.
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
GreatNonprofits Top-Rated NonProfit 2020
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of groups/individuals benefiting from tools/resources/education materials provided
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
People with disabilities
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Number of people with disabilities employed and empowered at a Smile Farms campus or employed as a Smile Staffer, Smile Shipper, or Smile Seller.
Number of clients participating in educational programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Other - describing something else
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This number reflects the number of students who benefit from our two school campuses: Viscardi Center and Nassau BOCES
Number of organizational partners
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
People with disabilities
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This metric relates to the non-profit service providers we work with in order to create our campuses.
Number of Facebook followers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Other - describing something else
Direction of Success
Increasing
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?
Smile Farms aims to steadily increase opportunities for vocational training, education, and meaningful employment for adults with disabilities so they are able to gain marketable skills, contribute to their team and the community, and earn a paycheck. We also seek to:
1. Motivate individuals, businesses and civic organizations to support the purchase of produce from Smile Farms’s facilities, to volunteer at our campuses, and to join Smile Farms in creating for-profit business incubators that meet community needs for nutritious food;
2. Build stronger communities by supplying them with high-quality local produce and nutrition education; donating Smile Farms produce to local nonprofits serving underserved individuals and families; and demonstrating the benefits of workforce that includes employees with different abilities.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Smile Farms partners with non- and for-profit organizations to develop agricultural campuses that train and employ adults with disabilities. Each campus is a revenue-generating business that can use the funds earned to support both its participants’ employment and its mission. Revenue derives from the sale of Smile Farms plants, flowers and produce at a variety of venues.
Smile Farms works closely with its partners to devise site-specific farming and marketing plans that maximize profitability. It helps fund start-up costs and provides ongoing support to the campus based on need.
Smile Farms contributes to its campuses’ communities by supplying them with high-quality produce and nutritional education; donating produce to local nonprofits serving individuals and families in need; and demonstrating the benefits of a workforce that includes employees with different abilities.
Whether growing and selling produce, plants or flowers, the Smile Farms model uniquely creates business incubators that meet community needs, motivate individuals, businesses and civic organizations, and support produce purchases from Smile Farms’ campuses.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Since its founding in 2015, Smile Farms has grown from one campus employing 30 people to 12 campuses employing and empowering over 355 people. Smile Farms is uniquely positioned to impact people with disabilities because its mission is fueled by the knowledge, expertise, compassion, and insight of its 8 partner organizations; our fully committed and knowledgeable partner organizations; the high-quality work and enthusiasm of Smile Farms employees; a supportive Board of Directors; and a professional staff, assisted by dedicated volunteers.
We continue to expand our offerings beyond our campus partnerships by collaborating with like-minded businesses dedicated to creating opportunities for and empowering people with disabilities. Our unique farm campus-based model empowers individuals with disabilities to grow and sell products with a purpose, including a variety of plants and produce. Plants are sold at local Farmers' Markets and corporate pop-up sales. Produce is used in our partners' culinary programs, sold to restaurants, and converted into preserved goods that generate sustainable revenue for our programs. Smile Farms'signature products may be purchased locally, online, or at a variety of retailers throughout the country. Smile Farms encourages giving back as a form of personal empowerment - we seek to combat food insecurity in our local communities by donating a portion of our crop yield from each campus.
Since its inception, Smile Farms has honed its ability to maximize impact within communities first through our campus-based model, and then advancing into competitive job placement. Our programs have always supported people with disabilities, but now also offer this population the opportunity to serve its wider community as well. Donated produce feeds the hungry, and organically grown fruits and vegetables enhance health and wellness; a well-trained workforce bolsters the economy, and integrated employment diversifies our society. Smile Farms has manifested each of these impactful outcomes, and we have done it by highlighting the contributions of people with disabilities.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
To date, Smile Farms has:
- created 12 campuses, empowering and employing over 355 people
- created agricultural jobs, vocational training, and educational experiences for individuals with disabilities on the campuses where they receive services
- contributed to the sustainability of its non-partner organizations through their use and sale of Smile Farms produce
- provided additional jobs, gained greater exposure, and raised awareness of the meaningful contributions of individuals with disabilities by forging partnerships with for-profit organizations such as celebrity Chef Tom Colicchio's Riverpark and Small Batch restaurants, which feature Smile Farms produce
- further supported its partner organizations by assisting them to develop business incubators
- In 2019: Farmed produce for 55 group homes, feeding 400 residents at an annual cost savings of $15,000 - $20,000
- In 2019: Wholesaled 62,000 planted pots of annuals and perennials to the public
- In 2019: Provided produce to celebrity Chef Tom Colicchios newest restaurant, Small Batch
- In 2019: Delivered produce through Mobile Farmers Market to nearly 600 customers in food insecure communities
- In 2019: Harvested 227 pounds of peppers made for purchase into 1,000 bottles of hot sauce
- In 2020: Harvested 629 pounds of peppers made for purchase into 1,773 bottles of hot sauce
- In 2020: Delivered 300 At-Home Grow Kits to Smile Farmers displaced from their jobs due to COVID-19
- In 2021: Our Farmers, working across 6 campuses, harvested a total of 2,015 lbs. of hot and sweet peppers which are currently being processed into 5,672 bottles of newly minted Heat with Heart hot sauce
- In 2022: In partnership with NYU Langone - Long Island, launched Farmer's Market with 10 vendors including Smile Farms selling fresh produce and products
- In 2022: Launched Smile Staffers - In collaboration with our partners at LETC and Crafted Hospitality, this initiative
creates inclusive employment opportunities in the hospitality industry
- In 2022: Launched Smile Shippers - Heat with Heart hot sauce orders are fulfilled by paid Smile Farms employees at our FREE campus in Oakdale, NY. This initiative helps our Smile Shippers develop new skills while earning a paycheck.
- 2023: Launched Smile Sellers - 5 individuals with disabilities work at our Farmers Markets and plant sales. They promote and sell our new spicy and sour pickles, tomato spread, and our signature Heat with Heart hot sauce, while learning invaluable skills like customer service and money handling.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
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
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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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.
SMILE FARMS INC
Board of directorsas of 01/15/2024
Jim McCann
1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc.
Term: 2015 -
Jim McCann
Michelle Thompson
MFS Investment Management
Frank Marzano
GM Advisory Group
Alec McAuley
The Lighthouse
Paul Lightfoot
Patagonia Provisions
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
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
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data