Thistle Farms, Inc.

1. Residents and graduates must find sustainable, secure employment in order to escape the cycle of prostitution and addiction that once dictated their lives. Thistle Farms' first goal is to hire 30 additional residents and graduates in the next three years as part of Thistle Farms Social Enterprises.

2. In order to sustainably scale its model and service to women, Thistle Farms must continue to increase product sales. Given current demand for products, Thistle Farms intends to expand product sales to 700+ retail stores nationwide, increasing sales revenue to surpass $2 million in sales in the upcoming year.

3. This year, Thistle Farms expects to welcome 700+ individuals and organizations interested in learning from and/or replicating Thistle Farms' best practices. Workshops offered throughout the year by Thistle Farms are capped at 70 participants due to limited meeting space, and often run on a the waiting list. In order to meet the overwhelming and consistent demand from organizations seeking information and support from Thistle Farms, Thistle Farms will create a Global Education Room with the capacity to educate and empower these visitors.

1. Manufacturing: Thistle Farms will build a 5,000 square foot manufacturing facility and warehouse space on property adjacent to its current facility. Over the next three years, building the new manufacturing facility will allow Thistle Farms to employ 30 additional residents and graduates, distribute its products to 700+ stores throughout the country, and grow sales revenue by 75%.

2. Thistle Stop Café: Thistle Farms will remodel the Café, creating a commercial kitchen, increasing event space, and building a retail storefront. The remodel will cost $400,000, or $150/square foot. In 2016, this investment will produce revenue of $225/square foot; projected revenue will increase to $265/square foot by 2018. Thistle Farms expects to increase the Café's sales revenue 50% by expanding its menu, operating hours, retail sales, and event rentals.

3. In order to meet the overwhelming and consistent demand from organizations seeking information and support from Thistle Farms, Thistle Farms will create a Global Education Room with the capacity to welcome these visitors.

Thistle Farms runs under the combined leadership of its Board of Directors, Founder/President, and CEO. Thistle Farms employs approximately 73 individuals, 40+ of whom are residents or graduates of the residential program. We have created a network of 50+ partner organizations who replicate all or parts of our model across the United States. We also have ​20 international partnerships through our Global Marketplace. Thistle Farms relies on local partners to be able to pay 100% of residents' medical and dental treatment, prescription medication, addiction recovery, trauma therapy, case management, and transportation needs. Thistle Farms has a 20 -year track record of donor growth, diversification and retention as well as double -digit growth in earned income. Over the past three years, earned income has grown more than 75% and as of April 2016, earned income is up 28% over this time last year. Our Board of Directors is committed to seeing Thistle Farms becoming a completely self--sustaining entity by Q1 2019.

In addition to the goals already listed, Thistle Farms is constantly seeking to make progress and to meet needs in the following four areas:
1. The community's need constantly outpaces Thistle Farms' capacity to meet this need. There are 100+ women on Thistle Farms' waiting list. Since February 2015, approximately 60 letters/month are received from women in jail or prison requesting a bed at the time of their release, and over 20 women contact the residential program on a weekly basis to gain a spot in the program. Thistle Farms' current efforts are focused towards expanding the organization's capacity and potential to meet the needs of each woman on the residential program's waiting list.
2. When a woman graduates from the Residential Program, with Thistle Farms' help, she must find affordable housing. Metro estimates that 3,800 new affordable housing units will need to be built each year to meet the needs of Nashville's growing population. With Thistle Farms' graduates competing against Nashville's burgeoning population for these affordable units, we do not expect the challenge to get easier. Thus, we are currently pursuing additional partnerships with low-income housing agencies to meet graduates' housing needs.
3. Along with housing, graduates are expected to secure long-term employment. While the goal is for residents and graduates to have the option of working full-time at Thistle Farms, limited physical space prevents Thistle Farms from employing every graduate. Women who wish to work outside of Thistle Farms often run up against employers who will not hire them because of their criminal records, unpaid court fees, or mental health issues. Thus, Thistle Farms is constantly pursuing partnerships with local businesses that offer employment opportunities for graduates.
4. Thistle Farms Global partners with 20 organizations across the globe focused on employing and empowering women. Thistle Farms has set up international shipping to connect products in remote areas of the globe to sales in America; however, the lead-time needed when shipping is lengthy, complicating efforts to inventory and market these products. Furthermore, it is difficult to develop day-to-day relationships with remote partners that are conducive of sharing best practices, standard working conditions, and product development strategies. Thus, Thistle Farms is pursuing communication strategies to streamline these relationships.