Patchwork Pastures a NJ Nonprofit Corporation

Bringing Recovery and Nature Together

aka Patchwork Pastures Animal Sanctuary   |   Wantage, NJ   |  www.patchworkpastures.org

Mission

Mission Statement: Bringing Recovery and Nature Together. Vision Statement: Patchwork Pastures mission is to support transitioning young adults ages 18 – 28 reintegrating into society from mental health, substance use or incarceration by creating collaborative partnerships with green care companies as a base for promoting recovery, reducing recidivism, increasing employ-ability and quality of life through our Green Care Project initiative.

Ruling year info

2019

Founder & CEO

Rachel Helt

Co Counder & CEO

Alan McCullough

Main address

108 County Rd 565

Wantage, NJ 07461 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

83-3481467

NTEE code info

Alcohol, Drug Abuse (Prevention Only) (F21)

Alliance/Advocacy Organizations (E01)

Delinquency Prevention (I21)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990-N.

Communication

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

As in most communities, our "transitioning youth" remain undeserved by programs that should provide high quality support, enrichment or education. Young people in less privileged households are often more susceptible to substance use, mental health challenges and criminal activity. Studies show that youth exposed to family risk factors such as poor family management, domestic violence, favorable parental attitudes towards alcohol and drugs, and high family conflict are more likely to use drugs. Sadly this could lead them down an unstable and life threatening path of drugs, crime and incarceration; a path that our founder has experienced first-hand with her own family, resulting in the creation of this life enriching program modeled after the international concept “Green Care”. The growing opioid epidemic has destroyed many lives and taken so many of our young people that alternate interventions have become a priority for establishing success.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Green Care Project Innitiative

Our amazing team is committed to bringing recovery and nature together. We have taken our life experience, our challenges, our successes, our convictions and our recovery and turned it into action creating a Green Care Project focusing on at risk young adults’ ages 18-28. Our Green Care Project initiative incorporates animals, plants, gardens, forest, and the landscapes including but not limited to livestock management, crop production, forestry, horticultural and greenhouse activities, promoting holistic healing opportunities.

Population(s) Served
Substance abusers
Incarcerated people

Where we work

Videos

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

Under the Green Care concept, we create the connection between the mentor (Recovery Support Specialist), the PATCH (a farm, green care company, green house, or nature based company), and the Participant (individual in recovery). Green Care services complement the supply of public welfare services, while increasing the possibilities of success for individuals served. Our programs utilize humane education within the following areas; agriculture, horticulture, arboriculture, general construction, animal care and other nature based areas. By encompassing these specific service areas and changing the role of the individual from service receiver to service assistant they build a sense of responsibility, self-efficacy, empathy and compassion as well as establish personal boundaries and most importantly teamwork and leadership skills.

Green Care is a well-established international concept that uses animals, plants and nature in an interactive process to offer health-promoting activities for people. With this concept in mind our programs are designed to support transitioning young adults ages 18-28 re-integrating into society with mental health challenges, substance use challenges or from incarceration, those most often left behind. By partnering with local social service agencies, probation, jails along with local farms, green houses, animal rescues and other green care industry professionals we will be able to provide a continuum of care for at risk young adults along with life skills and a sense of hope for their future.

Patchwork Pastures board of directors is comprised of individuals in recovery, parents of individuals in recovery, local Patches (farms or green companies) and general community members. Our volunteers, most of whom are in recovery, are open and willing to share their journeys with new participants providing mentor-ship and peer recovery support systems. We will provide continuing education to participants through various community providers to enhance life skills. Our founder and CEO is the parent of three children with significant mental health challenges, including two in long term recovery from heroin addiction, all long term survivors of domestic violence. She has first hand lived experience with system providers form both mental health and addictions, juvenile justice and adult justice systems, and has identified a significant gap in services for our transitioning young adults. In a personal statement Ms. Helt reflected on her own journey stating "Our young adults in recovery who have served time in county jail or state prisons who are then sentenced to community service have little or no options. My own children have been placed at community service locations where adults were actively drinking or partying or where the community service was punitive in nature. Bringing back the concept of "working farms" where we can teach life skills, allow participants the opportunity to be mentored and to have faith in their own recovery is where we need to start."

We are a newly established organization preparing for an official launch in August of 2019.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We demonstrated a willingness to learn more by reviewing resources about feedback practice.
done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • Who are the people you serve with your mission?

    We serve transitioning young adults ages 18 - 28 who are in recovery with substance use challenges, mental health challenges or those who have been incarcerated for minor crimes seeking a new path in life. Our exclusive Green Care Project Initiative connects those affected directly with an individual coach, naturally therapeutic environments caring for abused or neglected farm animals as well as agriculture and horticultural experiences.

  • How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?

    Paper surveys, Case management notes, Suggestion box/email,

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, 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 identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,

  • What significant change resulted from feedback?

    We have had more interest in educational programs for younger children. We are currently in the process of forming a Sprout Program, which will encompass small group sessions consisting of story time, arts and crafts time, educational programming on the animal of their choice and one on one experiences meeting the animal of choice.

  • With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

    The people we serve, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,

  • How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?

    It has helped us to make positive changes which will in turn serve more individuals, as well as provide more intensive care to the animal we rescue.

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded,

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection,

Financials

Patchwork Pastures a NJ Nonprofit Corporation
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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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

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

Patchwork Pastures a NJ Nonprofit Corporation

Board of directors
as of 1/4/2022
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board co-chair

Jason Helewa


Board co-chair

Madeline Lozowski

Miranda Kardos

Koren Kardos

Patricia Heavener

David Martinak

Merynda Fullhart

Kara McGrew

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • 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? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • 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? Yes

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 1/1/2022,

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or Straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

The organization's co-leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Male
Sexual orientation
Decline to state
Disability status
Decline to state

Race & ethnicity

No data

Gender identity

No data

 

No data

Sexual orientation

No data

Disability

No data

Equity strategies

Last updated: 01/01/2022

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
  • We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.