TRANSCRIPT:
Hey everyone this is Kristen Powers, Executive Director of Benevolence Farm. We have been seeing these videos of different folks wrapping up their 2020 with a list of accomplishments. We thought we’d do the same. And what better way to bring it to y’all than working from home!
So we’re going to set our timer and see if we can do 2020 in 2 minutes. Alright y’all, here we go!
- We welcomed our 23rd resident since our program inception in December 2016
- We participated in the 2020 Fines & Fees Coalition Convening at Bennett College
- Adopted a rescue dog named Nosy Rosie Lee from the Burlington Animal Shelter
- Tripled the size of our chicken flock and added eggs to our Farm Store
- Pivoted our seedling sale during the pandemic online and sold over $2,000 worth of seedlings to families in the Piedmont region
- We submitted an affidavit to a North Carolina court case to fight for the release of medically vulnerable people in prisons during the pandemic
- Partnered with the North Carolina Justice Center to collect surveys of incarcerated people’s experiences in prison during COVID-19, sending 207 surveys to women in North Carolina prisons
- Launched our Soap for Incarcerated People project with Human Kindness Foundation to close the hygiene supplies gap in jail and prisons
- Welcomed a new executive director and program manager (welcome Alex)
- Connected with Haven Developers and began our No Place Like Home project to eventually build a tiny home community for formerly incarcerated women on our property
- Doubled the size of our blueberry orchard
- Launched our permaculture project by building a raised bed infrastructure
- Partnered with the Burlington Housing Authority and the Vera Institute of Justice to expand public housing access to people with criminal records
- Reached the semi-finals for both the NC Chamber of Commerce’s Coolest Thing Made in NC award as well as the Our State Made in NC Award with our Healing Salve
- Increased our annual body care revenue by 700% compared to this time last year
- Partnered with Eleanor Health, Addiction Policy Forum, Harm Reduction Coalition of North Carolina to incorporate harm reduction principles into our programming
- Hosted a People First training with local service providers to share best practices for working with formerly incarcerated people including trauma informed care and people first language
- Launched the Authentically Alamance Giftbox to uplift small local businesses during the holiday season
- Received a grant to install solar panels on our house rooftop in January 2021
- Offered a former resident a position as our Second Chance Coordinator beginning in 2021
- Broke a single day fundraising record by bringing in $11,000 on Giving Tuesday
Whew! Ok, 2 minutes, I did it! Alright y’all, so I just wanted to say a huge thank you because we wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without your support so thank you for supporting second chances in North Carolina. We cannot wait to share with y’all what we accomplish in 2021! Thanks y’all!
