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Give a general overview of your organization. What is the mission statement?
Benevolence Farm seeks to cultivate leadership, promote sustainable livelihoods, and reap structural change with individuals impacted by the criminal justice system in North Carolina. We do so by providing housing, employment, and general wellbeing support systems to women exiting prisons in North Carolina.
What services does your organization provide? What doesn’t it do?
We provide housing support to formerly incarcerated women by housing them directly on our 13-acre farm or by connecting them to short-term housing options in the community. We also employ formerly incarcerated women on our farm. All the women are paid a living wage and take part in both the farming and body care enterprise. Finally, we also engage in advocacy efforts statewide to improve reentry services for incarcerated people.
Who funds your organization?
We are primarily funded by individual donors and family foundations.
What is the biggest fund-raising challenge?
We have to work hard to overcome the narrative that incarcerated people are not as worthy of these services as other people. We as individuals are not the sum of our worst mistakes. Many women who experience incarceration were failed in some ways by a lack of social services in their community or were not allowed the space or resources to heal from trauma in their lives. The stigma surrounding incarceration can make it difficult to attract new donors and communicate the critical importance of what we do.
What is the most frequent criticism you hear about your organization and what is your response to it?
There is a narrative in the community that we “only” serve six women. Our house can hold up to six women at one time. Because of this intimate number, we are able to invest deeply in each individual woman, connecting her to all the restorative resources she needs to be successful. Our recidivism rate currently stands at 5% whereas the nationwide average hovers around 40 percent. Additionally, our advocacy efforts extend statewide as we provide referrals and support systems to women incarcerated across the state, as well as provide resources and information to their family members waiting for their return home.
If you could change anything about your organization, what would it be?
Our hope is to one day be able to engage with women with criminal records who need a place to work outside of the farm. We realize it is difficult to travel to Southern Alamance County from places like Burlington. It is our hope that someday we can operate a storefront or production center in Burlington and expand our body care product line so we can serve more women with records in Alamance County,
Interim executive director: Kristen Powers
Years with organization: started as a volunteer in 2017, transitioned to board
Previous nonprofit experience: advocacy coordinator at a regional civil rights organization
Contact information: 336-525-1446, info@benevolencefarm.org
This article originally appeared on Times-News: What we do: Benevolence Farm
