“We grow for life” is the Costanoa Commons motto. But there’s no life without water, so our farm benefits from the year-round flows of Pogonip Creek. With the terrific rains we’ve had in the last weeks, Pogonip has been full of life.
Into the future
In December, Costanoa Commons was pleased to be a sponsor of the 2016 Autism Society of America San Francisco Bay Area Conference. The event was named “Into the Future: Adult Autism/ Developmental Disability Planning Workshop” and covered many of the lifetime challenges and opportunities for adults with DD. These included finding appropriate healthcare, housing, care providers, financial supports and employment training and jobs.
Our Executive Director, Heidi Cartan, along with volunteers Sarah and Fran, staffed the Costanoa Commons information table, meeting with conference participants and answering their many questions about the farm.
Heidi was also an eloquent and inspiring speaker on the Innovating New Supported Living Solutions Panel. She described how and why Costanoa Commons was created and our mission to become a model community. You can see her remarks in the session video at https://vimeo.com/194758863.
Angela Welty’s Seed to Salad
At least twice a week, Angela Welty can be found gardening, drying flowers, or otherwise volunteering her many talents at Costanoa Commons. We first met Angela, a self-defined plant person, when she contacted us about completing her horticultural therapy certificate program. For her final project, Angela designed a micro-farm using our actual topography and she did it all with a focus on making it work for people with disabilities.
From preparing soil to planting seeds, from tending edibles to harvesting and ultimately preparing them in an outdoor kitchen, Angela has an intuitive feel for how to engage people on a community farm. She’s been a community gardener herself and is collaborating with Costanoa Commons to implement what she calls “Seed to Salad,” a horticulture training and education program accessible to all.
For more than 25 years, Angela has worked professionally to support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Clearly someone who is comfortable with young and old alike, Angela currently supports a young man through her employment at Imagine Supported Living Services. She is a woman of many artistic talents, too. Costanoa Commons Farm is so fortunate to count Angela as part of our team. Thanks for helping us grow for life, Angela!
