About Safe Haven Farms
Safe Haven Farms: A community of choice for adults with autism in southwest Ohio
Mission
Safe Haven Farms is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization offering residential, day and community services for individuals on the autism spectrum. It provides a variety of meaningful living, working, learning and leisure activities in a safe and accepting farm environment, where every individual is respected as a valued and contributing community member.
Our Dream for Safe Haven Farms is now a reality due to the generous grant of $112,000 by Impact 100 in Cincinnati.
Safe Haven Farms offers an integrated day vocational and residential setting where each individual is part of a close-knit supportive farm family. Their participation in the therapeutic cycle of farm life fosters self-sufficiency, independence, and a sense of achievement. There are significant opportunities to learn new skills and develop friendships with their housemates, staff and neighbors.
This 60-acre farm property has four group homes that have been designed to meet the special needs of adults with autism, with ample community and private space. They are universally accessible and energy efficient. There are four residents in each home and each , has his or her own bedroom and bathroom. Construction of the farm was completed in December 2010. The Hatton Center which houses the day program offers a variety of therapeutic and vocational services for adults with autism for our residents and day participants. We will soon begin offering workshops and seminars in the Hatton Center for parents and professionals who want to learn more about how to best serve the needs of adults with autism. And we are in the process of establishing a therapeutic horseback riding program to serve individuals with autism from the farm and from the surrounding communities.
The Hatton Center at Safe Haven Farms
Our next construction project will involve renovating the barn in preparation for our planned Therapeutic Riding Program which will be offered to youth and adults with autism that live in our surrounding communities.
Safe Haven Farms is surrounded by over 14 houses within a short walking distance and Community outings off the farm take place on almost a daily basis. The City of Middletown is less than a 15 minute drive and downtown Cincinnati is less than a 50 minute drive. Our provider, RMS Spectrum Services, has two large vans that are used to take our farmers bowling, shopping, dancing, swimming at the local YMCA, out to eat, visiting the Zoo in Cincinnati and attending local special events in the surrounding towns. Some of our visitors have commented that "Safe Haven Farms is like a retirement community and I would like to live here".
Beyond the immediate goals to serve individuals with autism, we are also making plans to educate and train future professionals, direct care staff and parents throughout the area about autism and how to help and care for individuals with autism. These goals constitute ways of giving back and reaching beyond the farm to make lives better for individuals and families living with autism. Toward that end, local universities have been contacted to promote opportunities for students with an interest in autism seeking a meaningful work/study experience.
The residents of Safe Haven Farms are being served by staff extensively trained in autism. Safe Haven Farms, Inc. has selected an experienced service agency partner to provide around-the-clock support for residential and day programs. The service provider is responsible for hiring and training direct care staff, and providing on-site management oversight.The service provider for Safe Haven Farms is RMS Spectrum Services, a privately owned human services organization that has been licensed and funded by the state of Ohio since 1987. Every person hired to work at Safe Haven Farms has received extensive training on autism and have received specific instructions for each individual resident and day program participant. This is being done to ensure that each individual receives the love and care they need. For more information about RMS please see their website at http://www.teamrms.com or contact Ashley Johnson at ajohnson@teamrms.com The RMS's office at Safe Haven Farms can also be contacted via phone: 513-422-1880
History: Safe Haven Farms, Inc. has created a new model program for adults with autism in rural southwest Ohio:
Safe Haven Farms, Inc. was founded by a group of parents with young adult children with autism in response to the lack of suitable residential and vocational services for persons with autism. We found that placing our son or daughter in an isolated group home in an urban setting was not satisfactory as our sons and daughters often need to have the freedom to roam outside the home, they are often disturbed by sights and sounds, they do not like to be confined. We sought an alternative setting that would meet their needs. First we visited the few existing farmsteads in other parts of the country to gain first-hand experience and advice from groups who have been successful with the farming model. A group of families then joined together to create a new paradigm, to create a setting for individuals with autism so that they could live together harmoniously in Butler County, Ohio. This new model allows each person to function in an environment that best meets their individual needs. Each individual living on this farm has his or her own ISP—Individual Service Plan. The strength of having four group homes located together at Safe Haven Farms is shown on Sunday morning, for example, when those that want to attend church may do so without depending on whether others in their home want to do the same. Only one person from each home, for example, may choose to attend church. The van and a staff person takes those that want to go while the other residents may choose to stay home and rest. In a city environment, where the group homes are physically isolated from one another, the individuals have considerably less individual choice on outings, due to staffing limitations, and this means that most often the residents of a group home must go together, or stay home together. The farm setting also provides ample safe space for our farmers to walk, bike, find a quiet place, and to be surrounded by tranquility.
Recent arial View of the farm:
Thank You !!! Collectively, the gifts we have received from many family members and friends has had a huge impact on this farm. It has both encouraged us in our endeavor to turn this dream into a reality and it has also helped us purchase needed equipment and supplies that has lead to a successful year, and it also had a positive impact on our abiity to successfully obtain grants. Last year at this time, the farm had been bought, but construction of the buildings and infrastruture had just begun. Now we have four occupied residental homes, a new Hatton Center that is offfering day programs, and well trained staff. If you would like to make a contribution to this farm, it would be greatly appreciated. Click on the link on the left labeled Donate
A Special Thank You to the Middletown Community Foundation for their support !! http://www.mcfoundation.org/
A Special Thank You to our Local Volunteers:
A Special Thank you also to: Autism Speaks U: Miami University. A group of students volunteered their time to paint two of our outdoor sheds, one of which will be converted into a gardening and tool shed.
A Special Thank you also to a group of employees from LexisNexis that volunteered their time to paint the first two of our outdoor loafing sheds that will be used by our horses when they arrive at the farm later next year.
