Purpose

Taylor’s Gift Farm began with three simple premises:

  • Adults with physical and intellectual disabilities have strong attractions to animals and plants found in farm and ranching environments.
  • Farm and ranching operations are prime for sustainable technology integration.
  • Day trips to the Farm can be therapeutic for disabled individuals, care givers and beneficial for therapists.

Function

Our goal is to provide a therapeutic agricultural center to serve our special needs community being integrated with community supported agriculture as a foundation to financial sustainability. This can be accomplished:

  • Establish a sustainable working farm and cattle ranch to produce desirable food output for wellness minded individuals.
  • Engage adults with special needs in various aspects of farm and ranching as direct or indirect therapy, life skills development training and overall happiness through animal, plant and people interaction.
  • Facilitate a collaboration community of innovators including students, therapists, health care professionals, care givers and volunteers to encourage, expand and enhance innovation in practical therapy related to fine motor control, speech, socialization, strength conditioning and stamina, attention & focus abilities, and other life skills; all the while maintaining linkage to family, community and faith made throughout the life cycle of therapeutic development.

Infrastructure

  • Develop a comprehensive clean, sustainable and renewable infrastructure for self-sufficient operations .
  • Provide equipment, facilities and tools to build and operate the farm and ranch.
  • Secure sufficient land to conduct farm and ranching operations sufficient to reach financial sustainability using the Community Supported Agriculture model.

The Experiment

Taylor’s Gift Farm is the manifestation of a vision Henry A Thomas had after assuming sole responsiblity as primary care giver for his special needs daughter, Taylor.

Facing autism, epilepsy and sever developmental impairment due to oxygen deprivation at birth, Taylor had aged out of school and will never live life independently. While she does not display traditional life pursuits, she has a gift of happiness that is contagious. She enjoys classical music, farm animals and magazines.

For nearly three decades, Henry has actively engaged with Taylor’s therapies and concluded city life would never allow Taylor to reach her potential so he left Frisco, Texas in search of land that would serve as the foundation for an experiment that he could pour himself into 100%.

Henry’s background is technology and leadership. An engineer, attorney, trainer and divorced father of two beautiful girls, having found success in his career enabled him financially to embark on this experiment. Having reached the position of retirement from corporate life, he is now known to the professionals as a beginning farmer, a position he will hold for at least 10 years before the label of beginner is removed.

Taylor’s Gift Farm extends an invitation to care givers to come visit for the day and to return as often as possible to experience relaxation, pampering and the real possibility of watching their loved special needs persons take interest in something at the farm.

Taylor’s Gift Farm extends an invitation to therapists to bring their clients to the Farm for an immersive and interactive experience with animals, open land, greenhouses and gardens where they can plant, harvest, feed and package food for our CSA members.

Taylor’s Gift Farm extends an invitation to doctors, universities, researchers, government agencies and political leaders to join with us to explore the possibilities of this experiment in hopes that success here could lead to other replicating the model elsewhere, anywhere the need presents.