A Place To Be & Legacy Farms
Growing Together Initiative
A Place To Be and Legacy Farms have partnered to design programming that addresses challenges of self-awareness, self-regulation, organization, and personal advocacy for increased independence transitioning into the workforce.
This program fills up, so please complete the inquiry / application form if you have an interest. During the course of the year placement comes open as funding allows, and it is good to be in the process.
The unique emphasis of this program is on development of self-awareness and self-advocacy within a paid employment assignment. Participants are led by mentors across both organizations guiding personal development via music therapy and on-the-job training. The program will begin in June, with job assignments lasting an average of 14 weeks (customized to 10 or 19 weeks depending on apprentice age, school status, and availability).
The individuals will begin in A Place To Be’s therapeutic program for two weeks leading up to a transition into the Legacy Farms work program in mid-June, where they will receive educational training and paid job placement with an emphasis on mindful self-awareness, increasing independence, and growing self-confidence in a supported, real-world work environment. Apprentices work twice a week on a larger team in the Legacy Farms garden for an average of 14 weeks. During this time, they will continue to receive weekly support from APTB for check-in’s, skill reinforcement, and to process their experiences.
Our goal is to create a supportive transitional pathway for independence into the workforce that currently does not exist. We believe that the combined programs will support more seamless integration of objectives and help to transition these individuals who are striving to move from therapy/educational settings to successful, independent jobs in our community.
Kim Tapper (Co-Founder & Director of Client & Family Services, A Place to Be)
Laurie Young (Executive Director, Legacy Farms)
Sample
Sequence
A Place to Be Sessions
Music Therapy is a clinical, evidence-based, non-pharmacological therapeutic practice that can assist in neural development, social and emotional growth, enhanced cognition, reduced anxiety or stress, and the redirection of behaviors to enhance a person’s quality of life. For this project, the Music Therapy team designs interventions specifically focused around improvement in participants’ self-regulation and self-awareness skills, both of which have been identified as challenges to employment outcomes in this population. Through multiple weekly group sessions, participants will practice tools to later be applied during their work at Legacy Farms.
Interview & Planning sessions
An initial interview and a follow-up planning & agreement review meeting with Legacy Farms will take place leading up to or during the initial sessions with A Place To Be.
Interview: Participants should submit a simple application for employment to Legacy Farms. Based on this, an online interview will be scheduled with leadership. In the interview, participants will gain experience discussing their interests and learning about their upcoming job at Legacy Farms.
Planning Meeting: Participants will again schedule and participate in a meeting with Legacy Farms leadership to review their job agreement, receive tax forms or other paperwork (if applicable), as well as a basic introduction to the job.
Legacy Farms WORK Sessions
Legacy Farms’ core garden program focuses on planting, harvesting, and supplying vegetables and floral bouquets for their CSA program, events, and partners. Work assignment will be two mornings at week (Tuesdays and Thursdays) at their Temple Hall Regional Park farm location. Each apprentice will work for a total of 5 paid work hours, during which time apprentices will be partnered with mentors in a 1:4 ratio, focused on performing work responsibilities identified in their employment contract, managing hours and invoicing, and focusing on identified personal development goals defined during the initial therapeutic process. Participants will also check in at APTB 1x/week to review and reinforce their learned skills and to process situations as they arise.
Areas of Emphasis
Beginning with a therapeutic focus, A Place To Be will introduce practices and reflection designed to increase self-awareness including:
Sensory Awareness & Grounding
Self-Advocacy Scenarios
Emotional Language Expansion
Emotional Self-Regulation
“Challenge of the Week” Games & Practices
Legacy Farms will integrate aspects of each of the five areas in a naturalized way consistent with the flow of a standard work environment. The mentored job positions at Legacy Farms serve as a bridge between therapeutic practice and job placement in a job with limited or no support.
Legacy Farms’ environment is a working garden with deliverables to business partners. As such, job positions carry responsibilities that are the focus during the participant’s time in the garden. Personal development goals and practices will be integrated into the working environment, where extra support is provided to assist participants in growing skills and self-awarness in preparation for future jobs in the community. Some practices will be integrated to the daily schedule of work for the group or identified for personal development within individual task lists. Others will be reinforced spontaneously as situations, challenges, and success occur organically within the workplace.
A Place To Be & Legacy Farms’ focus with this program is to merge services to observe measurable progress in social/emotional development, as it has been identified as one of the most significant and challenging areas for neurodiverse individuals in gaining and keeping employment.
Time Commitment
Participants chosen for the full program will be asked to commit to the full 10-19 months:
A Place To Be Sessions:
Mondays & Wednesdays, 12 noon in Leesburg, group sessions apx. 45 minutes each.
Interview Session Legacy Farms:
Online or in-person sessions, each scheduled at your convenience.
Job Position At Legacy Farms:
Tuesdays & Thursdays, 9:00-11:30 at Legacy Farms’ gardens at Temple Hall Regional Park in Leesburg, Limestone School Road just off Route 15.
Request Information About Program
We are taking applications for Summer-Fall Program
Our Winter-Spring Session is full. Summer session begins in June and runs through mid-August (for individuals returning to high school) or through end of October (all others).
Please complete the inquiry below to be considered for this program.