Legacy Farms

Legacy Farms allows me to help create garden beds and grow plants. I enjoy planting flower transplants. I also like working in teams on our tasks. Working at the farm helps me calm down and focus!

Legacy Farms is a welcoming, beautiful place where neurodiverse and neurotypical people work together to grow unbelievably beautiful cutting flowers and herbs. I have seen how apprentices learn about nervous system regulation and work as a team!

My son with Autism/IDD has been involved with Legacy Farms for 5+ years. He likes working with Legacy Farms because "I can see old friends and make new ones". Plus, the staff is teaching him skills (flower cutting) that could he useful downstream. Overall, Legacy Farms fills a potential gap in helping transition level young adults on to the next step. We are big fans.

I am impressed with the work of Legacy Farms. They are a very reputable organization and I’m happy to support their mission.

I have worked with Legacy Farms for the past year, I am very impressed with the organization, its mission, staff and volunteers. The apprenticeships and employment training Legacy Farms provides to the neurodiverse community is so important. Legacy Farms is also a very well run organization with excellent financial management.

Our son has been working at Legacy Farms for the past few seasons. We are so grateful for this wonderful group of people! Legacy is so much more than farming… it’s a community where he feels accepted, and can be himself without judgment. Through this program, he’s learning more about himself, as Legacy Farms helps with self awareness and self regulation. He has also learned how to work along side others of different levels of development.

The mindfulness sessions and groups help to center everyone for the tasks ahead, but they always make the time to talk to an individual about more personal anxieties if needed. The folks at Legacy understand the importance of the mind, body and soul working in harmony… if your heart isn’t at peace, it’s hard to have a productive day.

Our son takes his responsibilities at Legacy very seriously, and that thought process has transferred to his home life. He has also learned a lot more about the environment and agriculture, and comes home to share his newly found knowledge. At his core, he is an environmentalist and a philosopher, and has really thrived at Legacy Farms!

Legacy also provides other entrepreneurial opportunities beyond farming. They hired our daughter, who is also on the autistic spectrum, to do some artwork for them. This has helped to build her portfolio and her self confidence.

Zayd, our son, has been engaged with Legacy Farms for approximately three years now, and it has proven to be the most beneficial experience for him. Since his graduation three years ago, we've been on the lookout for employment opportunities for him but struggled to find any organization that could offer him the support and pride in his work that he needed. Without organizations like you, we would be at a loss, and so much of our children's talents would go unrecognized and unappreciated. There's a pressing need for more establishments like Legacy Farms that provide a secure and empathetic setting for our special needs children, where they can achieve their fullest potential. We are deeply grateful to Legacy Farms for instilling hope and providing comfort to us.

Legacy Farms is an amazing organization. Our son is Autistic, and Legacy Farms has helped him more than any other organization to reach his full potential. They've helped him to overcome some of the barriers to his continued development--such as past trauma experiences and sensory and dysregulation issues. Because of the way that Legacy Farms values his talents, welcomes him into the community, and gives him responsibilities critical to the operation of their garden-based businesses, our son has shown huge growth.

The program teaches vocational skills that are valuable for all types of work environments and gives him tools to help him self-regulate. He's now taking college courses and has his first job in the community.

Legacy Farms is a place to heal and a place to grow!

Our son has been working with Legacy Farms for three years, and it has been so wonderful to see him grow in his confidence, his ability to work and see the bigger and picture of what it takes to run a business, and to have a community of his people. Legacy Farms does a unique job of meeting an apprentice where they are, and then giving them both personal and professional growth opportunities. There is a development path for them both the personal growth through learning about meditation, yoga, and how to be self-aware, and a professional opportunity to learn skills and business acumen. We couldn’t be more grateful that we found Legacy Farms!

Legacy Farms is a well-governed organization providing much needed help to the community in Northern Virginia. With strong programs and dedicated leadership, they shine in their ability to serve. I am proud to be affiliated with the organization.