A Rocha has partnered with Hope Farm in Duncan, BC since 2015. Hope Farm is a restorative farming community grounded in Christian practice that offers a sanctuary of hope. The farm is home to 12 men who live life on the land while going through an addictions recovery program.
A Rocha and Hope Farm have gained a deep mutual respect for each other’s work, and for the last two years our restoration biology team of Jesse Wildeman and Andrew Baylis have been going back to work on environmental restoration projects on the farm. Last year we were able to restore a wetland site on the Hope Farm site in collaboration with the Cowichan Land Trust and Camp Imadene. This year we were able to restore 3000 m2 of Garry Oak meadows with the help of the men living at Hope Farm and those in the Auxano program at Camp Imadene.
The projects serve to restore both the land and the people in it. Digging hands into dirt and working hard in sun, cloud and rain, these men are reconnecting to the ground under their feet and in so doing, finding new grounding for their lives.
It is our hope that as the buds break on the plantings this year, the residents of the farm will experience some of the goodness of the land, seeing how it bursts forth with good things. We pray for the continued healing of the land, its creatures, and its people and we commend Hope Farm on their desire to steward the land well.
