On a recent trip to Puerto Rico, two of our team members saw the opportunity to apply what we have learned on the farm and start a much-needed program for youth with few options after high school. Now that we have broadened our vision of “Empowerment through Restoration” to include rescue projects in neighborhoods, cities, and businesses, we are conversing with local teens on the island to gain their perspective and make their project vision a reality.

Hey YOU! We need your voice. You are the only person who can tell us what the world looks like from your perspective. ARK Farms is guided by teens through our Youth Advisory Board (ages 11-19) – Here you can share your voice and be heard. We don’t know what you see in your community or your world until you tell us. We are looking for young people to join this conversation, share what you see in your community, and guide programs for teenagers with your ideas. We want you! Join HERE today!

We are thrilled to announce that ARK Farms is launching our training programs beyond the farm.

Empowerment through Restoration programs are now available to individuals, organizations, schools, and municipalities in any location. This is born from our commitment to implementing an ecosystem model of community building, in as many communities as possible.

Our farm famous “No S.C.A.B.S.” training modules and Facilitator training are available for purchase.

At the farm, we always asked, “Can you see?,” followed by resounding cheers from teens and volunteers, “Yessss, I Can See!”. This gives project vision and leadership back to the humans who engage in the work, giving them ownership and a sense of accomplishment.

The great news is that this opportunity exists EVERYWHERE! You can collaborate with groups, schools, businesses, and humans in any community - even where you live. Not sure where to start? That’s where our training comes in. Check out our updated ARK Farms website and learn how you can bring these awesome restoration projects to your community.

These new program offerings have a profound and positive impact, and we are excited to embark on this journey. We are confident that this new focus will allow us to make an even greater difference in the lives of those we serve.

You are an important part of this story, and we are excited to share this new journey with you.

We are asking our partners and supporters to help us provide this training and birth new programs in two ways:

1) Your donation allows us to bring youth and peer facilitators from ARK Farms along to these trainings as heroes who are changing lives in communities across the country. You can donate here.

2) Your invitation to bring and develop these programs for your school, community, organization, or business. This is a major fundraiser for ARK Farms and the greatest method for getting our message beyond the farm gates.

Thank you for your generosity and support; you have been instrumental in our success so far and we look forward to doing more together as we move in this direction.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about our updated mission method, please give us a shout. We value your input and would love to share more about our vision for building life in the community.

Thank you again for being an integral part of the ARK Farms family. We are so grateful to be Building Life Together with you!

Speaker – Program Trainer

Founder of ARK Farms and Executive Director since 2015, Abby is integrally involved in empowering humans, especially youth and emerging adults, to become courageous, confident, and connected to build life together in our communities. Over 25 years of local and international work with young people has given Abby insight and wisdom straight from the source – kids from communities across the globe. As an educator, she specialized in working with students who were without hope, disengaged, and disenfranchised, with incredible success. Her own story has given her street cred in the lives of young people because she has lived so much of what they are going through, allowing her to hear their stories.

Through working with teens and rescue animals at ARK Farms, Abby developed a communication system that reverses the damage of trauma and toxic life experiences for the individual and creates a strategic pathway for building powerful connections with others. The language system is fondly known as “No SCABS”, which stands for No Sarcasm, Criticism, Accusing, Blaming, and Shaming. If you think that’s impossible, this has been used successfully with ex-felons, human trafficking survivors, current and formerly homeless, multiple-suicide-attempt survivors, Congressmen’s kids, valedictorians, Beta Club presidents, and more. It WORKS.

The outcome of this training is profound and perpetual:

When Abby teaches how to use the Ecosystem Model of Community to develop cooperation and collaboration in your group, business, or organization, you will immediately see the human connection in a new light and be empowered to utilize opportunities to work together more cohesively and effectively.

Through the Empowerment Upside Down training, you discover the importance of changing the paradigm of empowerment. Instead of working from a top-down approach, you will learn how to develop hard and soft skills, direction, purpose, and ingenuity from the bottom up. As a result, there will be greater innovation and energy toward growth for your target population, and most importantly they will never experience being the target population.

Our Unity in Community program has the transformational “No SCABS” training – the most impactful strategy you can implement for ongoing improvement in your organization. Your staff will work cohesively, your atmosphere will resonate with peace, and your mission will accelerate in ways and to levels that you can barely imagine. This is the one that changes everything!