We Hire Growers with Intellectual, Developmental, and/or Cognitive Disabilities
We use farming to encourage employability skills.
Our employees learn many different employment and farming skills like coming prepared to work, clocking in & clocking out, working as a team, using different tools, plant management, weed management, harvesting & some food preservation skills.
Job applications may be emailed to admin@afarmlessordinary.org to begin.
Applicant must:
Have a diagnosed moderate to severe developmental and/or intellectual disability
Be of working age, or have a work permit from the Commonwealth of Virginia, if required
Be able to walk, unaided, on steep or uneven ground and willing to work outside in all types of weather, in the dirt
Have some form of transportation to get to & from our farms in Leesburg or Lovettsville, VA
Bring a job coach, aide or companion to work if that resource is needed to help with tasks
We work 8am - 2pm Monday through Friday. We also attend weekend farmers markets in Loudoun County. We recognize that not everyone can work a full day, or five days a week. We can develop a schedule that is appropriate for the Grower’s stamina and abilities.
For questions, please contact admin@afarmlessordinary.org.
We are a working farm. We start out by sitting down and talking to potential employees, along with their families (or the job coach or employment agency they've come with) to figure out what kinds of farming activities the employee might be most successful at and happiest in doing. At A Farm Less Ordinary, we want everyone to succeed. And once they have a few of those successes under their belts, we can challenge them to try new tasks that might be a bit more of a stretch.
Depending on our Growers' abilities and comfort level, we may pair them with another Grower, who can show them the ropes, or have them work with our Crew Leader or Farm Manager to master a skill until they can work more independently. We are also happy to include parents and personal Job Coaches on the farm, if employees work best with someone they already know.
Long story short? We are flexible to various work arrangements.
Yes, we pay our employees. No, our employees do not have to work full-time.
We are not a "sheltered workshop". Our employees start out at minimum wage and progress upward from there. While we wish we could pay everybody even more than that, we are, after all, a non-profit organization.
We also understand that not everyone is able to work full work days. We will work with families to establish a reasonable work day for each Grower.