The 13 acres of farmland nestled in North Carolina’s Alamance County that comprise Benevolence Farm serve many different purposes: an active body care business harvesting herbs for natural soaps and soy wax candles, a hub for social advocacy about issues impacting formerly incarcerated women across the state, and a home and a refuge for a handful of those very women.

As both a small business enterprise and a reentry community, Benevolence Farm provides formerly incarcerated women a place to reside  and tend to the farmland, with the women living in one of two shared homes for a time period between six months to two years. Benevolence Farm also plans to build tiny homes as an independent living option for women who still desire peer support but want to experience living alone. In addition to receiving supportive services that help aid in their transition out of incarceration, residents work on the 13-acre farm, tending to general farm chores, including planting, harvesting, and drying herbs and flowers, making body care products, packing online orders, and even creating new products. The farm enterprise helps women earn a living wage, acquire job readiness skills, and earn a pre-apprenticeship certificate from the Department of Labor certifying their training for jobs in the green economy.

With over 2,500 women returning home from North Carolina state prisons annually, Benevolence Farm fills a crucial gap by providing services that speak to the unique needs of formerly incarcerated women—many of whom are also the primary caretakers for their families. Unlike countless other reentry programs, Benevolence Farm doesn’t deny entry based on certain past convictions, meaning that even women with Class A felonies or histories of substance dependence can apply. However, the farm’s size and commitment to “scale up at the speed of trust,” as described by Executive Director Kristen Powers, means that it cannot possibly meet the needs of every woman returning home across the state. Thus, the farm is a dream realized for some and, ideally, a model to be replicated by others.

Prism spoke with Powers by phone about Benevolence Farm’s “individualized system,” the housing crisis facing incarcerated women, and the importance of using a trauma-informed lens.

This Q&A is part of a series, Prison in 12 Landscapes, featuring companion pieces from Ray Levy Uyeda and Tamar Sarai. The series runs through September and is organized to introduce readers to subjects beginning with the most—and easing into the least—proximate to prisons’ material form. You can read through the series here.

Read the full article about Benevolence Farm by Tamar Sarai at Prism Reports.