ANDERSON – Aspire Indiana has decided to close a Madison County farm as part of a realignment of its employment program helping people with mental illnesses get job skills.
Harvestland Farm, a 13-acre farm located on Indiana 32 between Edgewood and Lapel, will close June 30 as the nonprofit agency brings its social enterprises program inside the Aspire offices.
Through the program, Aspire hires people with extreme mental illnesses and helps them learn on-the-job skills so they can move on to more traditional employment, said Susan Maier, director of business development.
A press release from Aspire said the farm provided employment opportunities to more than 50 people over the 10-year period, generating over $262,753 in salaries and wages.
Since the farm's launch in 2008, the employees raised organically grown vegetables and sold the produce through the Harvestland Farm Store and local restaurants. Now, they will work side-by-side with Aspire staff within Aspire’s facilities.
“So we will still help them build skills, will still have people that are working at Aspire as Aspire employees, maybe in different activities but all trying to enhance those employment opportunities for those folks in one spot,” Maier said. “ We just think it’s a better way to look at it.”
Maier said the change is to bolster the program that’s already helped many Hoosiers to gain jobs skills and employment.
“It’s all about serving folks with serious mental illness. They have done exceptionally well and some had gone from being in social enterprise to supervising in another area,” she said. “So now as we look toward integrated care, we can’t leave out employees.”
Aspire provides health care and behavioral care services with locations in Anderson, Elwood, Noblesville, Carmel and Willowbrook. Their services extend beyond primary health care, and help with behavioral and lifestyle wellness initiatives.
Aspire will retain the land Harvestland Farms sits on, but a final plan is still in the works.