Second Chances Farm in Wilmington Delaware Excels on Sustainable Farming and Rehabilitating Formerly Incarcerated Individuals
Second Chances Farm, located in Wilmington, Delaware, is leading the way when it comes to the simple acts of kindness, respect, compassion, trust, all while battling climate change and farming for a sustainable future.
Working to reduce their carbon footprint, the mission of Second Chances Farm is to nurture plants and people, and our planet, one green thumb at a time. The farm provides returning citizens who were previously incarcerated with mentorship programs and green collar jobs at hydroponic, indoor vertical farms in economically distressed communities.
Listen to the on air interview with Johnny B & Jessie Jordan and Ajit Mathew, Founder of Second Chances Farm:
What’s Special About Second Chances Farm
Being a local farm, those who wish to do so, can order online and Second Chances Farm can deliver produce with 48 hours of harvesting, at peak taste, nutrition and freshness. Moreover, the farm eliminates the need for long distance shipping and its associated damaging carbon footprint. Our processes eliminate the use of toxic chemicals using far less water than traditional soil-based farming.
What’s special about Second Chances Farm is, they hire, exclusively, formerly incarcerated persons as farm employees, and provide them with mentoring, life skills and job training. In this way, Second Chances provides one solution to the epidemic of recidivism — up to 75 percent within five years — supplying gainful employment to individuals whose job prospects are limited by their criminal records.
Former inmates, or returning citizens, can apply with Second Chances Farm. They initially spend four months with us. After that, some stay on with our Entrepreneurs in Residence program and continue receiving mentoring and training to learn business skills with the goal of becoming vertical farmers in their own businesses.
Being a hydroponic, indoor farm, Second Chances can grow local fresh food 365 days a year, while replacing recidivism with compassionate capitalism and turning entrepreneurs-in-residence into “Agri-preneurs” according to their website.
