One of the newest members of the Cleveland organization Entrepreneurs for Sustainability (E4S) is an organization known for helping people with special needs. Over the past several months, the Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities (Board of DD) has realized ways to help others while helping the environment and the City of Cleveland.

The organization's CleveLand Crops program, in partnership with Stanard Farms and the Ohio State University Extension, is part of the Board of DD's Solutions at Work (S.A.W.) program, which is the state's largest employer of people with disabilities. S.A.W. also operates a discount store in Parma called Just-a-Buck, employing 15 developmentally disabled residents of Cuyahoga County, and Pulley's, a wi-fi coffeehouse in Cleveland's Tyler Village, which employs three adults in the Board of DD program.

CleveLand Crops gives adults with developmental disabilities the chance to nurture plants and vegetables from planting through harvest. The goal of the project is to provide agriculture and employment training for adults by developing 10 sustainable farms that will employ 100 adults from the Board of DD and establishing an Agriculture Education Center at the Stanard Farm to serve as a farming site for CleveLand Crops. Cleveland Crops intends to operate year-round using various facilities in the area.

All of this leads to another goal: repurposing neglected land using sustainable farming practices. Stanard Farm launched in 2010, and this year the Board of DD will open three new farm sites in Cleveland.

SOURCE: Cuyahoga County Board of DD
WRITER: Diane DiPiero