The ten-acre farm on Foxhurst Road in South Huntington where adults with autism learn to seed, harvest and run a food business has a new building to grow in. ELIJA Farm celebrated the ribbon-cutting of its new Learning and Engagement Center on Monday, October 19, a project made possible by a $1 million grant from Suffolk County's JumpSMART program, the county's Department of Economic Development and Planning announced.

The center gives the nonprofit farm dedicated indoor space for its classes and community programs, work that until now has run largely with the growing season. County officials joined the farm's leadership and supporters at the opening.

A farm built around ability

ELIJA Farm is the agricultural arm of ELIJA, the Long Island autism organization that also operates The ELIJA School in Levittown, transitional programs and services for adults aging out of school programs, outreach services and a foundation serving families across the Island. The organization runs a steady calendar of parent workshops as well, with sessions this fall on navigating the transition from school to adult services and on maximizing benefits, listed on its site. The farm grows produce without chemical fertilizers or pesticides, hand-picks and packs everything on site, and sells it through a farmstand, a marketplace with delivery service and a community supported agriculture program whose shares feed families across the North Shore.

The land itself has deep farming roots. The property was formerly Fox Hollow Farm, worked for more than 35 years by Lawrence Foglia and Heather Forest, who stayed on as agricultural consultants and helped build ELIJA Farm's CSA and educational programming on the ground their family farmed.

The point of all of it is the people doing the work. The farm runs vocational programming for differently-abled individuals, training farmhands who plant, tend, harvest and sell alongside staff and volunteers. Its class offerings are built for learners of all abilities, and school groups visit the property throughout the season. One longtime student who joined the crew harvested hundreds of pounds of cucumbers a week at the peak of last season, according to the farm's own team page.

What the new center changes

A farm's calendar has always been its limit. With a dedicated indoor learning space, ELIJA Farm can hold classes, training and community events year-round rather than packing its programming into the warm months. The center anchors the farm's next stage as it expands what it can offer the hundreds of students, CSA members, volunteers and customers who come through each year.

The JumpSMART grant behind the project is part of a Suffolk County program that funds capital investments by organizations driving the county's economy, and the county's economic development department pointed to the farm as an example of the program reaching a nonprofit whose work pays off in jobs and skills as well as produce.

Pie season arrives with the new building

The farm heads into its first winter with the new center just as its annual holiday pie pre-sale opens on November 1, with details on the farm's site. The farmstand menu, CSA signups, class schedule and volunteer opportunities for gardeners and horticulturists are all at elijafarm.org, and the farm is at 43 Foxhurst Road in South Huntington.

Sources