Farm Program Expanding Near Montana Veterans Home

COLUMBIA FALLS – The weather had already turned cold, spitting rain and threatening snow, by the time the new garden beds arrived at the Montana Veterans Home, but that didn’t stop the residents from enjoying a little bit of the outdoors.

Inside, a wagon filled with eight Angora bunnies wheeled its way through the facility, making sure any resident who wanted to pet or hold one of the incredibly fluffy rabbits could.

Sherry Lewis-Peterson sat off to the side with her stocking feet on the floor, her muddy farm boots left at the door, and watched the slow progression of bunny-related smiles move across the room.

They started bringing in the bunnies about six weeks ago, when the Angoras were old enough to move from the nearby Farming for the Future Academy Inc. facility, which sits on a plot of land directly adjacent to the veterans home in Columbia Falls.

“The research we’re doing right now is watching how the depression is just lifting,” Lewis-Peterson, executive director at the farm, said. “I have seen the whole building’s demeanor change (when the bunnies arrive). We had a wheelchair traffic jam.”

Farming for the Future Academy moved in next door in 2013; it is a pre-K to 12th grade autism education program, during which students work at their own pace on school work while they also work in and around the farm.

One of the students, a teen girl named Rochele, was at the veterans home helping with the bunnies. Lewis-Peterson said the animals are her incentive, and she learns social skills while interacting with the residents.

The farm had a few raised beds for residents and students, but in mid-October, a volunteer army of Home Depot employees built 40 raised garden beds specifically big enough for wheelchair access, as well as fencing for the farm. An earlier Home Deport-volunteer project had left gravel for garden access, but when they saw wheelchairs were getting stuck, the company returned to dig it up before the ground freezes so they can install paver stones in the spring.

Bonnie Stutsman, activities coordinator at the veterans home, said the bunnies made an immediate impact on the residents.

“It gives them a sense of caring for something,” she said.

Several residents have picked out favorite bunnies, and they make sure to visit them each time. Stutsman said the addition of the garden beds will allow for expansions in activities for the residents, and the wheelchair access will be key for many.

Residents will also be given the choice of having their own garden plot, providing not only a reason to get outside, but get their hands back into the dirt, Stutsman said.

Lewis-Peterson said the farm plans on bringing more animals by the facility, such as a llama or mini horse. The farm expects to acquire some mohair goats soon, and begin a fiber mill — incorporating the Angora bunnies — to provide life skills for students as well as products to keep the farm funded.

Anyone interested in volunteering or supporting the farm and its programs can visit www.farmingforthefutureacademyinc.org for more information. Stutsman also said the Montana Veterans Home could always use more volunteers, especially when it comes to bringing people outside.