Open Enrollment: A New Way to Relaunch Lives Through Farming
October 26, 2026
When Someone Is Ready to Work, the Opportunity Should Be There
In June 2026, I faced a difficult question. Eden Streets had fallen short of the $75,000 needed to operate Grow Ogden's Fall Cohort session, our 16-week, farm-based job-training program. What troubled me most was knowing that people still needed the opportunity—even if we couldn't afford to run another cohort.
Jeffrey was one of those people.
Because of his criminal record, Jeffrey struggled to find an employer willing to hire him. He wanted a safe, wholesome environment where he could do meaningful work and rebuild his life. At the time, the safest place he could find to stay was his car, parked overnight on church property with the manager's permission. Before finding Grow Ogden, he had relied on DoorDash deliveries until he could no longer afford the gas and insurance required to continue.
Jeffrey was ready to work. He was ready for a chance. But our next funded program wasn't available to him.
How many others in our community face the same dilemma? Some finish recovery programs and need a gradual transition into employment rather than immediately taking on a permanent, 30- or 40-hour workweek. Others are experiencing homelessness, struggling with a criminal record, or simply trying to regain the confidence and stability needed to hold a job.
What if we could meet people when they are ready to begin again, rather than asking them to wait for the next funded session?
That question led us to develop a new approach at Eden Streets: the Open-Enrollment Model.
A New Pathway to Work and Belonging
Eden Streets' Grow Ogden program has traditionally operated through 16-week spring cohorts at our 28th Street Community Farm. Participants work together, learn job-readiness skills, receive individualized support, and build relationships with others facing similar challenges.
The Cohort Model remains an important part of our mission. But life doesn't always follow a program calendar. Someone may complete a recovery program in June, become ready to work in September, or need an opportunity in the middle of winter preparations and planting schedules.
Open Enrollment creates another door.
Through a service agreement between Grow Ogden and Faircrest Farms, our Grow Ogden 41st Street Farm, we can integrate an eligible farm intern into an existing working farm crew. Rather than waiting for an entire cohort to begin, an individual can enter the program when the opportunity and resources are available.
The farm intern works alongside an established crew, learns practical horticultural skills, earns wages, and receives individualized support to overcome barriers to permanent employment.
The result is a different kind of learning environment: a real farm serving real customers, where the work matters, teamwork is essential, and each person's contribution helps keep the farm operating.
Five Essential Elements of Relaunching a Life
Although Open Enrollment changes how participants enter the program, it preserves the essential elements of Eden Streets' life-relaunching approach.
1. Therapeutic agriculture
Working in nature provides opportunities for purposeful activity, connection, well-being, self-confidence, and personal renewal. Caring for plants and participating in the rhythms of a farm can help people rebuild healthy routines and a sense of possibility.
2. Paid transitional employment
Participants take on real workplace responsibilities, learn vocational horticulture, practice punctuality and teamwork, and develop skills they can transfer to other jobs. Earning a paycheck is an important step toward financial independence and self-respect.
3. Job readiness and career development
Participants work toward individual milestones, learn how to search and apply for jobs, prepare résumés, practice interviewing, and connect with employers. Open Enrollment will use community partners and appropriate online resources to help provide this training.
4. Individualized supportive services
Each participant connects weekly with an assigned case manager or licensed social worker to address barriers involving housing, transportation, recovery, health, finances, and employment. Together, they establish goals, review progress, and identify next steps.
5. Community and economic participation
Participants contribute to local food production, serve customers, develop workplace relationships, and connect with the wider community. Through volunteering and meaningful work, they become contributors to community life rather than feeling excluded from it.
These elements reinforce one another. Therapeutic agriculture helps create the conditions for well-being and renewed confidence. Paid transitional employment provides structure, accountability, and a bridge to competitive employment. Individualized support and community connections help turn that experience into lasting change.
At Eden Streets, we believe the strength of our model lies in bringing these elements together.
What Does Open Enrollment Look Like?
Imagine Alice, who is preparing to graduate from a 90-day recovery program in June. She wants to work but isn't yet ready to step directly into a permanent full-time position. Under our traditional Cohort Model, she might have to wait for the next session—and that session might not be funded.
With Open Enrollment, Alice could apply to Grow Ogden and be considered for a placement at Faircrest Farms, subject to program eligibility and available resources.
She would begin with a two-week work-based trial period. During this time, both Alice and the farm crew could determine whether the opportunity is a good fit. Her reliability, willingness to learn, teamwork, and commitment to showing up on time would help inform the decision to proceed.
If accepted, Alice could begin a paid, 16-week transitional work experience, working part-time alongside an established crew.
Her farm day would begin with yoga, followed by a brief farm walk and an outline of the day's tasks. Then the crew would get to work—planting, harvesting, caring for crops, preparing produce for customers, and doing the many other jobs required to operate a productive farm.
The morning schedule, with opportunities to work up to four hours a day, offers a practical and cooler alternative to the afternoon schedule of the Cohort Model. It also provides more potential work hours for participants who are ready for them.
But the farm experience is only part of the journey.
Each week, Alice would meet with her assigned case manager or licensed social worker to review her goals, report on progress, and work through barriers to employment. Her plan might include arranging transportation, pursuing stable housing, improving financial skills, completing job-readiness training, or preparing for interviews.
With appropriate communication and respect for confidentiality, relevant information would help the farm manager understand how to support her progress at work.
Throughout the 16 weeks, Alice would build a work history, practice professional habits, develop new skills, and establish connections with potential employers. The goal is for her to complete the program ready to move into permanent employment and greater stability.
The farm is not the final destination. It is a bridge to the next chapter of her life.
How Open Enrollment Complements the Cohort Model
The two models share the same purpose but offer different pathways.
The Cohort Model brings six to eight interns together for a structured, 16-week experience at Grow Ogden's 28th Street Community Farm. Participants benefit from group job-readiness activities, peer relationships, and a shared journey toward employment.
Open Enrollment allows one or two interns at a time to join the existing crew at Faircrest Farms, depending on available funding and the farm's capacity. Participants gain experience in an operating, for-profit farm with real customers and production demands. They can enter during the March-through-October enrollment period rather than waiting for a designated cohort start date.
The Open-Enrollment Model also offers more flexible work scheduling and the potential for additional paid hours. Its smaller scale, however, means that participants will not automatically receive the same group training or peer-to-peer support available through the Cohort Model.
We intend to address that gap by connecting interns with community-based job-readiness resources, online training where appropriate, and individualized coaching. The model will continue to evolve as we learn what best supports participants' progress.
Neither model is intended to replace the other. Together, they allow Eden Streets to serve people with different needs, schedules, and stages of readiness.
What We Have Learned So Far
Faircrest Farms has been developing this approach since 2024. During that time, we have worked with 17 people experiencing homelessness, navigating recovery, or struggling to find employment. Many have gone on to find jobs.
These experiences have helped us recognize the value of providing an opportunity to work when someone is ready, even when a traditional program session isn't underway.
As we formalize Open Enrollment, we will continue tracking meaningful outcomes, including employment, housing stability, participation, and the amount of time individuals spend in the program. We want to learn not only how many people we serve, but also how effectively the program helps them move toward lasting independence.
We also recognize that individualized support must remain central to the model. A farm job alone cannot resolve every barrier someone faces. Regular case-management connections, appropriate job-readiness resources, and a supportive work environment are essential parts of the pathway.
Looking Ahead: More Farms, More Opportunities to Relaunch
We are encouraged by the example of the Homeless Garden Project in Santa Cruz, California. For decades, this organization has combined therapeutic agriculture with transitional employment and supportive services. Its experience demonstrates what can become possible when a farm's social mission is supported by a sustainable funding model. Their twelve-month rolling enrollment program relaunches between 12 to 25 people per year. Farm interns spend 20 hours a week working their three-acre farm in Santa Cruz California or making merchandise or goods for their value-add store. 95% of those who graduate from their program obtain jobs and 88% have housing.
Eden Streets envisions a future in which more farms across Weber County and beyond can participate in this work. Under Open Enrollment, eligible Eden Streets affiliate farms could offer transitional employment to people experiencing homelessness or navigating recovery while working in partnership with Grow Ogden's community farm.
Each farm would bring its own strengths, crops, crew, and community connections. Together, these farms could create more opportunities for people to develop skills, earn income, rebuild relationships, and move toward stable employment.
We also hope to develop funding approaches that are less dependent on repeatedly raising the full cost of an entire cohort before anyone can begin. Individual sponsorships, community partnerships, grants, and sustainable farm operations may each play a role in supporting this work.
Our long-term vision is for communities to recognize the value of farms with social missions and help them become increasingly self-sustaining.
An Opportunity to Begin Again
When Jeffrey needed an opportunity, the next funded cohort wasn't available. His situation helped us see that we needed another way to respond. He has enjoyed the opportunity the Open Enrollment model has offered him.
Open Enrollment is our answer: a complementary pathway that preserves the essential elements of relaunching lives through farming while offering greater flexibility in when participants can begin.
We believe that meaningful work, supportive relationships, connection with nature, and a community that welcomes people back into productive life can make a lasting difference.
At Eden Streets, our mission is to relaunch lives through farming—to grow food, jobs, connections, and hope.
Because when someone is ready to begin again, there should be a path forward.
Would you like to sponsor a farm intern, explore becoming a social-mission farm partner, or help someone take the next step toward employment? Contact Eden Streets to learn how you can help relaunch lives through farming.
Farmer Karl - Eden Streets | Grow Ogden | Faircrest Farms
Eden Streets acknowledges the Homeless Garden Project and the work informing its approach to therapeutic agriculture and transitional employment. Reference: The Homeless Garden Project's Guide to Transitional Employment and Therapeutic Agriculture, © 2025, Center for Economic Justice, UC Santa Cruz.
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