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🌿Another successful season at Green Care Farm 🌿

What a wonderful season we’ve shared! 🌱 Our enthusiastic clients and amazing volunteers brought so much energy, kindness, and laughter to the farm.

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We wrapped up our program on October 5, with plenty to celebrate! Throughout September and into October, our members kept busy harvesting fresh produce and preparing donations for Food for Life. It was a joy to work together, share the harvest, and give back to our community! 

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On Saturday, October 17, our wonderful volunteers rolled up their sleeves to help tidy the garden and tuck it in for the winter! 🌱

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A heartfelt thank you to all our wonderful volunteers for making this season at Green Care Farms so special! 🌱

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From supporting our members and tending the garden to harvesting produce, preparing donations, and putting the garden to bed for winter, your helping hands made it all possible.

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Your time, kindness, and enthusiasm brought so much joy to the farm. We are grateful for each of you and look forward to welcoming you back in May 2027! 💚

A nurturing farm experience rooted in purpose and belonging.

Members enjoy specialized seasonal programming in our beautiful sensory gardens.


 Click here to learn more about the Day Program

 Click here to get in touch with us​ to see if your loved one is a good fit!
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Volunteer With Us!

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We’re hosting several volunteer Community Days during the 2027 season, and we’d love for you to join us! Check our website for updates.

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We are in the news!

Green Care Farms spreads roots/Waterloo News
click the link for more details

https://uwaterloo.ca/news/magazine/green-care-farms-spreads-roots

Testimonials from Farm Visitors

“I wanted to thank you once again for your generosity in meeting with me yesterday. Not only are the farm and sensory garden beautiful, but it was so impressive to hear how you have planned this out and navigated all the issues, from partnering with a commercial enterprise, working with local regulations and working through issues around support and engagement at the farm.

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As the first care farm in Canada for people living with dementia, I think you should celebrate the wonderful model you have opened, and hopefully it will pave the way for many more to follow.”

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 Dr. Al Power

Meaford - First Satellite Location for Green Care Farms

In 2025, our team had the privilege of celebrating the opening of our first satellite location in Meaford, Ontario. 

Jessica and John, the leaders of Meaford GCF, had a very successful first year, and they are well into an amazing second season. They have put so much work and heart into their farm, and it truly shows! 

The farm is filled with stunning hilltop field views, ripe pear trees, and bountiful vegetables in the beautifully maintained garden. 

Please share this opportunity with any loved ones living in Grey County, Ontario!


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Are you interested in our course:  How to Start A Care Farm?

There are more care farms popping up in Canada and we are proud to have supported many of them in their development! You can do it and we are here to help you!

 

Course participants have reported that our course was very helpful to them.

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Join the waitlist here: https://www.carefarmscanada.com/courseregistrationform

WHY

A response to the need for care farming teachers in Canada

Green Care Farms' vision is simple: a Care Farm for people with dementia in every community in Canada. Since launching in 2020, the team has heard from many people who want to learn about care farming and bring it into their own work.

Canada still has too few teachers and too few practical examples. The learning portal is Green Care Farms' way of sharing lived experience, hard-won lessons, and an evidence-based model with others committed to growing care farming across the country.

WHAT

The Path to Care Farming

Green Care Farms has been shifting its educational workshop series, How to Start a Care Farm, into a full online learning portal. Two rounds of beta testing with Canadian community leaders have already helped shape the first release.

The flagship course summarizes the Green Care Farms model, drawing from Dutch care farming examples across the Netherlands and parts of Europe, while adapting those ideas to the Canadian context.

The Team

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Rebekah Churchyard
(she/her)
CEO, Founder
Principal Consultant

Rebekah holds a Master of Social Work in Gerontology, and works in Specialized Geriatric Services. Rebekah is also a Project Management Professional (PMP) and Psychotherapist. She relocated from Toronto back to Kitchener-Waterloo in 2020 on a mission to start Green Care Farms Inc.! In Toronto she gained extensive volunteer experience in charitable board governance and in municipal policy. Rebekah served as President and Vice-President with the Toronto Council on Aging Board of Directors and as an Accountability Table member with the City of Toronto’s Seniors Strategy. 

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Rebekah loves flowers, sunshine and laughter. She lives now in Guelph, Ontario with her family.

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Why do you love Green Care Farms?

 

\My grandpa was a Christmas tree farmer in Belwood, Ontario. At age 63 he was diagnosed with an early onset frontotemporal dementia. It was challenging for our family to find meaningful activities for him to engage with.

 

We need more programs for folks with early onset dementia who wish to be outside and active. We also need more programs to build cognitive resilience in rural settings. I love the idea of a person with dementia who values nature and growing things to be able to do in a safe and supported setting.

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Jenna Rines
(she/her)
Social Worker, Researcher, Environmental Educator

Jenna is a Social Worker passionate about program development and innovation in response to social and environmental challenges. She had the pleasure of working in geriatrics early on in her career and has stayed involved in related work and volunteering ever since. Although still an amateur, she loves to garden and spend as much time as she can outdoors with family and friends. 

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Jenna's role with Green Care Farms includes strategic planning, social enterprise development, proposals and partnerships.

 

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Why do you love Green Care Farms?

 

I love the innovation and multisolving potential of Green Care Farms. There are so many benefits beyond those for the individuals and families connected to the program. We need more businesses contributing to sustainable positive impacts on a social and environmental level, and I am excited to be part of the changes Green Care Farms will inevitably be making in Canada.

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Ava Sturm
(she/her)
Social Media Lead,
Naturopathic
Medicine Student

Ava is a Naturopathic Medicine student from Nova Scotia. She is passionate about life-enrichment through the therapeutic value of nature and community. Since moving to Toronto, Ava has been involved with multiple urban-food initiatives including Not Far From the Tree and was the social media manager for Wild By Nature, a backyard garden mentoring community.

 

When Ava is not studying or working as a nanny, she loves to cook with her friends, hike to waterfalls, and make crafts with pressed flowers.

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Why do you love Green Care Farms?

 

I love that Green Care Farms values purpose, fun, enrichment, and overall quality of life. This is true for the participants, and for the community that is created when food is our point of connection. Having been raised in a rural area, I also value that Green Care Farms offers a creative and multi-faceted solution in an often-overlooked population.

 

Green Care Farms has so much heart behind it and I’m so excited to be a part of its growth. 

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Sabrina Armstrong
(she/her)
Communications,
Researcher

Sabrina holds a Master of Science in Medical Science and has experience researching pathologies underlying neurodegenerative diseases and potential new treatments both in clinical and laboratory settings. She is passionate about improving the care and treatment for individuals living with dementia.

 

In her free time, Sabrina enjoys fitness, drawing and watercolour, and creating plant-based meals. Sabrina is thrilled to be working with the team on communications and public relations.

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Why do you love Green Care Farms?

 

I love that Green Care Farms is providing a meaningful and fun activity for individuals living with dementia to get outside and experience and engage with nature. I’m excited that the program offers an alternative to traditional dementia day programs by giving people an opportunity to learn new skills, stimulating outdoor physical activity, and promoting nutritious eating. All of these components and more help to improve mood and social engagement, which are so vital to healthy aging. I hope to see more Green care farms and gardens expand to every community.

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Maggie Hryhorenko
(she/her)
Website Lead,
Instructor and Consultant

Maggie is a training partner with PMI, a course director at York University, and an executive at Megabyte Consulting Limited.

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She’s passionate about helping others and gives back to her community through charity work for women’s shelters, orphanages, social programs like Green Care Farms, and animal rescues in Canada and Costa Rica.

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In her free time, Maggie loves traveling, gardening, and raising butterflies.

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Why do you love Green Care Farms?

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Green Care Farms is a much-needed initiative in Canada. It’s heartbreaking how quickly isolation and depression can affect people, and being part of a group can really help with healing.

It’s inspiring to see young people considering the needs of those living with dementia and their caregivers.

 

The team at Green Care Farms is fantastic—open-minded and enthusiastic. I’m excited to help with the website and organize events while learning from everyone involved.

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Ina McGree
Registered Nurse
Green Care Provider /
Administrator Support

 

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Ina McGee, Green Care Provider and member of the core team, is a Registered Nurse with a background in bee and tree care. She enjoys growing, cooking, and sharing food, as well as going on outdoor adventures.

 

Why do you love Green Care Farms?

 

Being a part of Green Care Farms brings so much joy to my life. It's incredibly fulfilling to see the positive impact we have on our members and their families. I truly treasure the time spent on the farm, coming home with dirt under my fingernails and a heart full of wonderful stories from our members. It’s such a privilege to be part of this amazing community!

Want to learn more about our programs?

Contact us and sign up to receive updates on Green Care Farms.

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