This week on HealthConnections, Dr. Carole Myers, a professor emeritus in the University of Tennessee College of Nursing, talks to Sarah Delpy, the executive director of Special Growers.
WUOT’s Carole Myers: Special Growers, located in Blount County, was launched to provide work for people with special needs and provide a safe and inclusive environment for employees to learn job skills, gain confidence and prepare for future careers. Today, I'm joined by Sarah Delpy, the executive director of Special Growers, to discuss what makes Special Growers special and what is being grown. Sarah, please share the back story about Special Growers.
Sarah Delpy: In 2010 Kent Davis, along with other families in Blount County, found themselves in a situation where their students, or their children actually, were going to be exiting the high school. And Blount County is full of a lot of options in terms of socialization programs, but in terms of employment for individuals with special needs, there is not a lot to offer. These families got together and decided to find something for their students to do, or their children to do, that they could succeed in, but also find a lot of purpose in the families. Originally started with a community garden. They started growing vegetables and selling at a local farmers market. However, as you can imagine, that's a very competitive field. Kent spoke with local chefs, Trevor Stockton and Chris Thompson from Amici’s and RT Lodge, and they decided that herbs may be a good industry to grow into. So the families started at the local community garden, and then in 2012-2013 Vulcan materials donated their property, and so Special Growers grew. The families found that growing vegetables and selling to the local farmers market was not going to be the most enriching industry for the students, so they started selling the herbs, and from there, we have grown from six employees to now upwards of 50 employees annually. We service everyone, anyone that needs a job. We are happy to meet and take tours with families and find places that may best fit this individual.
Now that you've shared the back story, Sarah, tell us about Special Growers today. What have you grown into right now?
We have about 87 beds. We have three greenhouses where we grow hydroponically in the winter time, and then we also have incubators where we grow microgreens. We are currently selling year round to local restaurants. We are one of the only local suppliers of basil annually. That's kind of our golden child for our staff to grow and nurture. We sell to about 13 or 14 local restaurants from Blount County, Knox County, and Walland area. Our staff work anywhere from one day a week, two days a week, up to five days a week. We have one employee that has really proven herself to be just a total asset to our organization. These employees come in daily, and they'll sign in. They work from nine to 11 am; they harvest, maintain beds, pull weeds. This is just a phenomenal way for them to be out with their like minded friends and find a way to find purpose and receive some income.
What’s on the horizon with Special Growers?
This year, in 2025, we hope to open up an art studio on site at Special Growers. In the past, we've grown from selling herbs to selling herbs and flowers, and now we're going to take those herbs and flowers and create something art and purposeful with our staff, so the staff will use what we're growing in the garden and turn it into very beautiful pieces of art, whether that be watercolors or pottery or dried flower floral arrangements. We hope this art studio provides employment for folks maybe that don't like gardening that don't want to get dirty or maybe can't stand the high heats of summer. So this will be a climate controlled environment on site that these families have already found so much security in our location, the staff are comfortable coming, so this is just one more way for the staff to work more hours, but also be with their friends, and this is a way for them to kind of serve therapeutically.
This transcript has been lightly edited for content.
