Over the past year, Second Nature Organics in Narangba, affectionately known as ‘The Farm,’ have welcomed a number of valuable team members, all of whom have a disability.
Director of the Farm, Len Costantini, coupled with his family and staff, have embraced the opportunity to help raise expectations of people living with disability.
“We are passionate about affording people with disabilities the same opportunities in the workplace, helping them build their confidence and gain independence,” said Len.
Since partnering with us in 2016, The Farm has supported several of our trainees to work towards gaining their Horticulture Certificates. These trainees have varying disabilities including Asperger’s, Autism, Deafness, Intellectual Disability and Mental Illness.
As a family owned business, The Farm has welcomed the trainees with open arms and provided a safe and understanding environment for the trainees to complete their formal qualification.
Len contributes much of this success to the assistance they have received from us.
“EPIC have been a great support to the trainees and myself. From the very start EPIC have provided support workers to work alongside the trainees each week,” said Len.
“One of our employees, Shannon, is deaf and uses Auslan as his first language. So Angie from EPIC attends The Farm on a regular basis to provide communication support by way of interpreting services.”
The Farm and EPIC have developed a close working relationship and are looking forward to 2018 and the ongoing opportunities they will be able to offer people with disability who have an interest in horticulture and small crop farming.
“This year we have benefited from a truly diverse team and can’t wait to see what 2018 brings.”