Founder of Turning Point Farm Preparing to Open Facility for Six Children in Need

New Gloucester Farm for Kids is This Year's Beneficiary of the Peoples Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race

For Nancy Rochat, it's a dream come true. The founder and director of Turning Point Farm, a farm and long-term home for six children ages six to 11, is preparing to open the facility later this spring.

Set on an idyllic 12-acre, 16-room farmhouse off Route 100 in New Gloucester, Turning Point Farm is for young boys and girls who have been abused or neglected and are in the care of the Maine Department of Human Services. The program is designed to allow for healing and growth while nurturing attachments with others, including animals. It will be a long-term home for the children, who will spend their days feeding and grooming cows, goats and sheep, collecting eggs, exercising animals and tending a garden as well as attending school and counseling sessions.

"These kids need a stable, caring place to live, not a temporary foster home or multiple placements," said Rochat, 31, a licensed clinical social worker and resident of Portland who worked for Sweetser Children's Services before embarking on her dream to provide a farm for children in need. "It's important to give them a place they can call home. And I think working with farm animals and planting and harvesting a garden will help them feel more committed to their placement at Turning Point Farm."

This year, the farm is the chosen beneficiary of the annual Peoples Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race to be held on Saturday, Aug. 5. The world-class race features 4,000 runners and more than 6,000 spectators who line the scenic course along Maine's rocky coast in Cape Elizabeth.

"We chose the farm because it's a great cause, and it's founder, Nancy Rochat, clearly shows vision, compassion and the ability to provide a solid, stable environment for these kids in need," said David J. Ott, president and chairman of Peoples Heritage Bank, a Maine-based bank with 75 branches throughout the state..

Each year, the bank, as part of its nationally recognized Peoples Promise: Shining the Light for Maine Youth program, chooses one youth organization to receive $30,000 in proceeds from the Peoples Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race. Last year, Camp Sunshine was the race beneficiary.

"The Peoples Promise program is our way of giving back to the youth of Maine. And we're very excited about Turning Point Farm," said Ott. "It will improve the lives of these six kids and for that we are grateful to be a part of it."

For additional information or entry forms for this summer's race, persons may call (888)480-6940 or log on to the Peoples Heritage Bank website at www.peoplesheritage.com.

Turning Point Farm also received funding from DHS, HUD and from a variety of other private and public sources, including individual contributions and those from foundations such as the Libra Foundation. Community Housing of Maine (CHOM), a partner of Turning Point Farm, is serving as the developer, owner and manager of the site.

Rochat modeled Turning Point Farm after the Green Chimneys Children's Services in Brewster, New York, where she worked as the farm science teacher and barn manager in the early 1990s. There, she developed the farm science program for the kids and also managed more than 150 farm animals for what's called "animal-assisted therapy." A 1990 graduate of Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, Rochat received her master's in social work from Simmons College in 1995 and is originally from Chelsea, Vermont.

"It's amazing to see how children connect with animals," said Rochat. "The long-term home setting gives them stability, and the animals and farm chores teach them patience, caring and responsibility. Animals love unconditionally and accept these kids regardless of their broken family or their learning disability. It's a concept that really works for the kids."

The children also will become involved in community activities, such as recreation athletic teams and other youth groups. The farm will be staffed around the clock, and Rochat will serve as the director.

The farm is due to open in late May or early June and an opening celebration will be held in June. According to Rochat, there are more than 3,000 children in state custody at present, 30 percent of whom are between the ages of six and 11. Of those children, more than half of them qualify for a place like Turning Point Farm, which will house six children. Opportunity Home for Boys, also located in New Gloucester, is another farm which serves Maine kids in need. But Rochat says she wishes there were more.

"There's a real need in Maine for stable homes like this," Rochat said. "There are more than 100 Maine youth living out of our state borders for lack of an appropriate placement in Maine. It would be great to bring them all home."

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