ELGIN, Texas —
A farm connected to a unique addiction rehabilitation facility KVUE first reported on a year ago is growing.
Ranch House Recovery offers people in treatment a chance to work on its farm, Simple Promise Farms, while working on themselves.
The farm has nearly doubled in acres since KVUE’s report in 2022. Staff say that's important because what they grow there, they sell and the money raised goes right back to people seeking treatment.
"We have this brand-new high tunnel greenhouse that we are currently planting our first crops," Farm Staff Manager Kevin Sease said. "Then back in the back, we've got four very large 50-by-100s that are new as of this time last year."
Sease said the growth allows the farm to sell more produce and reach more people.
"We are a nonprofit and what we do is we go to these markets, being our main source of revenue. So, more markets, more revenue. And then what we do with the profits is we create this scholarship fund for men and women who are seeking sober living," Sease said.
People like him.
"I came into the Ranch House in September 2021. And, suffice it to say, I'm a drug addict and alcoholic," he said.
He volunteered on the farm while getting treatment at the ranch. Now, he's back in their Meaningful Work Program as an employee.
"I'm one of very many at this farm that has also been through the program," Sease said. "So yeah, by growing it, [that] allows us to do more, generate more revenue, use that to help as many people as we can."
"Anywhere you look, [it's] all about like, cultivating a seed, nurturing water and giving it what it needs," Sease added. "It's like, the same thing can be said about recovery."
Nevada Barnett, the organization's farmers market associate, said it's important to stay connected to a support system even after leaving treatment.
"The Meaningful Work Program really helped to rebuild my self-esteem. You know, once I got out of treatment, I was back into that everyday stresses of life, and the ranch provided me a safe haven," Barnett said. "Staying busy and having a sense of purpose, giving back to the community – it's priceless."
Unlike traditional treatment centers, Ranch House Recovery is non-licensed, so there is no black-out period where graduated clients aren't allowed to come back to work at the facility. The Meaningful Work Program allows them to come back immediately if they want.
"I think a lot of what drug addicts and alcoholics find is that, sure, they go through treatment, they get the tools they need to kind of move forward. But what they're missing is a community that will support them," Sease said.
Working on the farm allows them to not only grow produce but continue to grow their community.
"We go to farmers markets, of course, to sell our vegetables, but that is really, that's only half of why we're out there. The other half being to talk about addiction and recovery in a setting most people wouldn't normally discuss that," Sease said.
While it is intentionally non-licensed, the Ranch House Treatment Facility is still able to provide clinical care from outside providers. Being non-licensed allows its clients to continue seeing their same therapist even after they graduate from in-patient care, instead of having to find a new one like they would with most traditional treatment centers.