Last September, a group of kids came with their families to the Red Wiggler farm in Clarksburg, MD. Since June and until the end of the growing season in November, they have been receiving food shares from the farm through a partnership with a local food bank as part of a farm-to-school program. This trip was a special treat for everyone in their family, from toddlers to grandparents, to see where their food comes from. As soon as they arrived, a worker welcomed them into the field. They explored together and picked their own cilantro and flowers to take home. Then they sat for hours having lunch together, trying different veggies grown on the farm.

For many of these kids and their families, this visit will be the start of a long-term relationship with the farm. That is intentional, says Kara McCall, the farm’s executive director. “Some will come back to volunteer throughout the year as part of their student service learning hours. Families will come back for different events and celebrations. But they all build a connection to this place because they see us as part of their community,” she says.

Red Wiggler is a care farm, a model that uses regular farming activities—like planting, harvesting, and looking after animals—to help people feel healthier, happier, and more connected.

The farm was started in 1996 by Woody Woodroof, a photographer who had worked in group homes for folks with developmental disabilities. There, he saw a need to create spaces where these folks could connect, get better food, and find meaningful jobs. He started by creating a few community gardens at group homes and a composting service. As the need grew, he started the farm to provide full-time employment with fair wages for these folks. Today, the farm employs 17 folks with developmental disabilities.

“Most people have someone in their lives that they know that if they are given the right opportunity, they would thrive,” McCall says. “In the farm, they see and build relationships with folks with disabilities that are in leadership roles, doing meaningful work growing food, and being an active part of the community, not hidden away.”

Red Wiggler is intentional in creating spaces for neighbors to connect with each other in the farm. Aside from their farm-to-school program, they also run other programs that distribute food to local food pantries and invite them to come to the farm to visit. They also run a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program that is farm pick-up only. “Many CSAs have shifted to a delivery or pick up at a farmers market model, but we stuck to asking folks to come to the farm because when people come every week, connect, and build relationships with one another and the staff, it builds community.”

McCall says that they have a very high retention rate on their CSA, with some folks having stayed for 29 years since the founding of the farm because they develop deep relationships with neighbors they wouldn’t otherwise have. “Last week, one of the CSA assistants was sick. One of our CSA customers came up and asked, ‘Where is Kim?’ She wanted to let her know that at the thrift store they have a huge selection of stuffed animals because she knows she loves them. I don’t think that these two folks would’ve known each other otherwise, but now they have a friendship,” says McCall.

McCall says that even the name of the farm, Red Wiggler, speaks to their ultimate goal of fostering connection and trust. “The Red Wiggler is a type of worm that is the unsung hero of composting,” she says. “They take all these components that are unseen and transform them into nutrients. They make the airways that make the compost thrive. And that is what we are doing here. We are constantly asking ourselves, what do we need to shift to make sure everyone who walks in here feels like they belong?”

You can learn more about Red Wiggler on their website. You can also hear from one of their growers here.

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This November, Andrea Barnhart, Co-Director of Care Farming Network (CFN) and Melissa McLearen, On-Farm Programs Director at Red Wiggler Care Farm were honored to present at Kennedy Krieger’s Neurodiversity at Work 2025 Tapping Into Talent: Innovation and Opportunity Conference. Their session, “Cultivating Workforce Inclusion: Advancing Care Farming in the United States,” spotlighted how care farming is transforming the landscape of inclusive employment across the country.

What Is Care Farming?

Care farming is an innovative approach that combines therapeutic and inclusive employment practices within working farms. By offering meaningful, hands-on work in agricultural settings, care farms create opportunities for people of all abilities—including individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), veterans, and others who often face barriers to employment.

Building a National Movement

The presentation highlighted how Care Farming Network is leading a national effort to strengthen and scale inclusive farming. Through collaboration, resource-sharing, and research, CFN is building the infrastructure needed to support care farms across the U.S.

Real-World Impact

Drawing from Red Wiggler Care Farm’s nearly three decades of experience in inclusive employment, Melissa shared practical strategies for recruitment, training, and retention that cultivate belonging, dignity, and purpose in agricultural workplaces.

Expanding Opportunities through Research and Mentorship

As part of its USDA SARE-funded project, CFN is deepening understanding of what makes inclusive employment thrive on farms. This initiative includes:

• Two research studies identifying best practices in inclusive farm employment.
• A regional network connecting care farmers across the Northeast.
• A mentorship program supporting aspiring care farmers as they start up new operations.

A Growing Vision for Workforce Inclusion

Together, CFN and Red Wiggler are showing how farms can be more than places that grow food—they can be powerful models for growing inclusion. By creating meaningful work opportunities in supportive, community-centered environments, care farms are advancing a more equitable and sustainable workforce for all.

Learn more about the 2025 Tapping Into Talent: Innovation and Opportunity Conference and the full agenda at Kennedy Krieger Institute’s website

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“Red Wiggler Care Farm, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit here in Montgomery County, was founded in 1996 to create an inclusive community where all people can come together to work, learn, and grow. Our name, “Red Wiggler,” pays tribute to the hardworking worms that enrich the soil—just as we cultivate opportunities for growth and success for everyone in our community. 

In 2024, we updated our name from Red Wiggler Community Farm to Red Wiggler Care Farm to reflect our commitment to the Care Farming movement, which uses therapeutic farming to foster health, well-being, and belonging. Through meaningful employment, sustainable agriculture, and education, we nourish our community with fresh, healthy food. 

Red Wiggler’s programs fall into three pillars: Work, Learn, and Grow. 

WORK: Red Wiggler’s Grower Program employs adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Growers are involved in all aspects of farming and distribution, including planting, harvesting, field and facilities maintenance, tool usage, and greenhouse management. We also run a seasonal apprentice program that provides opportunities for aspiring care farmers to learn through hands-on work experience. 

LEARN: Education is at the core of all programming at Red Wiggler. Red Wiggler hosts youth and adults with and without developmental disabilities for tours, field trips, workshops, and consultations for farm-based educational and volunteer experiences. A few years ago, we also founded the Care Farming Network to raise awareness about care farming, build community, and increase the capacity of care farms. Through virtual and in-person gatherings, mentorship, consultations, and an annual conference, the CFN supports the 300 care farms within its growing national network. 

GROW: Our traditional CSA customers receive weekly shares of certified organic produce, as well as newsletters and recipes that promote healthy eating and environmental stewardship. Through our Farm to Food Bank and Farm to Group Home programs 50% of our total vegetable yield is distributed to people in our community who have limited access to fresh produce.” 

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As you leave the two-lane highway to enter the graveled road that leads to the 12-acre Red Wiggler farm, an eastern towhee darts across your path and the wilderness opens on your left.

Then the large red barn comes into view.

To your right lies the heartbeat of the farm, the multipurpose building where the fresh vegetables are stacked and washed. On the second floor of the building, the six-person staff works in an open-plan office space that overlooks the cultivated USDA-certified organic vegetables, herbs and flowers that thrive in this corner of Montgomery County, Maryland.

Beyond the multipurpose building, the farm’s executive director and founder Woody Woodroof maintains a solar-operated house.

Red Wiggler is an example of community-supported agriculture or CSA—a farm supported by people in the local community who buy prepaid shares in the farm’s harvest and then receive a portion of that harvest throughout the growing season.

But Red Wiggler is much more.

Read More…

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