Founder Statement
Hi, I’m Lucie,
clinical ethicist turned Flower Farmer & care farm founder. PASSIONate about CONNECTING WITH PEOPLE, ACCOMPANYING THEM THROUGH CHALLENGING SITUATIONS, AND HONOURING THEIR UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCES AND CAPACITIES.
I’m also the younger sibling to a brother with an intellectual disability.
From childhood, I’ve moved between worlds where my brother was fiercely loved and an integral part of a close knit community, to those where he was pitied and undervalued or our family was viewed as a mistake. Bearing witness to this treatment was painful; and yet, it was a gift. I held the secret of his beauty, and witnessed the grace with which he refused to be cut down by others’ words. He taught me to find the sweet side of bitterness and I understood that while others may mistreat him, he would pull the best from them and refuse to be slowed down.
But I knew he deserved better. And I knew society needed to do better.
I vowed to be part of the solution to the systemic discrimination individuals with disabilities and disabled families face.
I hope you will join me, xx
Our Muse
Hi, I’m Harris,
Harris is Chief brother, WHEELBARROW handler, filler of water pails, WIELDER of joy.
Harris, or Uncle Harpo as he prefers to be known, is uncle to my three beautiful babies, a gold-medal winning Butterfly swimmer (at the provincial Special Olympics no less), an unwavering supporter of the Toronto Maple Leafs (I know...!!), and he lives with an intellectual disability, Fragile-X Syndrome.
Harris’s graduation from high school, where he had an innate sense of belonging and full, active, meaningful days— he knew everyone in that school and they knew him— to navigating life as an adult, brought an unexpected and rarely understood form of grief to our family. The rest of us graduates went off to University and careers and Harris clung to every underpaid (or unpaid) job and subsidized social activity that would get him out of the house and back into the world, surrounded by the interesting, dynamic people he was used to spending his days with.
These work environments and day programs are few and far between, and his world continues to be restricted by negative assumptions about the ability and worth of people with intellectual disabilities. Everyone in our community deserves the opportunity to contribute; to be seen and known as a valuable and valued member of the community.
Together, Harris and I are working to create the kind of environment at Posy that we always hoped would become available for him. While he lives full-time in Ontario with our parents, you better believe he will be making regular visits to the farm to make sure I’m not slacking off! If you see him, say “Hi", he will love to hear all about your life and he will never forget your face, your name, what truck you drive, or what hockey team you support. He may even forgive you if your a Habs fan.
Maybe.
