Hello, everyone! My name is Zahra Bakrin, and while I have been working with Healing by Growing Farms for about a year, the power of this small farm continues to amaze me. The love of our founder, Dr. Ivette Ruiz, is bottomless and, more importantly, eternally active. Despite structural and financial struggles, she invites all to heal and eat at no cost. Please consider making a donation so our community may continue to enjoy the fruits of this space, grown with care, commitment, and remarkable strength.

Healing by Growing Farms (HBG) is a beautiful, fully accessible suburban farm in East Haven, providing green therapy to people with disabilities and trauma survivors. We also donate organic fruits, vegetables, medicinal herbs, and eggs to community members who can’t access food pantries due to illness, disability, lack of financial support, or need for other resources, like transportation. One of our neighbors called the farm “a sanctuary… a healing, loving space!”

The farm operates a small greenhouse where patients are able to nurture small crops, greens, and tropical plants like citrus, dragonfruit, banana, and avocado year-round.

Unfortunately, the electricity supply in the greenhouse no longer works after numerous attempts to repair it, putting thousands of dollars' worth of plants at risk of dying this fall.

Healing by Growing Farms is in urgent need of a cost-effective heating system to protect our guests’ healing process and continue providing fresh food to our neighbors. We would love to purchase a small, grid-tiered solar power system to further our commitment to green energy usage and environmental justice.

Installing a solar power system in our greenhouse will allow us to promote sustainable agriculture, save water, conserve our planet’s finite resources, and fight climate change. We’ll be able to drastically cut the greenhouse's reliance on power from fossil fuel-based grids, reducing air pollution and lowering the overall carbon footprint of food production.

The solar energy system will grant us energy independence, protecting the farm from utility blackouts and volatile energy price changes. This consistent, reliable power ensures essential functions like heating, ventilation, lighting, and irrigation will run smoothly, which is critical for optimal crop growth, crop yield, and the food security of our community.

Over the long term, these systems save us money by drastically reducing or eliminating high electricity bills, making the shift to solar a beneficial choice for both the planet and the farm’s social mission of providing NO-COST services to our clients.

Recent budget cuts from the federal government have left HBG without the USDA funding we’ve relied on. We provide our services free of charge, so we are currently unable to protect our plants. Any contribution would mean the world to us! Just a few dollars will bring us closer to saving our plants and helping our patients remain engaged throughout the season, supporting their healing process.

Thank you very much for your time and interest in our work! Wherever you are, have a wonderful rest of your day.