VOLUNTEER

Mature and caring individuals interested in living in a therapeutic community are encouraged to apply. Because Gould Farm values the strength of its community, we ask that volunteers commit to a year’s service. We provide our year long volunteers with:

​

• Room and board

• Health insurance

• Monthly living stipend

A few short-term internships are also available throughout the year on a limited basis.

I found out about Gould Farm because I joined Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) after college. BVS has over one hundred projects, and when I was looking through their booklet, Gould Farm jumped out at me immediately. I was drawn to the Farm because I could tell the organization valued community living, creation care, and mental health recovery– all things I am passionate about.

I grew up in the agricultural world of Pennsylvania and developed a passion for it. I wanted to gain experience in a work-based therapy program and found out about Gould Farm through my Mom’s co-worker. I was drawn to the Farm because of my agricultural background and wanted to learn more about the human service side of things. I also wanted to take a year to explore whether college and a career in social work might be for me, as opposed to jumping right into college with no hands-on experience.

I first heard about Gould Farm from a close friend who volunteered there several years ago. After a writing fellowship at the Austen Riggs Center researching psychosis, I was looking for a way to stay in western Massachusetts and engage directly with folks struggling with psychosis (not just with clinicians). I was also looking for a chance to do physical labor in the beauty of the Berkshires. Gould Farm seemed to meet all of those desires.

After I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, I was looking to spend a year in service before pursuing further education. An alumnus from my college referred me to his friend who volunteered at Gould Farm’s Boston Area Program, Fellside, about 25 years ago. I was aware of my affinity towards close-knit communities. After being able to speak with people, such as staff and former Resident Advisors, Fellside seemed like the best next step for me.

We found out about the Farm 20 years ago. The executive director of Gould Farm back then, Brian Snyder, came to be our executive director at the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA). We were lifetime members of PASA and grew within that organization to be educators and business advocates and eventually board members, and found out about the Farm from Brian.

I learned about the Farm in a very cool and happenstance way. In my senior year of college, I was at a networking event with alums. I met a staff psychologist, Amy Taylor, from Austen Riggs Center. She told me about The American Residential Treatment Association (ARTA). I was considering getting into mental health at the time, so I went on the ARTA website and looked at all the different programs.

In my final year of a later-life Master of Divinity degree program, I needed to find a place to do substantial volunteering in order to fulfill a fieldwork requirement. I learned of Gould Farm through a current staff member, who happened to be a former student of mine in my dim-distant high school music teacher days. The Gould community environment appealed to me, as well as its grounded approach to mental health challenges. I did not know how literally I would be doing “field work” in my time there!

Pictured here are several of our current staff members who came to the Farm as volunteers and now work in every area of the Farm: from maintenance to clinical team and from administrative roles to work program leadership. Volunteers who stay on as staff bring a deep commitment to our mission and a love for the work and life on the Farm that took root in their first year as volunteers.

Join Our Volunteer Team