2024 Annual Newsletter

Featured Story: Betty’s Barn Provides Home to Rescue Animals, Newfound Purpose for Participants

On a cold day in late December, the community at Betty’s Farm, Bittersweet’s Lima location, gathered to break ground for a dream to become reality: an animal barn! The story began long before with a bold vision, rooted in Bittersweet’s farmstead model. Betty’s Farm would provide a safe home for local rescue farm animals, in turn providing therapeutic animal care opportunities for individuals with autism at Betty’s Farm.

Thanks to the generous support of individual donors and local foundations, Betty’s Barn came to life over the winter months. Through the spring, members of the Bittersweet Team from both Lima and Whitehouse collaborated to prepare the new space to home rescue animals.

This summer, with the help of Farley's Farm Sanctuary, the first residents of Betty's Barn moved in: a rooster, two hens, and two rabbits! The participants voted to select names for their new friends: “Rocky” the rooster, “Sarah” and “Savannah” the hens, and “Princess” and “Cinnamon” the rabbits.

Jerry Hunt, Day Program Manager at Betty’s Farm, reflected on the positive impact the animals have had on the participants lives already: “It’s amazing to see these animals changing our lives in such a short time. It’s night and day! The participants love to take care of them and check on them throughout the day. They talk about them all the time.”

Looking to the future, Betty’s Farm plans to expand their animal care programming and provide a home for even more rescue animals. Next on the participants’ wish list? In true Bittersweet fashion-- goats!

To read more stories like this from all three Bittersweet locations, click here or click the “Download Full Newsletter” button above.