A Farm with a Purpose Family overcomes obstacles to set up a farm to help neglected and abused children By Matthew Liptak
“E
verybody fits in somewhere.” Sandra Seabrook spoke about one of her horses as she walked across a muddy paddock, but she could have been talking about the children she seeks to serve in Central New York. Purpose Farm is the labor of love she and her family created to offer respite to neglected and abused children. The Baldwinsville farm is technically not even a nonprofit yet—they’re waiting on the paperwork from Albany—but it is already offering 90-minute sessions for children to come out and ride for free or interact with the animals. It has had less than a handful of kids come so far, but reviews have been positive. The first child to go there to work with the horses was a 15-years-old. “He really, really loved it and it was freezing that day,” Seabrook said. “It was the first snow that we had. He was so excited. Even just walking up to the horses he opened up and he started talking. He’s in a group home so he’s having a real hard time adjusting with that. Just coming here is his release and his outlet. He was like ‘When can I come back?’ So he’s on a weekly basis now.” The genesis of the farm is rooted
Sandra Seabrook, cofounder of Purpose Farm in Baldwinsville, takes a moment to visit with Duke, a big Belgian horse who can be found on the farm. in a local tragedy as well as inspiration from God, Seabrook said. The bornagain Christian family had taken a trip to orphanages in Romania in 2008 to help take care of the children there. On the way they passed a horse farm. San-
dra mused that it would be nice if the kids from the orphanages could go to the farm since they didn’t have much outside interaction. Such ideas were frowned upon in Romania though. The children were stuck in remote rural
No long-term contract No hidden costs No equipment to buy
Page 12
•
IN GOOD HEALTH – CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper • February 2014
areas to keep them out of the way. Back in Palermo in Oswego County in 2008, neglected 11-year-old girl Erin Maxwell was murdered by her step brother Allan Jones. Seabrook heard the news over the radio and, like much of the rest of the Central New York community, was shocked by it. “I heard it on the radio and I just started crying,” she said. “I cried out to God. I said ‘You know what can I do?’ He said ‘You can do your horse farm idea here.’ That’s how it happened.” Easier said than done. The Seabrooks sacrificed for the act of faith. And they were tested, Seabrook said. Sandra and her husband Howard managed to find the property that would become Purpose Farm without much help. There wasn’t even a for sale sign out in front of the place at 1454 W. Genesee Road. The real estate agent told them that the house that came with the property was just 800 square feet but it was actually a five-bedroom home — enough for their four kids who live with them. But neither the house nor the barn were in usable condition. They worked for a year renovating the home and the barn. Howard Seabrook, who owns Mohawk Plumbing in E. Syracuse, did the lion’s share of the work with the
$0