This Fort Worth farm gives people with special needs a place to contribute and find purpose

From Neanderthal man to the Pet Rock, a stone, in the right hands, can be quite good.

Take, for example, Jack and Trish Stone, owners of Stone’s Throw Farm Company just outside of Fort Worth. They have dedicated themselves to making life better for folks with special needs and physical challenges by providing them with gainful employment on the farm.

“From the very beginning, we always wanted a philanthropic spin on our small farm business,” Jack said.

The Stones are a blended family with three sons: Nate, 19, and a freshman at Texas Tech, Jackson, 17, and Cru, 14. Jackson is autistic, and Cru has cystic fibrosis and type 1 diabetes.

Thanks to the farm, Jack and Trish saw an opportunity for not only their own children, but others with special needs to have some semblance of independence.

“In the event any of our sons find it difficult to gain employment some day, we know they will have a place on our farm, a place to contribute and find purpose,” Jack said. “If we can create this place of belonging and purpose for our own sons, maybe we can create opportunities for others like them.”

Belinda Baker’s son Randall works at Stone’s Throw. She said the experience has been nothing short of great for him.

“Unfortunately, there are not a lot of opportunities for the special needs community in the workplace. Working at Stone’s Throw Farm, Randall is able to be himself and work at his pace while learning how to take direction, and then independently do the task that is asked of him,” she said. “It makes me feel good knowing I am leaving Randall with people that want the same for him and the other interns working there.

“Stone’s Throw Farm is doing wonderful things for the special needs community, and I am so grateful that Randall is part of such a wonderful mission.”

Stone’s Throw Farm officially became a nonprofit organization in July of 2020. However, they were helping folks well before that.

A focus on work opportunities

In the beginning, the mission of Stone’s Throw was to provide free food to special needs families. Jack said they transitioned to focus on work opportunities in 2019.

“Work opportunities seemed to be more of a need,” Jack said.

Now the mission is to provide work opportunities for older teens and young adults with special needs and or disabilities. They have 18 interns ages 16 to 48.

A third of the interns earn a wage for their work, while the other two-thirds are volunteers or are working toward earning a wage. Duties include customer service, making change, stocking, inventory, kitchen safety and making pickles and jams.

“The biggest impact, we think, has been a focus on social skills and interacting with others, beyond their familiar circle,” Jack said. “The ability of our interns range widely. For example, we have an intern that can fully complete customer transactions independently, while we have other interns working on how to say hello.”

All of the interns are friends or family of customers or neighbors. When a family finds themselves interested, a meet-and-greet is scheduled with the potential intern and parent or guardian.

“We learn about previous work or school experience, hobbies, interests, and goals. When we have a place available, we try and work with family schedules and what the potential intern might like to try,” Jack said. “Some different possibilities are gardening, kitchen work, customer service, stocking shelves and general shopkeeping or cashiering.

“For many of our interns — which includes our own sons — getting a chance to execute an entry level job is a life goal. Many workplaces are unable or unwilling to take a chance on many of them.

“We have found over the last few years as an employer of the special needs community, that it’s often not as hard as you think. Give someone a chance.”

Matt Vickers was in an automobile accident a few years ago that left him physically challenged. He has been interning at Stones Throw Farm since the middle of July. He calls it one of the most enjoyable environments for a severely disabled individual like himself to incorporate social skills.

“Trish and Jack allow each individual working within the establishment to progress individually within the comfort of their own abilities and never limit what can be accomplished,” he said. “Personally, I have found I am more than willing to step out of my comfort zone and do my best to excel within the environment, only challenging myself to succeed and promote that mutually together we all succeed.”

Stone’s Throw Farm beginnings

The very beginnings of Stone’s Throw Farm happened in a back-yard garden in Coppell several years ago. Soon, Jack and Trish became volunteers at the Coppell Community Garden to learn how to grow the own food. Nate has food allergies, including corn, tree nuts and peanuts.

“That had us change the way we eat and cook. We shifted away from pre-made frozen or boxed food products to fresh produce and meats,” Jack said. “This diet change sparked an interest in simple food, and knowing where it came from.”

Soon, they outgrew the back yard and community garden and started growing on their little lot in southwest Tarrant County. In Spring 2017, a family friend convinced them to bring their extra produce to the Acton Local Market near Granbury.

“We brought with us a couple of coolers full of summer squash and sold out quickly. Six garden rows quickly became 60. Summer cucumbers went crazy, and we started making pickles,” Jack said. “Canning became a handy way to diversify our crop and minimize waste. We then found much success with our lettuces and greens that fall and winter, and the rest is history.”

Rolling farm stand

After the success in Acton came an idea for a rolling farm stand. The Stones send it out to various locations each week, including such communities as Aledo, Benbrook and Acton, along with Fort Worth, of course. For a complete schedule visit stonesthrowfarmco.org/schedule.

“Our rolling farm stand idea came from the need to find a way to offer more and more of our produce to more customers beyond the traditional Saturday morning time slot,” Jack said. “We can also deliver to Fort Worth and surrounding suburbs.”

In January of 2022 they opened a brick-and-mortar store in a beautiful park setting with huge pecan trees, a spring-fed pond and a small old house they converted to a store named Stone’s Throw Texas Grocery. It sits on four acres in the community of Wheatland, known to many as Whiskey Flats, at 9560 Crowley-Plover Road, Fort Worth. Store hours are 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

In the spring of 2023, they began expanding the growing operation to the store property.

“We built 20 raised beds with plans for 20 more this fall,” Jack said.

They are growing tomatoes, okra, melons, black-eyed peas, eggplant and peppers. The fall crops have been started and will include spinach, cilantro, Swiss chard, lettuce, arugula, kale, beets and probably some carrots.

In the store the Stones sell their own produce and produce from small Texas farms just like themselves. Some of these farms are certified organic, but all use sustainable practices. They also offer grass-fed/finished beef and lamb, pasture-raised pork and chicken. They also offer Texas dairy, eggs, dog treats, salsas, breads, honey, pasta, and more.

Sales from the store make a significant contribution to paying the interns and keeping the cause going.

Support for special needs families

The Stones believe special needs families are an under-served and overlooked group in society. And while they realize their support will solve all the challenges these unique families face, as it says on their website, “it might make dinner time or the grocery bill a little easier to stomach.”

And they hope what they do serves as an inspiration for others to also find a way to better serve the community and to realize those with special needs want to have a feeling of belonging.

“We hear that from time to time from customers and families,” Jack said. “It always warms our hearts to think that we could inspire someone else to follow their passion or take a chance on a special needs individual.”