海角大神

To say Caroline Croft Estay is as bright and sparkly as the hot pink glitter polish she wears on her fingernails would be, at the very least, apt. The co-founder of Vertical Harvest in Jackson, Wyoming, sits in the break room of the greenhouse, where employees come and go, many stopping by to say hi, to give her updates, or simply to smother her in hugs.

鈥淪he鈥檚 just an inspiration,鈥� says employee Destiny Kennington. 鈥淪he鈥檚 smart, bubbly, kind, and really understanding of everyone and everyone鈥檚 personal needs.鈥�

Ms. Croft Estay is also chief potential officer for the three-story farm that produces聽about 100,000 pounds of lettuce, microgreens, and tomatoes annually. That鈥檚 a big deal for this ski town, where the growing season is four months at best. Equally important, about 40% of the greenhouse鈥檚 employees are people with disabilities.

Disabled people often have a hard time finding meaningful work, and the purpose and community that come with it. Vertical Harvest provides that, with a unique employment model that recognizes certain traits as talent, and nurtures personal and professional growth by treating every individual with dignity.

The Grow Well model聽

The unemployment rate for people with disabilities in Wyoming is 9.7%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau鈥檚 2020 five-year estimate. That鈥檚 lower than the 11.4% national average 鈥� which is about twice that of people without a disability.

Founded in 2016, Vertical Harvest was built to address this disparity, and its success is in part due to Ms. Croft Estay鈥檚 work in creating the Grow Well model of employment. Designed to foster employees鈥� professional development, personal discovery, and community impact, Grow Well uses customized employment plans that take into account individuals鈥� strengths, attributes, and aspirations.

Getting to know Johnny Fifles, who has autism, Ms. Croft Estay recognized his extraordinary attention to detail and ability to hyperfocus. As such, Mr. Fifles excels at seeding microgreens on cellulose mats in a single layer. 鈥淣o more, no less,鈥� he says.

This framework conveys dignity to every job. Workers thrive and get promoted.聽

鈥淚f I get a promotion, it鈥檚 telling me that I鈥檓 doing a good job and maybe in a few years, I鈥檒l get another promotion or raise,鈥� says Sean Stone, an original Vertical Harvest employee who鈥檚 risen to become a senior facilities associate. Previous jobs didn鈥檛 give him that same opportunity 鈥� or reason to hope. 鈥淚f I鈥檇 be a dishwasher for four years, I may never get promoted,鈥� he says. 聽

鈥淢ama bear鈥澛�

Brought up in the South, Ms. Croft Estay studied psychology and education at the University of South Carolina, then fell in love with the Mountain West after a summer working in Yellowstone National Park. Losing her mother as a young child, and becoming a mother in her early 20s, likely cultivated her 鈥渕ama bear鈥� instincts, she says. 鈥淚鈥檝e always looked out for the underdog. I think it鈥檚 just making sure that my cubs, everybody鈥檚 good.鈥�

Ms. Croft Estay became a state-certified聽Medicaid provider, working one-on-one with disabled people. It was so difficult finding them employment that she considered creating a compost pickup program to provide them jobs. Local connections led her to Nona Yehia, an architect who was already working on an indoor farming project. The women teamed up to co-found Vertical Harvest, which is now expanding.聽

The company recently broke ground on a 70,000-square-foot building in Westbrook, Maine, that is expected to grow 2 million pounds of produce annually. And there are plans for additional facilities across the country, each one guided by the Grow Well model to cultivate dignity in underserved communities through inclusion and accessibility.

But getting here wasn鈥檛 easy. The company鈥檚 first year was challenging, says Ms. Croft Estay, who experienced her own growth then, too. She realized she鈥檇 been overprotecting some of her employees, sometimes speaking for or limiting them. 鈥淎s a case manager here, I think I鈥檓 so progressive. I鈥檓 such an advocate,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t took this greenhouse to expose where I still had judgments or barriers or reservations.鈥�

As if on cue, Ms. Croft Estay notices 40-year-old Mycah Miller, who has Down syndrome, and tells her to avoid picking at a small wound on her shoulder. 鈥淚鈥檓 watching you. I鈥檓 mothering you,鈥� says Ms. Croft Estay, offering to put a bandage on it.聽

Business is social

Grow Well goes beyond the workplace. Vertical Harvest fields a team in Jackson鈥檚 kickball league where 95% of employees participate. They also sell produce at farmers markets; lobby and march together to advocate for diversity, inclusion, and social justice; and have monthly 鈥渉appiest hours鈥� 鈥� an evening out on the town. People with disabilities are often lonely, Ms. Croft Estay notes, and these activities bring dignity to their personal lives.聽

Jessie Phillips-Grannis coordinates employment for people with disabilities for Community Entry Services in Jackson. She鈥檚 had several clients work at Vertical Harvest and calls the company鈥檚 approach effective and life-changing. One of her clients just started there.

鈥淚 am already seeing it being more empowering to him than other places he鈥檚 worked,鈥� she says. 鈥淗e feels he鈥檚 part of something that matters and that鈥檚 important and huge and something he isn鈥檛 going to find if he was working someplace else.鈥�

Anna Olson, president of the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce, says Grow Well鈥檚 unique model showcases the potential for people of all abilities working together.

鈥淐aroline ... really understands and believes [people with disabilities] have equal rights and equal ability to contribute in our community,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd we need to open our minds to that.鈥�

鈥淭hey are driving the future of what, hopefully, employing people with disabilities looks like,鈥� says Ms. Phillips-Grannis.

Often, institutional structures and rules 鈥渞emove the human side of the human,鈥� Ms. Croft Estay says. But in the day-to-day grind of producing thousands of pounds of food, dignity supplants stereotypes.

鈥淏ecause we are sitting here sweating, working side by side getting product out the door ... all those barriers and all those stigmas, they go away. ... We don鈥檛 do helplessness. ... We鈥檙e a family. We鈥檙e a system.鈥澛�