On our farm, good cheese begins with good people.
Alongside the herd, the dairy and the ageing cellar, our farm is also a home for healing and rehabilitation. We run two centres, and each offers a different way of finding your way back to yourself.
“We have the privilege of being part of the healing of remarkable people, each of whom lost their peace of mind on their own journey – whether along the path of life, or in military service, when they risked their lives and souls for their country.”
The Rehabilitation Centre – meaningful work
The Rehabilitation Centre operates in partnership with the Ministry of Health, for people living with mental health challenges. Here they are not “programme participants” – they are real farm workers and full partners in every part of the farm: they make cheese with us, run the farm shop, take the herd out to pasture and work in the vegetable garden. Each person moves forward at their own pace, with close and caring support, and rediscovers their own strengths.
When you taste a GVINAGE cheese, there’s a good chance they were part of it too.
The Resilience Centre – a place to breathe
The Resilience Centre operates in partnership with the Ministry of Defence, for those who served their country and carried home what they saw and lived through. There are no tasks and no pressure here – just quiet, nature and space to reconnect. Participants take part in workshops and therapies: yoga, restorative therapy alongside our goats, writing workshops, healing and empowerment, and more.
And much more good: the “Shavim” programme
Beyond the two centres, our farm is one of the places that host “Shavim”, a programme of the Aviram Family Foundation. It is open to reservists and to those recently discharged from regular service, and gives them one day a week that is entirely their own.
Over eight weekly sessions, a small group of people who understand one another comes to the farm. Each session combines group conversation and processing, care for body and mind, and hands-on work in the soil and on the farm. Among the goats, the garden and the quiet, new bonds form, tools for returning to routine are gained, and little by little, people breathe again.
Participation is free. Details and registration: the Shavim programme website
“Step by step we see them opening back up to the world, and the smile returns. With some of them a personal bond forms, and it is simply amazing.”