Briah Cahana
I came out from this past summer’s Landmark experience with high enthusiasm and meaningful insights about the wonderful resources in this world to help others. I am thrilled to have chosen to spend my two weeks of volunteering at Gould Farm, so much so that I continue a correspondence with several of the residents.

In order for any farm to function properly (and for everyone to have a meal at the end of the day) there needs to be an implemented structure, in which everyone has a role and is able to contribute. Gould Farm has that. Each individual is needed and feels needed for the day’s work to be accomplished. As a result, anyone who comes to the farm to contribute is automatically and lovingly received and rapidly feels at home in the warm and productive atmosphere.

During the two weeks, I was exposed to many different aspects and techniques of farm-life such as mulching, weeding, hay-stacking, and culinary preparations. I was particularly impressed by the profoundly respectful and unique characteristics and culture of Gould Farm herself and completely enriched by the talented and loving people that either work there or are living there, including a nonagenarian, who has been in residence at Gould Farm for over seven decades.

The open, gentle, warm and generously spirited community is what creates and defines this establishment and what lends it to be an effective therapeutic treatment facility. The farm’s treatment is unique because of its humane philosophy. In my opinion, what was so special about the farm, in terms of it being a place for therapeutic treatment, was that in the process of working, no one was able to tell if you were a staff member, a volunteer or a guest. This created a trusting and non-judgmental environment that was so pure and cleansing to live in. We were all there to help each other, and do something productive for the whole of the community.

I met wonderful teachers and incredible souls at Gould Farm and tried to soak in as much as possible, because I knew that I was involved in an extraordinary community; a community that has continued to thrive since its inauguration a century ago, by an avant-garde Gould couple. I hope that anyone who’d have the privilege and honor of going to volunteer there, as I did, would be tremendously appreciative of the continuously growing extended Gould Farm family and would be reverential to it.

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