Help Us Build a Shed to House on our Farm!

Hi!

We are the Streets-- Ben Street, Alisha Street, Danny Street, and Amelia Street!

Here's a little history and our farm's story:

In October 2015, Ben Street's little brother passed away suddenly after a long struggle with drug addiction. He left behind a beautiful little girl, Ben's darling niece. This loss rocked his family, and had a profound impact on him. Ben had never lost anyone so close. He and Ben were only 13 months apart; they grew up together. Ben was overwhelmed by a sense of the fragility of the time we have on this earth, and, whether in spite of or in honor of his brother, he decided that if he wanted to follow this dream and become a farmer, then there was no time like the present. So, in early 2016, Ben left his full-time job and made the leap to farm full-time, and have yet to regret it.

Ben started farming at Lomax Incubator farm in 2015. Ben was given the generous and grand opportunity from a local land owner, John Robbins, to farm on his property in 2018. Ben married (now) Alisha Street, founder of The Bulb Mobile Markets, a non-profit that serves food insecure individuals fresh, local food. Alisha and Ben work together along with a hardworking full-time farm crew of 3, (Sean, Lucas, and Ernie) to supply quality, nutrient-dense food to as many persons needing in in the Charlotte area. Ben's goal is to provide the freshest, healthiest food for his family, friends and community, and to inspire others to develop a connection to this planet that sustains their life.

Ben and Alisha now have the opportunity to purchase the land they farm on. This comes with a lot of financial effort, including land loans and house-build loans. Also, unforeseeable costs were rentals while waiting for the house build! In this process, we have to create a new driveway, find a rental, build a new pack shed, turn on the electricity, get septic lines and permits put in place, and complete a house build. Rentals are astronomical-- averaging $2000+ for residential areas that are not ideal for commuting and our family's overall situation (i.e. 2 dogs, 1 cat, etc). With that said, we have finally found a solution! We can purchase pre-fabbed sheds and build a tiny home to live as well as build a new pack shed for cleaning, washing and packing vegetables! Not only can we work on this home for our own temporary housing, but we can offer to house to employees at a low cost and/or create internship programs in the future.

We will be needing to purchase and build a bathroom and pay a contractor to finish the walls and install stove and plumbing units. This route will still be costly, but will save us $1000s! Plus, our family won't have to commute, and we can focus on building out our farm dreams and for the betterment of the community! Hey, just youtube shed to home-- if others can do it, we can!

Thank you for reading thus far! We do not ask for this support lightly-- we plan to work hard for you, supply vegetables to you, and have a mutually beneficial tie to the land that provides us so much. For anyone local, we plan to give a dollar-for-dollar gift card amount to purchase veggies on our farm whenever you please!

Much love,

Ben, Alisha, Danny, Amelia <3