Phelps Sprinkle’s 22-year-old daughter has intellectual disabilities. He said he has seen through her eyes how tough it is to find belonging.
Sprinkle is the CEO of Peacehaven Community Farm, an 89-acre farm in Whitsett, North Carolina, that provides community housing, programs and an environment for adults living with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as a place for adults of all abilities to work and learn together.
“Society is really having it set up for this group of folks and their families, and so we’re trying to create change on what that looks like,” Sprinkle said.
Community isn’t only in the title of the farm, but it shows through the people who engage themselves in the programs and make it bigger every year.
“For about three and a half years now, that’s what we’ve been trying to do, is figure out, ‘How do we take this amazing thing that we have here and grow it and scale it and help more people here and see what we’re doing?’” Sprinkle said.
Peacehaven is set to grow with the addition of a new 20,000-square-foot community center on its current property.
Sprinkle said the center will have everything, including co-working spaces, event space, adaptive fitness space, classrooms, art rooms, sensory rooms and even a café with food that will be prepared and served by people of all abilities.
“That is important to do because we do not want Peacehaven to be thought of as a place where just people with intellectual disabilities live and play,” Sprinkle said. “We want to be a place where people of all abilities do.”
After the community center is built, the farm will add residential housing for around 150 to 200 people, those with disabilities and those without, right on the farm. Sprinkle said a project like this does not exist in North Carolina.
“We believe that if we can do that, then we can build a model that can be replicated, and you can see a lot more of these types of places popping up in the future,” Sprinkle said.
The funding for the center comes from 75 public and private sources, who have contributed at different levels, according to Sprinkle.
Currently, the farm has residential housing for “core members,” such as resident Jeff Piegari. Core members are permanent residents of Susan’s View, the name of the house, dedicated to Peacehaven’s founder, Susan Elliot.
Piegari has been a Peacehaven resident for 10 years and said he is excited for the new community center, where he hopes he can produce his own news show — with happy stories.
“I want to keep it positive and family friendly, for all ages,” Piegari said.
Piegari said he is looking forward to all the opportunities the new center has to offer.
“This will be open for all abilities, no matter who you are, no matter what your talent is,” Piegari said. “There would be an opportunity for you to face your fear of trying to do something or teach you how to play ukulele, which I play.”
Director of Programs at Peacehaven Dana Roseboro oversees the fiber arts and Rise and Shine program. Rise and Shine is a job-preparation program for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She said the community center will bring endless opportunities for both the creative and career sides of her job.
“I can take not just the job skills I’m teaching here, which are transferable out to the community at large, but be able to actually make it where people can become employed right here in this space,” Roseboro said.
Roseboro said the center will seek to expand partnerships with other organizations, such as the one they have with the North Carolina Museum of Art.
“I hope that once this community center is built, that everybody will come out and find that belonging that we’re all seeking,” Roseboro said.
Sprinkle said the community center plans to receive its temporary certificate of occupancy by March or April 2027, which will allow for full operation.