Family Buys 5 Acres for Storage, but Says 'God Had a Different Plan' for Their Son With Down Syndrome

A family buys 5 acres for storage, but says “God had a different plan” for their son with Down syndrome. When you’re raising a child who needs extra support, it’s easy to lie awake wondering what adulthood will look like for them. Sherri and Damion Navarro knew those questions well. They had no idea that five acres in Frankfort, Illinois, would help them answer some of them.

Family Buys 5 Acres With a Different Plan in Mind

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The Navarros bought the land in 2020 to store equipment for Damion’s construction company. Neither had ever farmed. Then a friend mentioned that the property was zoned for agriculture, and Sherri began to imagine what their son Carter might learn there.

“It all started with planting a seed in our lives,” Sherri said. “A thought, just a thought that I think God just placed in our hearts.”

Navarro Farm Gives People With Disabilities a Place to Grow

That thought grew into Navarro Farm, where Carter and other people with developmental and physical disabilities garden, care for animals, cook, make friends, and learn new skills. What the farmers grow becomes sauces sold at the farmstand, Carter’s Corner, and at restaurants and farmers' markets around Chicago.

For Sherri, the farm speaks to a worry many parents know intimately. “What’s going to happen when we’re gone?” she asked. “Now he has a place to come. He has a place to work.”

Carter isn’t the only one finding a place there.

Hailey Legrand said she has learned to weed, harvest, water plants, and cook. David Hushka enjoys feeding the goats and spending time with the pigs. He even danced to Justin Timberlake at the farm’s annual “Farmers Got Talent” show.

There’s joy in all of it, from tending a garden to taking the stage. There’s also the satisfaction of seeing what your hands can do. “When you plant something, you maintain it, you harvest it, you have a final product,” Damion said. “It shows you that self-worth.”

‘A Place to Grow’ Becomes More Than a Sign on the Barn

A sign on the barn reads “A Place to Grow.” Sherri said it describes everyone who sets foot on the property. What began as storage space has become a place where people can work, belong and surprise themselves with what they can grow.

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“And you will be like a watered garden, and like an ever-flowing spring.” Isaiah 58:11

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h/t: CBS News

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Heather Riggleman is a believer, wife, mom, author, social media consultant, and full-time writer. She lives in Minden, Nebraska with her kids, high school sweetheart, and three cats who are her entourage around the homestead. She is a former award-winning journalist with over 2,000 articles published. She is full of grace and grit, raw honesty, and truly believes tacos can solve just about any situation. You can find her on GodUpdates, iBelieve, Crosswalk, Hello Darling, Focus On The Family, and in Brio Magazine. Connect with her at www.HeatherRiggleman.com or on Facebook.