Operation Smiling Jenny

Hi ATS! It's been a while since I lurked around these parts. Current events have brought me back.

I plan to have a permaculture therapy farm where I can help people overcome hopelessness, the despair, the learned helplessness that comes with it- and it’s star progeny: depression and addiction with minimal use of drugs.

I have a plan to make this farm as self sustainable as possible, between plants, animals, using green energy initiatives. A place that will give more than just hope and coping mechanisms to those that visit, but a new way of thinking and living that they can take with them and show others.

I've got some problems. I've also got some solutions- but I need help in the execution. I have a tendency over complicate things, and I overwhelm myself.

This started last year when I realized that if I don't get my dogs out of our current living situation, that it will kill them. One has physical health problems exacerbated by our living situation, and the other has mental health issues and is endangered in this place where there is no fence and he must always be tied. You know what that does to a dog. I don't want him to become a negative statistic.

My original idea was to just get an RV and go live as a boondocker, working as needed...but there was no real end goal other than I've been a roamer since I could walk, and dogs are meant to roam as well, so this would be perfect.

Now after the serious changes I've made in my life, I want to use the methods I used on myself to help others so that they too can crawl out of that lethargic torpidity that is severe depression. I've had to trick myself into feeling better- it's slow going, but I'm falling for it. I'm using neuro-linguistic programming 24/7. I started with a file for 'becoming addicted to exercise.' It's worked. Placebo or not, doesn't matter. I've built a new [good] habit, and I am feeling so incredibly much better. One year later I'm working off my last few pounds; I can think again; I can create again, I sing every day again.............. and I'm trying to work out how to start a therapy farm so that I can help other people come out of this hole.

My plan so far: Get my drivers license back- I haven't had it in 15 years. Biking had been easier til now. I actually have a friend gifting me a 1973 Superior 2200 motorhome. It runs but needs cleaning up and updating. This thing isn't going to be a star in the fuel usage department...but they're TANKS! Zinc coated steel frame with sheet steel with a dodge 413. It's only 20' but the dogs would have the -best- back yard!

Once I have the RV and we're mobile, I plan on spamming the country the old fashioned way with flyers etc asking for donations. you know 'boot strapping it.' I will put them in peoples mail boxes if I can, haha. I want to save the effin world, damn it!

I can work on the road- I will do mosaic patios, floors, wall treatments etc. I can join the craft show circuits, there's tons of things I can do...I just don't know how to get started. At all. I'm trying to make a website with Wixa, but I just feel so overwhelmed with ........wth do I say? I started a facebook page [Operation Smiling Jenny]; I have not started a crowdfunding thing but I think I've settled on gogetfunding for that. I have no idea how to do that either. It's just me. I have no friends and no seed capital atm. I'll need an entire team for this. Do I find those people on the road? I mean seriously. How is one person supposed to get this done? I just want to pull my hair out...but I have to do this.

What you’re planning to do is commendable. It sounds like you are very caring, and have a good plan in place. Executing it is tricky though. I’ll give my two cents of advice. You may want to start by contacting your local Chamber of Commerce. These are business leaders and business owners that would be willing to help you get your plan started. They could advise you on any number of things.

You may also want to make a list of what you think startup expenses and that will be. Will you be the sole proprietor? Or will you want to hire people and make it a small business? Also make a list of pros and cons (more like challenges) to help you start things up. Take it slow. Rome wasn’t built in a day. It sounds like you already have some good ideas related to getting start up money through the internet. Crowdfunding may work.

I think it helps to write things out on paper. That way, it will help you to focus on what you feel you need to do. Best of luck and best wishes. I hope you succeed!

a reply to: Hushabye

Don't put things in mailboxes because you can be fined.

It sounds like you have some plans and desire to help others, but I'm seeing quite a disconnect between what you want and what you intend to do.

If your intent is to have a self-sustaining permaculture farm or retreat it seems counterintuitive to drive around the country in a gas guzzling vehicle to waste paper on pamphlets when you have the cheapest and fastest communication available at your fingertips. I'd also add that unless you have a place to stay in your motor home then the dogs back yard will likely be parking lots wherever you can find a place to stay. You can't really help anyone if all your money is going into fuel and repairs with no real plan on what comes next. People often get a burning bush moment and expect everything to come to them as they go, but it never really works that way.

Is there a reason that you can't find a place already doing something similar to what you want and maybe volunteering for a place to park and some share of the outputs? This seems a much more productive way to start out unless you already have extensive experience running a self-sustaining farm. It would also put you in touch with like-minded people and their community. It's a slow way to start, but the better you prepare the better you can accomplish your future goals.

a reply to: Ksihkehe

I've spent over a year researching this and all of your points are moot. Just because I want to make a place that utilizes more green initiatives does not mean that I should not use what I have at my disposal until such a time as I am able to do a better job. I didn't create this world- I just want to change it. Just because I live in a motor home doesn't mean I have to be moving 24/7 'burning fuel with no real plan on what comes next' I can stay for free in national parks, blm land, plenty of other places. If I need to stay in the city for a night or two- yep I'll probably parking lot it. Guess what- dogs can get walks in cities too :O I didn't plan on throwing their leashes out. AND I'll get to put my flyers on cars in that lot while I'm there- getting my message out further.

You don't get to strawman me on that one. I see your negativity and refuse it.

There are several reasons that I can not stay here. I clearly stated a very large reason in my original post. Most of them regard the mental and physical well being of my little family and I. I am stuck in a terrible living situation, and you can't 'just move' with 2 large dogs. Living in an RV actually works out to be less expensive than renting a different place would be. This place I'm in now is technically "free" but it's killing my family and I.

There are very few therapy farms in the USA. Even if one allowed me to come work there, it's unlikely that my dogs would also be able to go. I do not abandon my family.

Oh- and I can put things in peoples' mailboxes. It's only illegal if there's no postage on it, and there are still penny stamps, so that's easy to work around

Thank you for your concern.

I'm definitely writing it all out. I've got a years worth of notebooks with all my brainstorms.

I didn't even think of the Chamber of Commerce!

I think I'll need a team to do this. I'm hoping to find the right people while I'm working on the road and through the online crowd funding. I've got one notebook just for names of people and organizations to call on. Can't hurt to ask, right? I'm just at a loss- I don't know how to make videos, and stuff like that...which I guess I'll have to learn. I am 100% alone in this endeavor so far.

Thank you for your suggestions


a reply to: ChiefD

originally posted by: Hushabye
a reply to: Ksihkehe

Oh- and I can put things in peoples' mailboxes. It's only illegal if there's no postage on it, and there are still penny stamps, so that's easy to work around

about.usps.com...

The U.S. Postal Service would like to warn people that only authorized U.S. Postal Service delivery personnel are allowed to place items in a mailbox.

“First, if there is not enough room in a mailbox due to unauthorized items, the Postal Service can’t deliver the customer’s mail. Secondly, the Postal Service wants to ensure the integrity of our customer’s mailbox. That’s why only Postal Service personnel are authorized to place mail in or remove mail from mailboxes. In fact, U.S. Postal Inspectors advise customers to report people going mailbox to mailbox who are not postal employees. It could be someone completely unaware of the statute placing advertisements, but it could also be someone trying to steal mail.”

K. I'll stick it to the outside I'm sure someone will have something to say about that, too...but that's fine. If I can be bombarded with meaningless bull# ads at every turn, the world can deal with a few more pieces of paper.

originally posted by: Hushabye
a reply to: Ksihkehe

I've spent over a year researching this and all of your points are moot.

You don't get to strawman me on that one. I see your negativity and refuse it.

Thank you for your concern.

I don't see how trying to stop you from getting fined or in trouble and warning about the potential pitfalls of life on the road is being negative. I wasn't telling you to stay where you are. I was asking if you could find another sustainable farm to learn the ropes at and connect with others with similar interests, you know? The kind of people that would help you with your own plans and place.

If you already know everything then I don't see why you posted asking for help. I took time to try to offer you helpful suggestions. I've spent a few years working with people living in RVs and trying to create off grid homesteads. If somebody offers to fix your tire are you going to tell them you already have a plan and to get lost?

Just because somebody gives you information that doesn't fit with your current plans doesn't mean they're being negative. It could be they're trying to warn you about potential mistakes and offer you helpful suggestions, even if they aren't what you want to hear.

Best of luck. It sounds like you really want to help people, but you sure aren't very gracious to the people you ask for help.