THE CONCEPT
Our story begins in Scotland…
In 2017, I (Melissa Bird) was on a retreat in Scotland.
While I was there I had a vision of creating a space where people could come to reconnect to their bodies, to the land, and to their food.
What was born of this vision is The Mermaid’s Garden.
A retreat space and aquaculture farm nestled in the heart of the Linn County. It was with this vision in mind that Jim and I began laying the groundwork for this revelatory space….
THE SUPPORT NEEDED
We are currently in Phase 1 of our vision.
Phase 1:
Land Acquisition
Crowdfunding and loans:
$134,000 raised so far
$700,000 needed
Phase 2:
Building
Aquaculture farm ($3,000,000 needed)
Retreat spaces ($500,000 needed)
Phase 3:
Opening of The Mermaid’s Garden Oregon
Who We’ve Worked With:
The Small Business Development Center at our local community college helped us develop our business plan and financial projections.
We thought we would qualify for the veterans in agriculture programs to purchase the land.
We thought that our local government elected officials and community leaders were invested more heavily in regenerative agriculture that is truly better for the land and the planet.
This wasn’t the case…
Like most people, COVID hit our goals hard.
We were not able to buy the properties we made an offer on in 2020.
Lenders and investors pulled away from innovative businesses like ours. Our potential opening in 2021 has been pushed back to 2022 or maybe even 2023.
Here are some major roadblocks we have experienced:
↓
-
Unable To Qualify For Veterans in Agriculture
Veterans must have 3 years of farming experience to qualify for the veterans in agriculture program. Many veterans don’t have that unless they are born into farming
-
COVID
COVID has had a negative impact on financial opportunities for land acquisition
-
USDA
The USDA has slashed its funding for new and beginning farmers and ranchers from $75,000,000 to $16,000,000 for FY 2021/2022
-
Woman-Owned, LGBTQ Owned, Native American-Owned, Veteran-Owned
We learned quickly that just because you are a woman-owned, LGBTQ owned, Native American owned, disabled veteran-owned business - funding for people like us is limited by resources and gatekeepers
-
Obtaining Property
The most critical part of making our dream a reality is obtaining property. From there we can do just about anything and our opportunities for grant funding expand exponentially.
How You Can Help Support Us:
1
Selling land?
If you know someone looking to sell 25+ acres let us know by sending us an email and connecting us. You can email us anytime at info@themermaidsgardenoregon.com
2
Support us
Support our funding efforts by giving us a direct gift through PayPal
3
Know an investor?
Connect us with the right investor. If you know investors who are committed to regenerative and sustainable businesses like ours (especially if they support woman owned, LGBT owned, Native American owned, disabled veteran owned) send them our way.
4
Join the waitlist
Join our waitlist so that you can be the first to know when we are opening and how you can make a reservation.
COVID may have delayed this process but it hasn’t diminished our resolve to make this dream a reality for the people and the planet that we serve. With your help we will be able to create the community we crave and innovate the way we think about the future.