Tiffany, supervisor, CORCAN

Tiffany - CORCAN Farms

Well sometimes it's hard when you're trying to get things done and you have to teach somebody at the same time. Farming is very time sensitive, and the weather, so it can slow down the process. Sometimes you have to remember that your first goal is training the offenders and that sometimes when you look at your field, your crop might not be planted exactly as you would have liked to have seen it planted but you've taught somebody something and they've learned.

Harvesting Hope

Tiffany

Farm Supervisor (CORCAN)

Hi, my name is Tiffany and I work at CORCAN Farms.

Today we're in the heifer barn at Collins Bay. We have to teach the offenders how to work with cattle, how to operate equipment. So they can rake, cut hay, help plant, work land, they're involved all across the process.

Here we have offenders milking every day. It's nice when you get to see the offenders come in and some of them don't really like cattle to begin with, or they're afraid of them. You watch them slowly become their pets. And if you wander around the barn here you'll notice that most of our cows are very very friendly, they get lots of attention.

We get very few offenders in that actually come from farms. We have been fortunate that we have had a few, but most of them have not been around cattle at all, and they seem to find it quite rewarding. They like to learn a lot of the tractor stuff, which is also practical when they get out if they want a job like in landscaping and other areas. Farming is so diverse and you have to learn so many different skills that it actually applies to lots of different jobs that are out there.

I feel that when the offenders come to the farm they gain a greater appreciation for how much work goes into things. A lot of them don't realize how much work goes into the food and everything that you eat every day. And it kind of builds appreciation for everything else. It helps them take less stuff for granted. Here they all have to work together so it builds on their abilities to work as a team. Cattle are unpredictable, and that they need to pay attention to things because they're responsible for the lives of the cows.

I guess I'm most proud about the fact that when you're dealing with offenders and seeing the positive changes, and the empathy you see them display around the animals, it gives you some hope that they won't re-offend, and that the farm is being a positive influence on their lives.

Changing Lives.
Proteting Canadian.