Dear Editor,
My name is Doug Mellinger, I am a resident of New Canaan and a longtime resident of Fairfield County. I am writing to express my heartfelt support for Grace Farms Foundation and why Grace Farms is a treasure for the community. I live very near Grace Farms and see no negative impact and have only experienced the positives in my many visits there.
As the facility was being built I had no idea what it was nor what its purpose was going to be. My wife went with my son to volunteer on the opening weekend as part of his SLOB’s (Service League of Boys) community service project about a year ago. She came back and told me about this amazing set of buildings and an environment that was truly unique.
A few weeks later we went back and I was amazed that such a facility was in our proverbial back yard. I walked around in awe at the sheer beauty of the grounds and the building.
I have brought many guests over the last year and they all come away just as impressed. This was not just a set of buildings, a place for kids to play basketball nor an incredible place to have tea or just contemplate life. It is a place to come together as a community, learn and discuss seemingly intractable issues.
I have attended the two-day gathering of United Nations University world leaders to discuss human trafficking at Grace Farms and plan for what can be done to address this horrible global situation. Next April, my chapter of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO Fairchester) will discuss faith and conflict there.
Grace Farms is a treasure for our community and for the country. I am so impressed with the work of the organization. I truly hope that the leaders in the Town of New Canaan realize what an asset Grace Farms is for our community and support their programs and usage of the facility.
Sincerely,
Doug Mellinger
New Canaan
The Grace Church congregation have been wonderful members of our community for years. Their outreach has extended to many other community organizations in town, including the ABC House of New Canaan to whom they donated funds without being solicited. My husband and I have fond memories of many raucous and successful ABC House fundraisers held in the old barn on that same property before it was renovated. It is unclear to me why their motivations for having charitable and educational events on this property are being questioned.
Melanie Berman
Melanie, though I would imagine residents of the neighborhood felt a change when Grace Community Church moved to Lukes Wood Road, what is before the town now has to do with Grace Farms Foundation—and it is Grace Farms, not the church, which has concerned the town and neighbors. It’s a separate entity. Grace Church encompasses Sunday services in the sanctuary and includes the good works to which you refer, stretching back many years. Grace Farms is based in a different “barn” by the parking lots and operates its programs throughout the rest of The River building and site/campus. Advocates for Grace Farms point to its varied programs and partnerships as positives for New Canaan and other communities, and at last month’s public hearing the organization put a spotlight on its achievements in several areas—perhaps most notably, in social justice and addressing sex trafficking. Those who have flagged concerns about Grace Farms say the organization won approval from P&Z for creation of The River building on the strength of a misleading application four years ago to operate a more narrowly defined, less intense program than what has emerged there. Grace Farms in making its new application is seeking more flexibility (for example, opening its campus to new revenue-generating activities) and a new use designation, while the neighbors are seeking more controls and a return, in earnest, to activities that line up with the original “religious institution” use designation that P&Z approved in March 2013.