Forget-Me-Not-Farm offers a place where kids can be kids

Dolly, a friendly black and white potbelly pig with pink ears
was begging for attention Monday morning, as she and several other
farm animals residing in a barn behind the Sonoma Humane Society
seemingly waited for their young guests to arrive.
Outside and nearby, at least a dozen chickens were clucking and
scratching at the earth inside a fenced-off area, adjacent to a
large garden – one of two – located at Forget-Me-Not-Farm.
The sun still hadn’t broken through the fog when at around 10
a.m. a van pulled up, and out jumped five excited children who were
visiting from A Special Place Preschool.
While they may have only been 3 and 4 years of age, they knew
the routine and couldn’t wait to get started feeding Dolly and her
roommates, like Sonny and Cher the sheep, Geronimo the Shetland
pony, Raymond the Jersey steer, Evita, Frida and Paula the llamas,
and Nikko and Buddy the goats, among others. First, however, the
children were told to gather round to go over the rules. “Try to be
nice to the animals, nice to each other … today we are going to
feed the animals, and then we are going to plant some flowers,”
Farm Manager Nate Rathmann said.
And then they did …
The children – assisted by Rathmann, two Sonoma State University
interns and a handful of volunteers – scooped up armfuls of
alfalfa, followed by cups of grain, and delivered breakfast to the
animals, one stall at a time. Afterwards, they would sweep up
scattered remnants from the morning meal, have a snack of their
own, and then tend to the garden they helped plant earlier in the
year. …
Forget-Me-Not-Farm – a program of the Sonoma Humane Society – is
an animal assisted therapy and horticulture project that for over
17 years has been collaborating with the Young Women’s Christian
Association of Sonoma County. Children from the YWCA’s preschool
and Safe House routinely visit the farm where they spend time
feeding, grooming, and caring for animals, and working in a garden.
At the end of each session they talk about their interactions with
the animals and experiences in the garden.
“There is a proven beneficial relationship between animal
assisted and horticulture therapy and behavior in children with
traumatic histories,” said Jennifer Lake, program director at YWCA
Sonoma County. “All of the children who have participated
absolutely love the program and look forward to their weekly
visits,” Lake said, noting, a few of the children from the
preschool have even learned the days of the week based on when they
get to go to the farm. One child did particularly well at the farm,
she said, noting the child’s therapist and parents “were amazed at
the difference” they saw in the girl after spending time there.
“She was a more confident, independent, verbal young child. It was
amazing to see the transformation that supported this child through
her healing process,” Lake said.
Forget-Me-Not-Farm serves over 400 children annually.
Collectively they make about 2,500 visits a year to the farm,
according to Forget-Me-Not-Farm Director Carol Rathmann, who said
the idea, is to provide a therapeutic setting with activities for
children who have been abused or neglected, and/or who have
witnessed domestic violence.
Oftentimes children who have been subjected to abuse don’t learn
nurturing and caring behaviors, she said. “So our job is to
introduce them to a group of people who treat each other
respectfully, caringly and compassionately. They work with the
volunteers who teach them about animal care that would generalize
into behavior with other people and each other.”