On 615 acres of wooded hills, gardens, and pastures in rural upstate New York, adults with special needs and long- and short-term service volunteers live together in extended family homes, and work side by side as equals on our farms and in therapeutic craft studios throughout Camphill Village Copake.

The founding of Camphill Village Copake in 1961 was part of a transformative movement in the United States to reform how society treats people with special needs.

The practice of crafting handmade goods is a foundational element of who we are. Since our founding in 1961, we have created items that can be used and shared among the members of our community. Our Estate crew harvests lumber for our Woodshop; our Woodshop makes harvesting boxes for our farmers; our farmers provide fresh produce and meats for the tables of our households. All the while, our dedication to caring for the Earth guides our practices, including the goods you purchase from us.

With volunteers and adults with special needs working together and living together in extended family households, we share life here: joys and sorrows, celebrations and prayers, work, play, meals, and song. And in all of these settings and stages of life, the goods we make are a thread that weaves through our traditions of cultural and spiritual enrichment: from the hand-woven napkins that complete the hundreds of lunchtime place settings in our Village each day, to the freshly snuffed candle that indicates the meal has ended.

Read more about our traditions and meaningful way of life on Camphill Village Copake’s website, and learn about our vision of a world that recognizes the potential in human disability.

Camphill Village is an integrated community where people with developmental differences are living a life of dignity, equality and purpose.

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