“Johanna’s Hope empowers people with disabilities.” A fundraiser to benefit the organization takes place Friday in Riverhead on the farm.
Lisa Finn,Patch Staff. 
Patch – Thu, Aug 11, 2022 at 1:44 pm
RIVERHEAD, NY — There’s something wonderful happening in Riverhead at Jo’s Farm, which offers individuals with disabilities a place to soak up nature, socialize, and flourish among friends.
An event, “Johanna’s Hope FUNdraiser” will be held on Friday, August, 12, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Jo’s Farm, located at 467 Sound Shore Road.
Funds raised will benefit Johanna’s Hope, Inc., which sponsors “Arts on Jo’s Farm,” a bi-weekly event that offers people with disabilities the opportunity to spend time together as they try their hand at art and just enjoy forever bonds forged on the farm.
The “1st Annual Celebration at Jo’s Farm” will include tours of Jo’s Farm, her Art Cottage and gardens. Those in attendance can meet the chickens, pet the goats, and watch the bees at work in Jo’s Bee Garden.
In addition, a “very special honey harvest with Master Beekeeper Chris Kelly of PromiseLand Apiaries” will be offered; guests can take home some fresh honey, said Eileen Benthal, Johanna Benthal’s mom, said.
Space for the event is limited and pre-registration is required. Tickets cost $150 per person and include dinner, wine, beer, water and seltzer from Barrow Food House, Bridge Lane Wine, and PBV. Also included are Jo’s homemade desserts, made with “Eggcellent Eggs” by Jo’s chicks.
Discounted prices are available for children and families caring for adults with disabilities.
For more information contact: eileenbenthal@johannashope.org For those unable to attend, a donation is still appreciated, Benthal said.
In a release sent out about the event, Benthal said she is “the mother of an amazing young adult, Johanna Benthal, who inspires me every day to live a life of hope!”
Discussing how the idea for Jo’s Farm was born, Benthal said: “During the pandemic, my husband and I were scrambling to find ways to keep our daughter safe, healthy, and engaged without access to the day-to-day activities and support systems we worked so hard to foster.”
They started raising chickens and the tasks of caring for chicks and pullets and the reward of collecting eggs helped their daughter thrive during the pandemic, Benthal said.
“Soon, she was selling eggs to the neighbors and even created her own brand, ‘Eggcellent Eggs by Jo’s Chicks!’ Jo’s Farm was born!” she said.
A year later, Benthal said, they started raising goats because Jo told them, “My farm is not really a farm without goats!”
Benthal added: “As we saw our daughter thriving in social, artistic, and entrepreneurial skills, we realized that we could help inspire people in the disabilities communities and others to make these same connections. We slowly started inviting other people, and hosting workshops, ‘Arts on Jo’s Farm’ twice a month to create art and connect to nature and each other. It’s a really beautiful thing.”
And that’s how, Benthal said, Johanna’s Hope was born.
“Johanna’s Hope empowers people with disabilities and others to form social connections and creates accessible environments to explore the arts and nature at Jo’s Farm and in the local community,” she said.
Johanna, 26, of Jamesport, has faced daunting medical challenges and scores of surgeries due to a disease that causes hemorrhaging in the brain, seizures, and small strokes — but despite battling physical hurdles, her inner faith and spirit have been a shining light, guiding her path and illuminating the way for others.
In addition to the farm, in recent years, Johanna has partnered with Stacey Soloviev, who helms Santa’s Christmas Tree Farm LI in Cutchogue, for “Sensitive Santa” nights; Soloviev also sits on the board of Johanna’s Hope, Benthal said.
“Johanna Benthal is a young adult entrepreneur with disabilities who has a passion for inspiring kids with special needs to find their gifts and purpose — even in the midst of difficulties,” Soloviev said.
Soloviev came to “Jo’s Farm and Cottage” — the Benthal family has created an art space for Johanna in a bright yellow cottage; the backyard space grew to include the farm, with chickens and goats — to ask Jo if she would help as a greeter for Sensitive Santa, Benthal said.
“She also offered to get Jo set up as a beekeeper by purchasing a specialized hive to enable Jo to watch the bees at work and collect honey through a tap system, or Flow Hive,” Benthal said.
Benthal and her daughter have taken a beekeeping class with Master Beekeeper Kelly.
And now, the Benthals are giving back to others with disabilities, sharing their joy and deep faith with others.
The Benthals have hosted informal programs and helped to connect other young adults with disabilities for farm and art community experiences, she said.
“Jo just shares with other people the things she loves — dogs, art, baking and hanging out on her backyard farm,” Benthal said.
Benthal added: “It’s all about finding purpose and hope. Johanna always leads the way. ‘Johanna’s Hope’ comes out of our own experiences,” Benthal said.
What began as just an art space and farm for her daughter has blossomed into a place for healing and memories for many, Benthal said. “We realized how therapeutic it was for Jo. When people came to buy eggs, Johanna wanted to show them around; it gave her tasks to do, to keep her focused. Then, other people with disabilities started coming. It’s a beautiful community that’s starting to grow.”
Benthal has faced a long road since first needing brain surgery when she was only three months old.
The Riverhead community has watched as her family, with faith and love, has guided their daughter through medical challenges.
When Eileen and Steve Benthal learned that their three-month old baby Johanna needed brain surgery, it was faith, and infinite love, that kept them strong.
When Benthal spoke to Patch in 2012, she said that, after 15 years and 79 surgeries, the Benthals learned that their daughter had cerebral cavernous malformation, or CCM3, a potentially deadly disease that causes vascular malformations in the brain — a disease for which there is no cure.
To date, Johanna has now undergone more than 100 surgeries.
“You go a little bit forward, and then it’s backwards,” Benthal said, in a 2013 interview.
Although the disease is not cancer, it spreads, Benthal said, putting pressure on the brain, with some of the malformations deep in the brain and inoperable. “They are all a fatal risk,” Benthal said. “She wants a cure.”
Johanna, due to her disease, cannot read or write with fluency, although it doesn’t stop her passion for learning, her mother said.
But despite her daughter’s challenges, faith has given her infinite strength, Benthal said. And it has brought their family, including the Benthals’ other children, David, Anna, and MaryAngela, closer.
“Johanna is truly a miracle — she just really defies science and reason and keeps on going,” Benthal said. “She has always had a tremendous faith and an optimistic outlook on life. Johanna is a gift in our lives.”
To read more about Johanna’s journey, and the newly formed non-profit, click here.
For additional information about the fundraiser or to donate, click here.