JESSE

Jesse Archibald is a farmer at Lemoine Point Farm. He is also living with heroin addiction and long-term methadone treatment. Yet addiction is only one part of his story. At its core, Jesse’s life is about resilience, creativity, entrepreneurship, and a determined pursuit of healing.

Having struggled with substance use for many years, Jesse has been part of a methadone program for over a decade and has successfully reduced his dosage by more than half. The process is demanding and often painful, bringing with it anxiety, migraines, and intense physical withdrawal symptoms. Each day requires persistence and extraordinary willpower. Outside of weekly testing appointments, Jesse navigates this journey largely on his own, without therapists or psychiatrists.

His refuge is the farm.

Through caring for the land and the animals, Jesse has found structure, purpose, and peace. He raises chickens, pigs, cows, and sheep with a deep respect for biodiversity and sustainable farming practices. Nature offers him stability; the rhythm of farm life has become both grounding and restorative. In many ways, the animals are not only his responsibility, but also his protectors.

Jesse’s home and workspace reflect a constant process of transformation. Objects others may dismiss as discarded or broken are carefully repurposed and given new life through his imagination and resourcefulness. What appears to be chaos reveals a deeper sense of renewal — a cycle of rebuilding, recovery, and survival.

At its heart, Jesse’s story is about endurance. It is a story of struggle and hope, of life continually pulling itself forward despite hardship.

In Jesse’s own words:

“I want to live.”