Our story begins with the marriage of William and Elizabeth Stanfield. Who met in 2006 and fell for each other right away! They raised thier combined family in the suburbs of Philadelphia, finally ending in West Bradford in Chester County, Pennsylvania. William was a Senior Field Engineer whose work required weekly travel all around the United States. At the same time, Elizabeth was a teacher in the radiology program at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. Elizabeth had to step back from teaching in 2012 due to her physical limitations/disabilities from multiple failed back surgeries. William continued to travel and support the family till September 2017. When he made the choice that it was time to not travel anymore and had to take a step back while attending to his mental health.
William was able to find a job at ShellBark Hollow Artisanal Goat Dairy Farms to begin his career as a goat farmer in August of 2018! When kidding season started in 2019 Elizabeth was asked to help with the over 150 kids born on the farm that year! Within Elizabeth’s physical limitations, she was able to become more active with the responsibilities of caring for the goats a ShellBark Hollow Farms falling in love with the farm life!
Being a child who grew up in the Frankford section of Philadelphia with no interactions with the agricultural world it was a complete culture shift! Now volunteering at the goat dairy farm for over 5 years Elizabeth has lost 40 lbs and increased her overall physical health along with her mental wellness. Along with the refreshing environment of working with animals, mental health continuously improves for both William and Elizabeth whenever they are near the animals! William has worked hard to digitize the pieces of information and technology involved within the medium herd management at Shellbark Hollow farms, along with maintaining the care of over 150 animals.
In May 2020, Elizabeth graduated with her bachelor’s degree in Applied Science with a minor in Healthcare Management. And will be continuing her education to receive her master's degree in agriculture education.
We are excited to start the next phase of our journey together to be able to bring the world of farming with goats to the communities.