Experiencing the Need.
Searching the wild for wellness.
Responding to the Call.
Our Story
Long before there was L&L, there was Em & M—Emma and Matt, a girl who loved agriculture and a guy who loved being a cop. That was us.
We got married in January of 2020 and began police life together in the suburbs of Virginia on a shoe-string budget. To produce extra protein, we raised rabbits and kept laying chickens in our little urban backyard. The neighbors were probably less than thrilled. But we were in love, fresh out of the starting gate, and didn’t really care. Life felt like it was just beginning for us. And boy was it.
As a law enforcement couple, we had of course discussed plans, wills, and what the future would look like if Matt didn’t come home one shift. Every First Responder family thinks about those things, whether they talk about it or not. But no one prepared us for what happened next.
Three and a half weeks after our wedding, we found ourselves driving home from the hospital after Matt sustained an (at that point) undiagnosed Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) on duty. We were entering the fight for his life, for our marraige, and for the future that had looked so bright less than half a shift earlier.
Between surviving the darkest nights, PTSD, secondary traumatic stress, battling worker’s comp, chronic pain, and increasingly worse mental health, we somehow moved out to the country and were able to take a deep breath. Everything wasn’t ok, we had no clue where to turn for resources, but we finally felt we had some breathing space, some privacy. A place to start over and begin clawing our way out of the chaos and trauma we were experiencing.
With no idea where to turn for resources or help, and barely surviving, we started from scratch. Following any medical lead we could, getting into the dreaded therapy, trying to find ways to cope, build back resilience, and most of the time—just make it out the other side of the nightmare alive.
The one thing that started making a difference immediately was the outdoors. The dirt. The animals.
Slowly but surely, we did make progress. We adapted.
And once we found our feet on more solid ground, we knew it was our duty to pull as many other First Responder families onto the journey to solid ground too.
We would be the resource that we didn’t have. We would make sure no one else had to do it alone.
Lion & Lamb Homestead was born.
It started with just opening up the homestead to First Responder families who needed some space to breathe, like we had. Letting them get their hands in the soil, interact with the animals, move their bodies, sit together in an environment where they didn’t have to look over their shoulders and wonder who else was around.
And then, 2 years in, a local officer was badly injured and we wanted to help. We used money raised from our handmade homestead products to pitch in, but it wasn’t very much. We realized how much more we could do if the growing community we’d built also knew they had an opportunity to help and contribute.
That’s when we founded the Critical Incident Fund.
Homestead Life TODAY…
Lion & Lamb Homestead sits on 3 beautiful acres in the backroads of Amelia Court House, Virginia. It is home to dogs, cats, chickens, rabbits, sheep, cows, a mule, and mini pony and is run sustainably and regeneratively with a focus on farming naturally, frugally, and in a way that allows nature's processes to complement each other.
Dairy from daily milkings, eggs, produce from a growing garden and fruit trees, a hedge of blackberry bushes, and home-raised meats are all produced here, with a goal of growing at least 85% of all the food consumed on the homestead.
It continues to find new ways to reach First Responder families who’ve been injured on duty or are struggling with career trauma accumulation, and serve even beyond the land it sits on.