Amy Vine, Founder, Urban Vine Botanical Center (Photo by Jo Ann Mathews)
Women and Adversity:
Amy Vine, Founder
Urban Vine Botanical Center
Amy Vine of Clarkston, Michigan wanted to provide activities and employment for her son and her adopted brother and sister, all of whom have special needs. With vocational programs closing in Michigan, these young people had limited choices. Vine believes every person has talents they can develop that provide self-satisfaction and value to others, and she wanted to provide employment for this special group of adults.
She decided in 2017 to study herbal medicine and learned to make tea, soap and salve. She invited adult friends and family with special needs to her home to teach them what she learned. By 2019, the group of 10 were licensed through Michigan Department of Agriculture as a wholesale food processing company. They began making these products in a commercial kitchen and also learned food and kitchen safety.
In 2020, Vine and her mother started Promise Land Farm, a family-owned property, where they now grow 20 different herbs. They extended their reach and bought sheep and bees. All these endeavors provide jobs for special needs adults.
Vine founded Urban Vine, a female-owned LLC, which distributes all-natural products that job coaches and special needs adults make. She renamed her LLC in 2023 to Urban Vine Botanical Center when she changed the business to a nonprofit organization. Individuals learn herb farming, beekeeping and livestock care. The farm produces honey and eggs and grows 40 percent of the herbs used in their products.
Vine extended herself again when she accepted the opportunity to partner with best-selling author Wade Rouse and his partner Gary Edwards. Rouse writes under the pseudonym, Viola Shipman, his grandmother’s name. Vine and her crew design and create items, primarily made by special needs individuals, to correspond to each chapter of Rouse’s/Shipman’s novella The Last Postmistress of Noel, Michigan. Vine sends these gift boxes called SHIPMANTs—six throughout 2024—to those who have subscribed to the program. The subscriber gets a chapter of the book along with gift items. By the end of 2024, the subscriber will have the entire novella, which is only available through this program; however, the program is closed.
When asked what the biggest obstacle she faced when she decided to open Urban Vine, she says, “market testing, promoting, website development, fear of the unknown, etc. I think one of my unique obstacles was juggling a growing company while grieving the loss of my dad (in 2017), raising three sons and housing my brother, who had complicated disabilities.”
The obstacles she faces now, seven years after founding Urban Vine, she says deal with payroll exceeding income. That is why she renamed her corporation and has become a nonprofit.
Vine studied theatre at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan and began her professional career as a designer at Bella Artistry in Clarkston. In 1995 she married Sean Vine, who supports her endeavors. He has been self-employed for 30 years. The couple has three sons.
More information
www.urban-vine.com
urbanvine6@gmail.com
248-425-5946
Facebook: www.facebook.com/urbanvine6 and
www.facebook.com/amy.vine.904
www.violashipman.com
My ebooks available at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com:
Honoring 23 Black Women, Recognizing 23 Notable Mothers, Saluting 23 Faithful Suffragists
