Victory Acres: Growing Hope in Dearborn County

A Model for Rural Rehabilitation

Greens at Victory Acres.

(Moores Hill, Ind.) - Victory Acres is a hybrid: nonprofit farm, reentry program, spiritual community, and agricultural innovator. It’s small, ten acres donated by Tom and Helen Vickroy, but its reach is wide. Their goal is to offer help to those wanting to change, or “unrevolve the door.”

In the quiet hills outside Moores Hill, Victory Acres rises not just as a farm but as a promise. Its story began in a one-car garage. The founders, Tom Vickroy and Jerry Adkins, met in 2014. Tom, moved by his stepson’s incarceration, felt strongly that everyone deserved a second chance to build a better future.

As their mutual retirements drew near, the two friends had a dream that they could make a viable aquaponic system for growing produce in the garage. And then they could use the farm to assist formerly incarcerated citizens learn skills by working and living there. Their plan reflects a growing regional trend: small rural initiatives stepping in where reentry programs are limited.

What grew from that garage was not merely produce, but possibility.

The garage set-up has grown into a 10 acre farm with greenhouses, and the method of growing lettuce, radishes, broccoli and microgreens has transformed from aquaponics to net pots and floats glowing under warm lights.

Victory Acres is part of a broader southeastern Indiana shift toward controlled-environment growing and sustainable agriculture. Jerry passed away in 2022 but the dream continued to grow.

Their produce can be found at Aurora Marketplace, Dillsboro IGA, Vevay IGA, Funny Farm Coffee Company in Lawrenceburg, and Aurora Diner. Its popularity is due to customers changing their grocery lists to include year-round local food sources.

But the real transformation happens in the lives of those who tend the plants.

John Erickson, Vice President of the non-profit’s board, has spent years ministering in Ripley and Dearborn County jails teaching Bible studies. He saw the same pattern over and over for men with no hope, no support, and no second chances. At Victory Acres, he found a way to turn ministry into action. Together with Tom and Helen Vickroy, they built a place where returning citizens could learn agriculture, operate machinery, prepare meals with a roommate, and rediscover dignity through daily work.

Victory Acres offers housing for two clients at a time, offering structured living and independence training. They have helped 7 successfully move on to better lives. Some clients have gone on to seminary school, some to certification programs, some to new jobs. All carry the imprint of the Victory Farm family that believes nurturing is needed for growth in both plants and people. Testimonials describe Victory Acres as life-saving, transformative, and spiritually grounding.

Four years ago, Aaron was incarcerated in Dearborn County. He was one of Victory Acres’ early clients. He arrived with a heavy past, but the farm offered structure, trust, people who believe in him, and a place to live while he moved forward. Now he holds down a job in the community, uses his mechanical skills to do side repair jobs, and then comes home to the chores and maintenance that come with an agriculture business.

Another client says Victory Acres helped him by providing affordable living accommodations and a safe environment. They even helped with transportation to work before he earned his driver’s license. In return for donating his time at the farm, he also received hands-on learning with machinery.

They also want to help change mindsets of those who don’t understand that a mistake doesn’t define a person. That approach has brought public recognition for the farm’s impact on former inmates.

Today, people who are living a second chance are sharing meals together. Nutrient-rich, pesticide-free greens that were grown by people who were once hopeless are feeding families. Produce that isn’t sold is being donated to The Clearinghouse pantry and the Heart House shelter.

And in those simple acts, the mission of Victory Acres becomes real: using hope, compassion, and agriculture to build dreams and rebuild lives.

Donations to Victory Acres are tax-deductible and can be made on their website Donate — Victory Acres