Meet The Team

Boise Vertical Farm has built a team of highly skilled and passionate professionals brought together by their shared goal of helping the community.

Jeff Middleton,
Co-Founder

Jeff is an Idaho native, having grown up in the eastern part of the state. During his numerous years as a pharmacist, business manager and business owner he lived throughout the state, where he enjoyed cycling, camping, backpacking and skiing all that Idaho has to offer.  Jeff received a Pharmacy Degree from Idaho State University and attended graduate school, where he received an MBA with specialty in Clinical Information Systems.

He has been a lifelong volunteer and community activist who strived to make communities a better place to live. Following a series of heart attacks at a young age, Jeff became one of the founders of the Mended Hearts and Mended Little Hearts Chapter in the Treasure Valley. These programs are national organizations that provide much needed support and mentoring for adults, following catastrophic heart issues, and children, born with heart issues.

For 35 years, Jeff has experienced the depths of hopelessness and desperation from active drug and alcohol addiction.  Having achieved recovery for the past nine years, Jeff believes that drug and alcohol addiction is a community problem, which requires a community solution.  One such solution is Boise Vertical Farm (BVF), founded in 2019 by Jeff and Crystal Spencer. The mission of BVF is to create a safe community that provides hope and employment for recovering individuals by growing local produce.

Through this program, Jeff hopes to reduce unemployment, one of the major causes of relapse. The primary goal of BVF is to overcome this obstacle and alleviate relapse. In addition, Jeff sees BVF as a means to pay reparation for damage he caused during his active addiction, to solve the issue of unemployment in recovery, to support year-round local healthy food production, and to provide a safe and environmentally conscious sustainable work environment.

Amy Henkel,
Board Member

Amy graduated from Eastern Washington University with a degree in exercise science and also competed on the EWU’s women’s basketball team. Upon graduation, Amy played professional basketball in Denmark from 2009 – 2010. Upon her return to the states, she obtained her licensure in Massage Therapy and has been a practicing massage therapist in Boise for over ten years, obtaining her Board Certification in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork. In 2017, Amy and her husband started their aquaponic greenhouse business, Be Local Farms. They partnered with Boise Vertical Farm in 2021 to help provide fresh, local produce to the community and support the mission of Boise Vertical Farm. Be Local Farms believes in the positive social impact that helps people in recovery, their families, and the community.  When Amy is not working with massage clients or leading Be Local Farm’s operations and partnerships, she enjoys spending time with her husband Zach and their two children Kaia and Asa.  You’ll find their two lab (BIG) puppies, Thor and Loki, running around the farm, too!

Crystal Spencer,
Co-Founder

Crystal has long been an advocate of programs designed to provide opportunities for individuals to grow and heal and has participated in several social enterprises in both the Seattle area where she grew up, and Boise. As a board member and organizer in both the finance and personal development committees with The Way Back Inn, Crystal was at the forefront in developing the initial programs for this Seattle based non-profit. She also helped organize the Food Pantry and Crop Walks through her church in Bainbridge Island and was a science mentor in her local high school. Upon moving to Boise Crystal participated with Idaho Public Television, and community outreach through her work at St. Luke’s. She is a firm believer in the strength of community through development of the individuals that make up that community.

With a background in research and health care, in addition to experiences within her own family, Crystal has witnessed first-hand the inefficiencies and ineffectiveness of the all too often punitive focus of the recovery management of individuals with addictions. There is a better way and Crystal is passionate about working with state and local community partners to shape healthier, more enduring approaches to helping individuals in post-addiction recovery. Her years in research and compliance has cultivated an out-of-the-box thinking and she believes that by leveraging the experiences gained by each of the groups within the effected ripples of addiction we can develop a long-term solution to help end relapse for people in recovery and will be a win for the individual, their families, and the community all together.

Chris Catherman,
Board Member

Chris comes to Boise Vertical Farm after meeting founder Jeff Middleton at a Mended Hearts meeting. Prior to her heart failure, Chris had a large garden, and was called to join Boise Vertical Farm to get her hands in the dirt again.

Prior to retirement, Chris worked for the Bureau of Land Management in Boise.

The mission of Boise Vertical Farm rings true for Chris, who underwent her own journey to escape a substance abuse situation. Her full story is available here.