Echo Lake Farms: Clay County Project Plans 5-Acre Mini Farms for Foster Families, With First Home Due in 2027

CLAY COUNTY, Fla. - A project spanning more than 220 acres of farmland in Clay and Putnam counties is preparing to open its first home for foster families in 2027, with plans for 5-acre mini farms where children can live with foster parents and participate in agricultural activities. Echo Lake Farms is developing homes with approximately 2,500 square feet of living space, animals and hands-on farming opportunities, according to an Oct. 29 report by Kyla Woodard of Clay Today. The project's main house is progressing toward completion, with additional homes already being planned.

What Echo Lake Farms is building

Echo Lake Farms is being developed as a residential agricultural community for foster children and parents. According to Clay Today, the project encompasses more than 220 acres of farmland across Clay and Putnam counties. The plan calls for individual mini farms where foster couples will live with children placed in their care through the court system.

Community Partnership for Children described the project's purpose as "building homes for foster children and parents within a supportive agricultural community." The organization attended the project's groundbreaking in December 2025 and published information about the development. Its description identifies housing, foster families and agricultural surroundings as the central elements of the planned community.

The first home is scheduled to open in 2027, according to Clay Today's Oct. 29 report. Work on the main house has reached a stage where the structure is in place and its windows have been installed. The organization behind the project is also planning additional homes as construction progresses.

How the 5-acre mini farms will work

Each planned mini farm will occupy approximately 5 acres, according to Clay Today. The homes are designed to provide about 2,500 square feet of living space, with animals and agricultural activities included in the residential setting. Foster couples are expected to live on the farms with children who have been adjudicated by the court.

The agricultural component is part of the project's planned living arrangement rather than a separate recreational facility. Clay Today reported that the mini farms will include opportunities for hands-on farming alongside the homes and animals. The design combines residential space with land intended for agricultural activities.

Community Partnership for Children described the concept as a supportive agricultural community for foster children and parents. That description is consistent with Clay Today's account of foster couples living with children on individual farm properties. The two reports identify the residential and farming components as connected parts of the same development.

The project is not limited to the initial house currently under construction. Clay Today reported that planning is already underway for the next few homes. The first home, expected in 2027, represents the initial residential milestone in the reported development.

Where the project is located

The project occupies farmland in both Clay and Putnam counties, according to Clay Today. The publication reported that the land covers more than 220 acres and that the main house is located off County Road 219. The development's reported footprint places its agricultural community across the two counties.

The property's size is significant to the project's proposed layout of individual 5-acre farms. Each farm is intended to contain a residence, animals and space for hands-on agricultural activities, according to Clay Today. The reported plans involve developing additional homes beyond the first structure.

Community Partnership for Children identified Melrose as the location of the project's groundbreaking ceremony. The organization reported that the event took place on Dec. 12, 2025. Its account connects the Melrose groundbreaking with the development now being reported by Clay Today.

From the 2025 groundbreaking to the first home in 2027

Echo Lake Farms held its groundbreaking on Dec. 12, 2025, in Melrose, according to Community Partnership for Children. The event was hosted by Rotarians for the Development of Youth, the nonprofit organization involved in the project. Representatives of Community Partnership for Children attended the ceremony.

By Oct. 29, 2026, Clay Today reported that the structure of the main house had been established and its windows were in place. The publication said the house was expected to be near completion by early 2027. The first home is scheduled to open during 2027.

The reported construction milestones cover the initial phase of a larger residential development. According to Clay Today, the group is already planning the next few houses while work continues on the first. The publication did not establish a total number of homes in the information verified for this report.

The project's documented timeline extends from the December 2025 groundbreaking to the expected opening of the first home in 2027. The construction progress described by Clay Today provides the latest reported milestone. Additional residential development remains part of the group's stated plans.

Milton Starnes and the origins of the project

The idea behind Echo Lake Farms originated approximately eight years before Clay Today's October 2026 report. Milton Starnes, a local guardian ad litem volunteer, developed the concept with his wife, Judy, according to the publication. Starnes died in 2024, before the reported groundbreaking and construction milestones.

Clay Today identified Starnes and his wife as the people who initially developed the idea. The proposed community connects housing for foster children with a residential farming environment. Its current plans retain that combination through the proposed 5-acre properties.

Starnes' involvement is part of the project's history documented by Clay Today. His original concept preceded the nonprofit's development activities and the December 2025 groundbreaking. The first home's anticipated opening in 2027 will come after his death in 2024.

Russ Miller and the Rotary nonprofit's involvement

Russ Miller was another central figure in the development of Echo Lake Farms, according to Clay Today. Miller was a Rotarian for 26 years, a past district governor and a member of the Rotary Club of Green Cove Springs. He founded the nonprofit Rotarians for the Development of Youth, known as RDY, approximately six years before the October 2026 report.

Miller helped break ground on the Echo Lake Farms project, Clay Today reported. He died in July 2026, after the December 2025 groundbreaking. His involvement connected the project with the nonprofit organization that hosted the groundbreaking ceremony.

Community Partnership for Children identified Rotarians for the Development of Youth as the host of the Dec. 12, 2025, event in Melrose. The organization's report described the planned community as a place for foster children and parents. Clay Today's later coverage provided additional information about Miller's role and the construction progress.

The project's development has continued following the deaths of both Starnes and Miller. Clay Today reported that construction of the first house was advancing and additional homes were in planning. Their contributions remain part of the documented history of Echo Lake Farms.

What the project board says about continuing the work

Nancy Keating, a board member involved with the project, addressed its continuation in Clay Today's Oct. 29 report. Keating has been a Rotarian for 35 years and founded Challenge Enterprises 52 years ago, according to the publication. She discussed the project in connection with the commitments made to Starnes and Miller.

"We're going to fulfill their dream. We promised Russ, and we promised Milton..." Keating told Clay Today. Her statement referred to the two men whose involvement helped establish and advance Echo Lake Farms. Both died before the anticipated 2027 opening of the first home.

The project's next reported milestone is the opening of that first home in 2027. Clay Today described construction progress on the main structure and plans for additional residences, while Community Partnership for Children documented the earlier groundbreaking and the development's purpose. Together, the two accounts describe a project moving from its original concept toward a residential agricultural community for foster families.