To the west, low-slung clouds smother the tops of jagged mountains, while to the east a sprawling valley stretches towards the coast, ending abruptly at the grey Pacific Ocean.

It is the stuff of postcards, or glossy tourist brochures.

"I just wish I had more time to appreciate it."

There's a hint of weariness in Tim Francis' voice as he points out the boundaries before going on to outline the different enterprises found on the 40-hectare property.

There is the native conservation area and timber plantation at one end, flowing into a series of hillside paddocks where goats and cattle graze.

"Everything we produce here, we've got to find a market for," Mr Francis says.

"We produce Boer goat meat and we also produce beef cattle, and we have free-range organic eggs that we have a waiting list for most of the time, so we're trying to increase production.

"We're starting our vegetable garden enterprise, and then we've got our fruit and nut trees down the bottom."

At the base of the hill, a small herd of horses stand sleepy-eyed in their yard, while hidden among the organised chaos of a nearby shed an incubator keeps little ducklings and chicks cosy.

A short drive down a winding, muddy road, past a paddock where two Maremma dogs stand guard over a flock of ducks, chickens and the odd turkey, is a large shed - the property's learning centre - surrounded by farming equipment.

Here the harsh screech of a bandsaw cuts through the tranquillity as two older gentlemen slice through lengths of wood to make stakes that will support newly planted native trees.

The property, aptly named A Taste of Paradise Permaculture and Organic Farm, is very much a working agricultural business, but scratch the surface and you soon discover there is a lot more to this place: the farm is also a haven for disadvantaged youth looking for a second chance.

Here they are given the opportunity to heal and gain confidence in themselves and others while learning valuable life and work skills.

It is financially, physically and emotionally challenging work, but for the founders, Mr Francis and his wife Andrea, making a difference to young people who have had a rough start is their vocation.

"I'm a committed Christian and about 25 years ago I had everything, I had a house, a lovely wife and everything was going along smoothly, but I felt like something was missing in my life," Mr Francis says.

"I didn't feel like I was contributing or doing what I was supposed to be doing, so I asked for a vision and this is what He gave me.

"That started the process 25 years ago, and since then we've worked in that direction."

Influenced by his grandparents, who were Western Australia farmers, and an ingrained family tradition of social justice, Mr Francis stepped away from his role as a stay-at-home dad and went back to TAFE and university to brush up on his agricultural skills.

He and Mrs Francis put everything on the line, taking out a mortgage on their home, and when the opportunity to buy the property came up 15 years ago, friends and family stepped up to help with a deposit.

"This has come about because we saw some things in the world that we thought were not good, and we thought, do we do something about supporting young people or do we do nothing, and we decided that we'd do something.

"They might be little steps and they might be fairly localised, but hopefully they might spread out into the community in the future."

Through partnerships with local organisations, young disadvantaged people and those suffering a disability are introduced to the triumphs and raw realities of farm life, mucking in with daily farm tasks.

Most of those taking part in the day programs are aged between 12 and 20, many living in foster homes or residential care.

Some will only attend for a couple of weeks, while others have been part of the program for six years.

The outcomes can't be measured in dollars, Mr Francis says, and the greatest rewards are in the small victories - when the young people become engaged, asking questions and thinking up new ways to get things done.

"You just get surprised sometimes by the results and the questions you get asked, because we're building trust relationships here all the time," he says.

"Sometimes they come out of the life and death things, and when babies are born.

"Sometimes it's the people they meet, sometimes it's just building relationships with animals."

Of those animals, it is the horses who have had greatest success at connecting with the most fragile of youngsters.

"Those big animals respond to affection and there's no judgment," he says.

"Lots of young people have clicked with those animals over time and they've been a really significant part of their process coming back to being, hopefully, a contributor to our community rather than being a drag on our community's resources."

For all its rewards, the work can also be challenging, not to mention downright heartbreaking at times.

Having been let down deeply in the past, many young people put up walls to protect themselves from hurt, a defence mechanism that hasn't always worked in Mr Francis' favour.

"It's demanding work, it is physically tiring and it's also emotionally quite exhausting too because you're dealing with young people with lots of issues," he says.

"We have young people with mental health issues, disability issues, behaviour issues, and drug and alcohol issues all in the mix, and they're all different.

"I've had some really sad things happen where we've built up a level of trust over a long time and then they've broken that trust and they've realised down the track what they've done, that someone in their life who's reliable and commits to things and follows through they've done wrong by, so there's that struggle all the time."

Another struggle, perhaps his most confronting, has been financial, with farm running costs continuing to rise while funding has dwindled.

"There has been a lot of funding cut out of our referring organisations and basically we're at the bottom of the tree, so whatever trickles down to us is whatever's left," Mr Francis says.

"There used to always be some form of discretionary funding that could be allocated to helping young people move forward, and a lot of that's not available any more. So where we had 25 young people a week last year, we're down to seven or eight a week at the beginning of this year, so it's affected us dramatically."

While Mr Francis oversees the farm, Mrs Francis takes care of her business, the Shoalhaven H&R Block franchise, which pays for the property's running costs, barely.

"Basically, Andrea and I ran out of money a few years ago, there was nothing left to keep the project going, so the little charity board sat down with me and said, 'Look, Tim, you have to start asking people to contribute to the running costs of the farm'," he says.

"Technically I still work as a volunteer, but we employ four young people, we have a lot of expenses and feed costs, our insurance has gone up hugely every year, and even finding someone to insure us last year was a challenge, too.

"It's not as though we have a philanthropist in the background who can provide the resources we need. It's all of our resources that we're using, and then service clubs and organisations do contribute, we have some wonderful relationships with our local clubs and churches, and they will often contribute once-off things for projects."

As word of their work has spread, offers of help from the community have grown, but accepting those offers has proved a challenge in itself.

"I used to say I can do it all myself, but this project is bigger than me. It's not my project, I think, so as much help as I can get that's appropriate, that's what I need, and so I'm asking more and more for that sort of support," Mr Francis says.

Although he is still full of passion for the farm, his thoughts have at times turned to a more restful future.

Dreams of retirement are still in the distance, but he hopes to come up with a succession plan so that one day he and Mrs Francis can take a step back.

But in the meantime, they are working with community members on a plan to build a respite house to help support families or carers in need of a break.

"I think there are opportunities for people to come to this area and take a break. We might try to look at something that would be subsidised, just our running costs, where people can come for two weeks at a time," he says.

There is always a long list of jobs to be done, and with plans continuing to crop up it may be a while yet before Mr Francis can finally stop to admire the view.

A Taste of Paradise holds an open morning one Wednesday a month between 10am and 12pm.

Visit atasteofparadise.com.au for more information.