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COMMUNITY HORTICULTURAL THERAPY PROJECTSCommunity Projects in BC and Alberta
Providence Farm
My horticultural therapy career began at Providence Farm in 1989. Recently returned from Papua New Guinea with CUSO and wanting to establish roots in the Cowichan Valley, I answered an ad in the local paper for a greenhouse/nursery employee who would work with persons with mental health issues. I quickly recognized the need for community integration and for the creation of a healthier mixed community, and so I began introducing and developing horticulture programs for persons with barriers to employment and education. Together with supervisor Jack Hutton, a dedicated Board of Directors, the Sister's of St. Ann, and Providence Farm's wonderful staff and volunteers, I developed and managed:
In addition to program management, I oversaw the operation of a market garden, field crops, greenhouse, nursery, orchard, landscape maintenance, small engine workshop, woodworking shop, St. Ann's Allotment Garden, store and value-added products both retail and wholesale. I saw it was paramount to balance the needs of the persons using the services of Providence Farm with the needs both of the farm and the wider community. In Spring 2001 and after 13 years, I stepped down from being Programs Manager of Providence Farm, so I could concentrate on promoting and providing Canadian and International educational opportunities in Horticultural Therapy. Jubilee GardensGardenPals at Work GardenPals is an intergenerational gardening program currently running at the Jubilee Community Garden in Centennial Park, Duncan B. C. The garden itself has been in production for 2 years and, with no fence, donates 100+ bags of organic vegetables each year, besides what the gardeners take home. Education plays a large part at the garden, and GardenPals is a way to support that goal, as well as offering a chance for “growing neighbourhood connections”. Duncan Manor Seniors and students at Khowhemun Elementary School are all neighbours of the Jubilee Community Garden, but there is little chance for the 2 groups to meet or interact. Designed for these 2 populations, GardenPals is a Horticultural Therapy program which has been blessed with a lot of local support and is enjoying sweet success. Khowhemun Elementary students and teachers enjoyed their tours of the garden in 2005 and requested additional programming for 2006. Duncan Manor represented a group of potential volunteers, so I began talks with the new manager and with the principal. I thought long and hard about what I could offer, what the participants would need, what the benefits would be to all the parties, who I would approach for funding, etc. Making sure that I had the garden group’s backing, I started to put together my proposal in the fall and found that there was incredible support for my ideas as they were forming. We soon had donations of a meeting room for 4 training sessions in March, T-shirts for the Seniors, food, and photocopying. I went ahead and pursued funding, as I do need a little income sometimes, and started requesting letters of support and funding from the involved parties. This brought the writing of many letters asking for letters, including drafts of the letters that I wanted from them, and more letters. Soon I had a teacher contact at the school, someone I could email constantly to figure out the details as they evolved, and letters of support, with values of the donations. I was so touched by the generosity offered to “my baby” that I vowed that I would do the program as a volunteer if necessary, just to make it happen. Operating on faith, I kept working on details and schedules, assuming that the pilot project was a go. I kept talking about GardenPals, even mentioning my frustrations and problems, and found that people wanted to help. I called myself “your favourite garden pest” and kept bugging people. Since there weren’t sufficient funds for a wage, the garden group agreed to give me an honorarium for the program hours that I would put in. There were 4 training sessions for the Seniors in March, which provided background information about horticulture and filled in gaps in their knowledge, as well as providing a tea party every Monday morning. We had herb tea and black tea, platters of organic fruit and tea sandwiches with flowers. We had half an hour to just enjoy each other’s company and sample teas, after a half-hour lecture. There were hand-outs each week, so that people had something to take away, and a walk to the garden and back, for the last half-hour. A total of 13 Seniors participated that month. In April we had 2 more training sessions to fill in the volunteer forms required by the school (and a standard procedure these days). As the weather improved, the attendance dropped, but the 4 GardenPals said that they would meet the commitments to the students….for all 3 months. Before April, I met with the 9 teachers involved and discussed the programs. I brought them some seeds, so that the children could start growing things in their classrooms for the communal beds, which are for donation. April’s program featured a tour of the garden, sampling and digging for worms. All 3 programs are conducted in stations, so that the 3 groups rotate around the garden and Seniors only have a maximum of 10 children at a time. The students are so engaged that there are no discipline problems. They sample and dig every month, since those are popular activities. The classes learned that Tools Are Cool in May and will find that The Garden is an Ecosystem in June. The students will have a collection of information about the garden and their park by July, and we all will have had a lot of experiences there and a lot of fun. Funds donated now surpass my budget, so the GardenPals will decide what to do with the extra monies. I’m hoping to take them out for a great dinner, which I feel they will deserve after hosting a total of 600 students in 3 months. My monthly reports to the parties involved serve to update the supporters and share with them how we are successful, so that they can feel included and proud. GardenPals has received a hand-written note of congratulations from B.C. Provincial Education Minister, Shirley Bond. The teachers appreciate the knowledgeable volunteers found in the GardenPals and the hands-on programs. The principal is interested in keeping the programs going after this spring. Some children remember the GardenPals’ names; some are using tools for the first time ever; all of the children love to come to the garden. These are all parts of the sweet success of this pilot project and I wonder where it is going as it takes on a life of its own. The evaluation forms filled in by Seniors, teachers and students at the end will guide us in the next step, so we will have to wait for the results. Submitted by Carol Sim, Horticultural Therapist. Communities in Bloom, Drumheller AlbertaPatricia Parker continues to break new ground for horticultural therapy programming. This year Trish established the “InsideOut” Program at the Drumheller Penitentiary. In addition to the acres of vegetables grown on the property for institutional use for and by the prisoners, Trish has expanded to a HT program within the prison for those with fewer privileges. In addition, Trish is now the Chair of the Drumheller Communities in Bloom and continues to take “her guys” into the community to maintain and beautify the town of Drumheller. Also, she has now secured a free lease of land for the first community garden for Drumheller. For more information please contact Patricia Parker . Columbia Valley Botanical Gardens and Centre for Sustainable LivingThis last May I travelled to Invermere to present at “Field of Chefs” as a guest of the Columbia Valley Botanical Gardens and Sustainable Living Centre. This promotion was not only to inspire the community to produce and eat locally but to promote the greenhouse being built at David Thompson High School. This greenhouse will be energy efficient and will provide community programming for the high school and the neighbouring College of the Rockies campus. The programming interest will be in horticulture, horticultural therapy and employment training. For more information please contact http://www.conservancy.bc.ca/CVBG/. Sukunka Group of the Chetwynd Social Planning SocietyMarcia Foffonoff of the Chetwynd Social Planning Society contacted me earlier this year to provide a Horticultural Therapy workshop in Chetwynd this September. I was very pleased to hear that the Chetwynd hospital has a working therapeutic garden that is used by mental health and addictions, First Nations, long term care and the high school. I am excited to be able to be part of this organizations accomplishments and to see the garden for myself in the next few weeks! Nanoose First Nations |
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Site Map : Horticultural Resources Copyright © Christine Pollard 2008 Website Design Jackson on the Moon Last modified: |
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