While carefully placing tiny banana pepper seeds into black pots filled with soil, the young man looked around the patio, filled with tables and chairs, and to the greenhouse beyond. “Who usually comes here?” he asked.
“Adults with developmental disabilities,” Horticulture Manager Alexis Fox replied.
“Oh,” he said, “I have some learning disabilities in math and reading. I didn’t read until I was in third grade.”
Alexis gestured toward the pots of soil stacked on the tables in the patio.
“The cool thing is,” Alexis said, “you’re putting these seeds in the pots today, and next week, they’ll start sprouting. Each one will be a different size because they all grow at different rates” but each will still yield a vegetable or flower.
Hospital Without Walls
The young man was part of a planting crew made up of individuals served by our Assertive Community Treatment team. Often called a hospital without walls, this program provides 24-hour wrap-around care for adults with severe mental illness who might otherwise be incarcerated or hospitalized.
Our ACT team consists of a psychiatrist, therapists, nurses, vocational specialists, and peer specialists who meet clients where they are to offer holistic services in natural settings and to provide intensive support to help individuals with severe mental illness live successfully in their communities.
The team works collaboratively to help clients, who often have a disorder that significantly impairs functioning. In addition to treatment and vocational services, the team regularly schedules outings (which team members call ACTivities) to help individuals develop social skills, build supportive relationships, and participate in community life.
Reaping the Benefits of Planting
This day, the ACTivity took place at the main site of our day support program for adults with developmental disabilities. Each spring, Rappahannock Adult Activities holds a plant sale to raise money that helps adults with disabilities enjoy community activities, develop skills, find passions, and build relationships.
The day support site at 750 Kings Highway hosts RAAI’s horticulture program, with a large greenhouse and a hoop house.
Day support participants reap several benefits from horticulture:
- Working with plants provides an opportunity to nurture and the chance to learn new skills.
- Planting seeds, washing pots, mixing soil, and sticking labels on pots help develop fine motor skills.
- The greenhouse and gardens provide a rich sensory environment with diverse textures, scents, and colors.
- Garden encourages movement and exercise, which promotes health.
- Horticulture tasks require attention, memory, and problem-solving skills.
- Nurturing plants and witnessing their growth fosters a sense of purpose and responsibility.
- Spending time in nature has a calming effect, reducing stress and anxiety levels.
- Working together in a shared environment fosters a sense of community and belonging.
- Taking care of plants promotes a feeling of connection with nature.
And, as most gardeners know, nurturing a plant from seed to bloom offers a huge sense of accomplishment.
Horticulture activities cultivate some of the same benefits for individuals with mental illness.
Schizophrenia or bipolar can often be isolating illnesses, said Nick Harrison, a therapist and team lead with our ACT program. Some of the symptoms, such as paranoia or hearing voices, can make people feel more comfortable on their own.
Engaging with others can have significant therapeutic benefits, and socializing while doing something repetitive such as filling pots with soil or planting seeds can seem less intimidating.
Helping others also leads to a sense of community pride and inclusion.
Community Collaborations
As the ACT crew planted seeds, Peer Specialist Javonne Kirby explained that these plants would not be used for the RAAI spring plant sale. Instead, they will go to Downtown Greens for the nonprofit community garden to use in its youth programs.
“The kids will come in and it will be like magic that these plants are already growing,” she said.
“Like Jack and the Beanstalk,” added a client as he planted cucumber seeds.
The connections between RAAI, ACT and Downtown Greens make sense, Alexis said. The horticulture program naturally intertwines with several community efforts.
The day support participants go to the Fredericksburg Food Bank each week to pick up cardboard boxes. They bring most of the boxes to the recycling center but keep flat boxes to use during the plant sale, to help customers carry their purchases.
They also collect seeds from the food bank. They use some of those seeds to grow plants for the sale, but also donate some to the Master Gardeners association, school programs, and seed libraries at local branches of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library.
Harvesting Yields
The day support program gleans a few benefits from these efforts. Notably, day support relies on the plant sale to raise money. While the program’s participants have Medicaid waivers to pay for day support services, the reimbursement rates don’t cover the full costs of providing these services. So, the horticulture program likes to save pennies where it can. Using donated flats and seeds helps the plant sale’s revenue spread further.
The program recycles pots from each sale. They encourage shoppers to return the plastic pots. The day support participants wash the pots to use in the next year’s sale. They also keep some plants to use to gather seeds to use for the next sale.
“The more we can recycle, the more we help the environment and the less money we have to spend,” Alexis said. “Plus, we help our community at the same time.”