Garden Works Initiative for Resilience and Self-Care

The Garden Works Initiative for Resilience and Self-Care is grounded in the simple proposition that good behavioral health is closely related to sustainable relationships among people, in the community and within natural ecosystems.  The Integrated holistic approach to health and well-being builds on people’s natural inclinations toward resilience and their own abilities for self-care.  Garden Works behavioral health supportive services promote self-care and are tailored to meet the individual needs of the people we serve but typically include natural life themes that include activities related to:

• Community and home gardening
• Employment opportunities within local food industries
• Nature encounters
• Walking and hiking
• Shopping, cooking and nutrition
• Pet and animal husbandry

We meet people wherever they may be to walk beside them as “collaborative helpers” on their own unique journey, no matter how difficult the challenges may be.  And while good behavioral health through healthy life activities is the Integrated way, we also work closely with therapists and primary care practitioners to make sure that Garden Works supportive services are an integral part of behavioral and medical treatment care plans.  Finally, Garden Works activities help to maximize employment potential for the people we serve throughout ever expanding community marketplaces associated with locally sourced healthy foods.  And Garden Works related skills also translate well for other employment opportunities.

Garden Works Activities

Garden Works activities help people to develop resilience and self-care skills.

• Teamwork related to Garden Works activities help people to learn communications skills that support self-advocacy, improve socialization and increase job readiness.
• Garden Works activities help with developing life planning and budgeting skills as demonstrated by garden planning, lay out, planting, all the way through to harvest and meal planning.
• Self-expression skills grow as people interact with fellow Garden Works participants in positive and proactive ways through community gardening.

Garden Works activities help people to manage and recover from symptoms associated with behavioral health conditions, through sustaining and improving self-care.

• Garden Works activities promote self-management through self-expression and use of soothing skills that reduce the experience of anxiety, depression and addiction cravings.
• Participants acquire skills like mindfulness and therapeutic breathing through the natural movement and flow of the Garden Works experience.
• People with behavioral health conditions improve health habits through exercise, smoking reduction (or cessation) and group social support for healthy behavior change through Garden Works activities.
• Participants develop and maintain more assertive communication skills along with fellow participants through Garden Works activities.

CHAUNCEY COMMUNITY GARDEN
ROWETON FARM