With an outdoor space for conversation, raised garden beds, fruit trees and even Pilates, a committee has established roots to bring a healing garden to Campbellford Memorial Hospital (CMH).
Located in the Municipality of Trent Hills, CMH recently received a grant to help kick-start the project and has established a community healing garden committee to get the initiative off the ground.
Jessica Clarke, manager of community programs for Campbellford Memorial Multicare Lodge and Trent Hills GAIN & Community Mental Health, recently shared with kawarthaNOW how the healing garden concept was planted.
“Originally the idea came about from the community mental health program at CMH as an area for additional resources to address food insecurities with healthy, organic options through raised garden beds,” Clarke said.
“It is designed as a way to further support food security, healthy habits, and education through the growing of herbs, fruits, and vegetables.”
The vision also includes creating an outdoor space to “promote mindful commune with nature and small group interactions,” and peer support by providing meeting space and activities related to the care of the garden that encourage social interactions and exercise, Clarke noted.
“We are at the beginning of the planning process,” she added.
The community healing garden committee’s members are passionate about creating a space where service users, visitors, staff, and caregivers can connect to nature to promote restorative stress management.
“The committee has been identifying partners to ensure we are meeting the healing and spiritual needs of the community,” Clarke said. “We are in the process of requesting donations, applying for grants and requesting support from community horticultural partners and our Indigenous partners.”
The project recently received a $4,000 boost from the Cameco Fund for Mental Health, which will be used for the purchase of benches.
Meanwhile, Jeannie Gane Photography donated her time to create the committee’s logo it will display on future funding request materials. A community member has also offered to provide Pilates in the outdoor space this summer.
The area is on a hill with two already-defined levels. The goal is to have the lower area filled with raised gardens and fruit trees with seating areas for conversation and games, Clarke said. The committee envisions the upper level encompassing a seating area with picnic tables, bird feeders, and wind chimes.
“The higher level would be where we would like to add an accessible walkway in the future for patients to gain access from the hospital side of the garden property,” Clarke noted. “There is a natural area separating the lower level from the higher level we would like to cultivate with perennial flowers.”
While it’s early days, the committee members are aiming to have a few raised garden beds and benches completed by late spring or early in the summer.
“With the need for additional funding for this project, we will be reaching out to local businesses and community clubs to help fund specific items like picnic tables, soil, mulch, seating, et cetera,” Clarke said.
Clarke said research indicates communal gardening and healing gardens are associated with positive mental health and physical health indicators, such as increased objective and subjective well-being markers, increase in intake of fruits and vegetables, and higher levels of resiliency and optimism.
“We are most excited to provide a welcoming, inclusive and stigma-free green space to all patients, staff and visitors of CMH,” she said.
“Although it is a big fundraising effort, I would say we are most excited about providing an area which is accessible to all patients of the hospital, particularly our (alternate level of care) patients to access the outdoors for health, programming, and general wellness.”
