August 22, 2001
Garden plants seeds of healing
Shelter residents tend Helen's House Community Garden
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Healing can come in many forms.
Working with their hands this summer, digging in the dirt, weeding and harvesting, residents of Helen's House took some steps toward healing through their work in the shelter's community garden.
Coming to the Women's Resource Center shelter after escaping from an abusive home life, sometimes with just the clothes on their backs, many residents have found solace among the growing plants.
"A garden is life, something you put in the ground and see it come up," said a resident staying at the shelter who often waters and weeds in the garden despite her broken arm. "I was raised up on a farm and this is something like home."
"The garden helps us, brings us all together as a family - we're all in the same situation."
The shelter's first ever garden - named the Helen's House Community Garden - was planted this spring by residents who left long before the plants began to bear. Nurtured by the revolving roster of residents, who typically stay between three and 45 days, the current residents are reaping heaps of vegetables as summer harvest turns toward fall.
So far, they have picked everything from summer squash, zucchini, cabbages, beans, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. Residents also planted corn, but area deer got to it first.
The garden was merely in the wish stage last year. But this spring it became a reality when the jail crew came over to till up an approximately 20- by 20-foot space. Donated plants and a lot of sweat equity by residents got things rolling. Dedicated weeding and watering through the dry summer kept things growing.
Shelter advocate Sara Anderson said keeping busy is very important for women at the shelter. She knows this from her own experience as a domestic violence survivor, when she said that if someone gave her a floor to wash she would do it three times.
"When someone is in transition, it helps to be doing something," Anderson said. "It's an opportunity to think and remember who you are. You put women and children in a safe place and they can solve their problems."
All the work in the Helen's House Community garden is voluntary. But those who do pitch in cherish the opportunity for a slice of normalcy in their lives turned upside down by domestic violence.
"One of the residents who was here worked in the garden all night weeding," said a resident. "She just thought the world of the garden and wanted to make it look the best."
Volunteer cook Ann Miller comes in every Thursday to cook for the residents. Inspired by the abundance of fresh produce, 'Grandma Ann' made a special trip in to town on BATA from her Empire home last Wednesday to pick up vegetables to take home and prep. When she returned Thursday with piles of chopped zucchini and cucumbers, she began working on a feast for the house: fresh salad and a saucy zucchini casserole topped with cheese.
Not only does the garden save some money on the shelter's food purchases, but Miller sees intangible rewards that go providing beyond fresh produce.
"The girls have really pitched in and taken pride in the garden," said Miller, who has been cooking once a week for five years. "Sometimes they will sit in the garden and have coffee, they will talk about how they worked in gardens in the past."