The Full Circle Community Network has peeled back the sod and set in place its starter horticultural therapy garden.
We have four raised beds on site on the grounds of the Tatamagouche Centre. With help from grants from the North Shore Area Community Health Board, the United Way, as well as from the federal government’s summer student employment program, our 2010 summer program is now underway.
As you read these lines, our first group will have already started on a summer activity program.
On Mondays throughout the summer, Willow Lodge will be bringing in a group of residents to participate in activities and enjoy an afternoon in the garden.
For this particular project, each participant gets assessed by our occupational therapist to establish objectives based on that person’s needs or disabilities. With help from our team from the Nova Scotia Agricultural College we then draw up appropriate activities. They might be designed to encourage cognitive functioning, eye-hand co-ordination, social integration, whatever the need may be. After that it’s all fun and laughter and “digging in the dirt”!
Now that the garden is in place, we invite other groups and individuals to come and take advantage of the setting. Our summer student, Lisa Rushton, will be actively recruiting. This is a garden for the whole community. The service is free.
Everyone has a family member who is struggling in some way. It could be because of depression, diabetes, MS, CF, CP, epilepsy, brain or spinal cord injury, bereavement, intellectual delays, or straight plain loneliness. Our goal is to reach out to you – but we’ll need to go through family members and friends to get there. Just call us.
If you love gardening or love to work with people, and if you have an hour to give at some point in time, we’ll also need volunteers of all ages to help us grow – even if you can only volunteer once. You don’t need to commit to anything past that one visit, you don’t need to get your hands dirty, and you don’t even need to know anything at all about gardening. You just need to want to help us in some little way, on your own terms.
We also want to work with local contractors and business people. Our policy is to “seek local first” when we hire services or buy supplies. If you are a contractor or run a business in the area, contact us and tell us about the services or products you offer. Together we can see if there could be a fit – now or somewhere down the road. Part of our mission is about community development and inclusion.
For individuals or businesses interested in making a financial donation, or offering a product or service as a charitable donation, we provide receipts for income tax purposes.
Call or email us for more information. 657-2644, fullcirclens@gmail.com.