THUNDER BAY – Port Arthur Rotary and the Salvation Army Journey to Life Centre celebrated another bountiful season at the Journey to Life Centre's healing garden and recreation area.
“We use this garden to help with therapeutic parts of our program. It also helps in the sense of communication and interaction with the clients. Though we can't make enough vegetables to feed our centre, we try to take some of the vegetables from the garden and incorporate them into every meal,” executive director for the Salvation Army’s Journey to Life Centre Gary Ferguson told Newswatch.
The Port Arthur Rotary has been actively involved with the healing garden from planning to planting and cultivating to harvest. President David Legge said, “growing things is just rewarding. It's just a lot of satisfaction with it.”
“From what I gather, and historically there hasn’t been a large number of it, but a number of the residents here have gone on to glory and tremendous advancement in their lives because of the direct relationship with this whole thing.”
Ferguson said the residents at the Journey to Life Centre have taken a keen interest in cultivating their own food.
“I think many of the people that we are working with have had gardening experience in the past. They may have had family members that garden. They may have had a garden as a child,” he said.
“It also gives the person the chance to see things grow. And when you look at certain things, for example, you start from a seed then you have a beautiful sunflower plant that's 8 ft high. It makes people feel good about nurturing something in their life.”
The centre takes a holistic approach to homelessness, offering emergency shelter and longer-term accommodation for those in need. The centre can help up to 20 people at a time transition from the streets into a home of their own.
Even though some residents may not have expressed interest in greening their thumbs, Ferguson pointed out that those who don’t garden still find the garden and recreation area comforting.
The residents can snack on vegetables, or play basketball and other games as they enjoy the green space.
“The therapeutic part of the garden is its healing, its growth. It's helping people with that holistic approach that you're trying to get in their life,” said Ferguson.
He also pointed out that, this year, the garden had an abundance of sweetgrass which they shared with the Indigenous Friendship Centre. In a way, the healing garden cultivated a partnership between the two organizations.
Ferguson said that the centre will be looking into adding a greenhouse to extend the gardening season.
