Little Gardeners: New horticultural-therapy effort at Children's Center is a winner

If there was ever a case for horticultural therapy -- the discipline that unites gardening skills with mental, spiritual and physical development -- then the Children's Center for the Physically Disabled is it.

A nurturing environment that combines children with physical disabilities with children with who have typical physical abilities, the Children's Center has been at the corner of Coliseum Drive and Reynolda Road for over 55 years.

The center is a partnership between the United Way organizations of Forsyth, Yadkin and Davie counties and the Winston Salem/Forsyth County Schools. The partnership allows the center to work with infants and toddlers as well as school-age children.

The focus is on children with severe to moderate disabilities. There are 105 children, including 18 typical students, in the programs for 3- and 4-year-olds, and there are six in kindergarten, according to Mike Britt, the center's executive director.

JoAnn Yates, 52, came to the Children's Center as a horticultural-therapy intern in April.

Yates was completing her professional-registration requirements for the American Therapy Association. Yates finished her class work and then started looking around Winston Salem for a place where she could complete her 480-hour volunteer internship. She has lived in Winston-Salem since 1986. She soon landed at the Children's Center, where Denni Peebles, the director of development and donor relations, quickly recognized the potential.

"JoAnn gave a presentation to the staff at the Children's Center about horticultural therapy and after the meeting I just corralled her," Peebles said. "I just thought we would get great benefit from such a unique program. Many, many children here have never had the chance to play in the dirt, let alone grow something. These kids really get it; they have a sense of ownership in the garden."

Yates was soon designing the garden. It was dedicated on Nov. 3 in honor of Louise B. Bahnson, a supporter who loved gardening who recently died. Four large beds (8 feet by 4 feet by 12 feet) sit on a base of crush-and-run gravel. They are easily accessed by wheelchair, but they are also convenient for a standing child. The beds are surrounded by shrubs, herbs and vegetables that help define the main space.

Brilliantly colored large pots in purple, chartreuse and turquoise hold mint, snapdragons, kale, lettuce oregano, lettuce and pansies.

Yates used volunteer help to develop the garden. More than 200 United Way volunteers removed sod and prepared the soil. Much of the plant material was contributed at cost by Forsyth Technical Community College, where Yates is an adjunct instructor in horticulture. She also is the curator of the Hartz garden on the FTCC campus.

Grant Oates, a friend of the Children's Center, did the carpentry on the beds for a discount price. School-system employees dug the foundation and laid drainage at the site. Meredith Vogler identified the perfect location for the garden.

"We are not so much after a beautiful design as we are concerned with inclusion," Yates said.

The garden is not only accessible from several doorways, but it is visible from most of the windows.

"It is a big charge to be working in the garden and turn around and see all the children in the window watching," Yates said.

The concept behind the gardens is sensory. Recently, Yates painted gourds with the children. They were exploring color, weight, shape and texture. The garden is full of fragrant herbs and edibles. Often the mouth is as likely to be used as a tool of exploration as the hands.

"One of the major goals at the Children's Center is to give our children as much experience as other children get as often as we possibly can," Britt said. "JoAnn's sensitivity to our children is just remarkable. The Children's Center is such a happy place, and this just takes it one step higher."

Yates is currently in the second phase of horticultural therapy at the center. She is designing elements of her horticultural-therapy work that integrate with individual education programs outlined for each student. She may work with the speech therapist, for example, to illustrate weight, color or texture.

"This is such a wonderful supporting profession," Yates said. "My work often reinforces what the teachers do. It is just another layer of support for this wonderful organization."

In the third phase, to begin in the spring of 2010, horticultural-therapy programs designed for parents and staff members will be added. And a plan for a healing garden -- a space designed for respite and renewal -- will be developed.

Yates is currently halfway through her internship and hopes to find financing to make the program fiscally sustainable. She is writing grants and trying to find more sources of money to keep it going.

Regardless of her future role in this particular garden, she has found her niche in horticultural therapy.

"You know when you find something and think, ‘This is it. This is what I'm looking for.' That is how I feel about this." Yates said.

If you have a gardening question or story idea, write to David Bare in care of Features, Winston-Salem Journal, P.O. Box 3159, Winston-Salem, NC 27101-3159, or send e-mail to his attention to gardening@wsjournal.com.