Cultivating Memories: A Community Gardening Project
Cultivating memories is a project that adds raised, accessible garden beds to long-term care facilities and retirement residents to promote the wellbeing of older adults at these facilities. So far, a total of eighteen garden beds have been added to six facilities all across Huron County.
Part II: Expanding to new horizons, 2023
Listen and learn from residents at Braemar Retirement Centre and Harbour Hill: Retirement Suites as they discuss their experience with the introduction of the raised garden beds.
Gardeners were able to reminisce and share their experience and expertise that comes from making communities bloom.
A team came together to make this project possible. Project Leads, Nancy Simpson and Sage Milne with assistance by Research Assistant, Alexa Harrison facilitated the addition of the garden beds to each of the new facilities and interviewed the residents. The staff at each of these facilities were incredible in making this project possible. Thank you to Steve Moran for building the garden beds and the Goderich and District Horticultural Society for their plant donation.
In September 2023, Sage Milne presented an online lecture titled “Cultivating Memories: A Community Gardening Project”.
Joining her were panelists Betty Hendricks, President of the Goderich and District Horticultural Society, Ruby Debrouwer, Recreational Manager at Harbour Hill and Michele Melady-Young, retired nurse and Master Gardener.
Cultivating Memories Lecture:
Cultivating Memories Garden Celebration Event:
Gateway CERH organized a garden party to celebrate with the residents the addition of the garden beds at Harbour Hill: Retirement Suites. It was a wonderful event where staff, funders and residents were able to speak about their experience of the raised garden beds. We would like to thank TD Friends of the Environment for funding this project in the spring of 2023.
Part I: Gestation of a gardening project, 2022
Gateway presents a video featuring twelve residents within the four long term care home and retirement residences who share the impact the project had on themselves and others.
The Gateway CERH team celebrated the success of the introduction of raised garden beds at Goderich Place Retirement Residence, Bluewater Rest Home, Huronview and Huronlea in Rural Southwestern Ontario.This project led by Sam Murray and Nancy Simpson has been a wonderful success with both the staff and residents enjoying having more accessible garden beds.
Gateway CERH would like to thank all of the donors that made this project possible in 2022. We are incredibly grateful for the support from Libro Credit Union and the Canada Healthy Communities Initiative funded by the Government of Canada.
