Residents of an Elmira District Community Living home can enjoy accessible flowerbeds and gardens thanks in part to a $750 donation from the Grand River Conservation Foundation.
“Ultimately, we would like to build them right up so that the wheelchairs can access them,” said Heather Slade, primary support staff for Elmira District Community Living. “Forward our hope is that maybe we can get some more trees – that’s our hope that eventually we can get some fruit trees going around the back and just make it more accessible.”
EDCL is a non-profit, charitable association founded in 1961 in order to ensure that persons with an intellectual disability could live in a state of dignity, share in all elements of living in the community and have the opportunity to participate effectively. Since starting their gardening campaign, the group has had to think of creative ways in order to fund the tools and plants needed for the initiative.
“The first year that we started, we didn’t have hardly any money, really,” said Michelle Ingram-Smith, supervisor for residential services. “The local landscape florist company would let us take what we want – they just wanted to help the community. So we’ve had some really good partnerships.”
The garden and its produce gets used by the staff as well. Clients and staff make their own salsa, pumpkin and apple pies, for instance.
“We’ve been using everything and we want to try, if we can over time, to enlarge and maybe allow some of the other group homes in a non-COVID time to have a plot,” said Ingram-Smith.
The garden and the visitors it draws has been a boon to the residents, the organization says. With social isolation being a challenge for group homes even in larger cities, fostering interactions with new people is key for Elmira District Community Living.
“[Being in] Elmira does tend to isolate them, even though they’re only five minutes away,” said Cheryl Peterson, services director at EDCL. “So it’s a way to bring the community here too.”
For Brooke Smith from the Grand River Conservation Foundation, the knowledge that their donation will go towards providing assistance for EDCL residents is more than enough thanks.
“The routine of coming out and everything is great for the clients as well, getting them engaged with it,” said Smith.
As summer is in full swing, the residents at EDCL can rest assured that they will soon have some more accessible gardens to continue practicing their green thumbs.
