Parents & Friends
How a Local Garden Helps Adults with Disabilities
by Anna Levy
Parents & Friends at the farmers market
Parents and Friends, a local organization focused on providing services and support to adults with disabilities, has a long history in Fort Bragg. Since its inception in 1955, when a group of women founded it to support families whose children were not allowed to attend school, it has been a mainstay of the community, seeking opportunities to help people integrate into everyday life on the coast through a variety of experiences, connections, and job support. It has only been in the last decade, though, that they’ve gotten into gardening.
According to Robert Kuhn, the garden leader for Parents and Friends, the CEO of the organization was inspired in 2013 to reach out to a local expert, Gowan Batist, to ask about the possibility of starting a garden on Cypress Street. “She built the garden,” Robert says, “and I was the first employee to take it over.”
From the beginning, the garden project fell under the LIFE initiative at Parents and Friends. “It stands for Learning Independence from Experience,” Robert explains, “and our department is called Community Integration.” In that department, he says, some people “get jobs, other people go on outings.” The garden, however, gives people a chance to do many things at once: get their hands dirty, learn the ins and outs of growing and tending to vegetables and flowers, and work with others.
It also gives people the opportunity to participate in the farmer’s market on Wednesdays in Fort Bragg, selling what they’ve grown and building a sense of community among other vendors. “We have regulars that come every week, and they love our flowers and lettuce, so people get to see those friends,” Robert notes. “It’s a way for them, our clients, to pretty much run the booth. They need a little bit of help with making change and answering questions. They get the feeling of independence.”
For Robert, that sense of community extends to other experts and resources throughout the Mendocino Coast. He regularly connects with others working on home gardens and larger projects, and he’s particularly appreciative of the group that works on the Garden Friendly Community Fort Bragg project. “People have really helped us,” he said. “They’ve helped us grow this.”
It’s a project that is likely to continue to grow. According to Xaviera Hall, the Program Director of Parents and Friends’ Community Integration Services, the organization serves 105 participants, and the garden has become an important part of services offered to their population. “The five who help Robert regularly are a small group from the LIFE department,” he says, though “there are other participants who assist in the garden but do not participate in the harvest and farmers market.”
It can be an important part of overall development. “The garden gives the participant the ability or opportunity to work on their individual goals,” he continues. “This could be healthy eating, counting money, or taking care of the environment. The garden has also been beneficial to our aging population.” He notes that, “it has helped with fine and gross motor skills and sensory therapy.” During the pandemic, the garden even helped fill the need for access to healthy food, for both participants and some staff. Through the garden project, they have built what he sees as “great natural support and lasting relationships.”
Of course, as a nonprofit, it seems that there is always a need for additional support. To that end, Robert says, he would love to have more people volunteering on their Sunday work days in the garden. “We are always there by noon,” he says, “and we work until 3:00 or 4:00.” Anyone who is interested can contact him directly or reach out to Parents and Friends through their main contacts. Xaviera adds that there are additional needs as an organization. “We are always looking for funds to help with paying for training, transportation, or even updated technology,” he says. “We are also looking for Direct Support Professionals, board members, and volunteers—people who want to make a difference in people’s lives.”
The goal for participants, he notes, is straightforward: “Help them be as independent as possible, confident, and live their best lives.” Though Robert has been gardening since the 1970s, it’s not his long history that he looks at for guidance. Rather, as he considers the people he works with and the possibilities within the garden, “it’s the future that inspires me.”
Parents and Friends, Inc.
parentsandfriends.org
Contact Robert at gardenleader@parentsandfriends.org or Xaviera Hall at xhall@parentsandfriends.org for additional information. Find the garden project participants at the Fort Bragg Farmers Market every Wednesday afternoon.
Anna Levy lives on the Mendocino Coast with her family.
Photos courtesy of Parents & Friends