Posted on September 14, 2022
Help Us Bloom: Growing the Healing Journey at Mary Free Bed
Horticulture therapy is among the many recreational therapy interventions offered at Mary Free Bed. Our outdoor therapy garden provides patients the opportunity to focus on functional skills, learn and explore gardening, practice getting back to their favorite hobby at home and take time to connect with nature.
Following an injury or illness, our rehabilitation teams work with patients to help build skills gardening skills – from shopping to purchase seeds and tools to hands-on activities like planting in raised beds, using adaptive gardening tools, and safely transitioning to uneven surfaces. It’s a peaceful extension of our treatment space that fosters different types of therapy also helps to heal hearts and minds.
This month, friends of Mary Free Bed can help our inpatient recreation therapy team bloom by voting for MFB to win the National Garden Bureau’s 2022 Therapeutic Garden Grant. The National Garden Bureau is a non-profit organization with a mission and purpose to educate, inspire, and motivate people to garden.
With grant funds, our rec therapy team would expand our Therapy Garden by creating a “live wall.” This element of the space will be made entirely out of plants and help to create a more intimate therapy garden area for patients and visitors. The wall will be positioned so that it blocks the view of the West Entrance parking area, making it a calmer, quieter environment where patients and families can experience an escape from a traditional hospital setting.
The first-place winner of the online voting will receive $3,000 from the National Garden Bureau for MFB to continue its mission in making the live-wall dream a reality.
Voting begins on September 15 and ends on September 30, 2022.
Watch the video to learn more about the Mary Free Bed recreational therapy garden and its benefits.
