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| Marion prison gardening program |
| By marionstar.com |
| Published: 08/08/2011 |
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MARION -- Adam Breece is surrounded by prison inmates serving time for serious crimes. Yet he throws his head back, squeezes his eyes closed and smiles brightly. He lets out a groan. To say he is non-verbal is misleading, because there is no mistaking his expression of joy. Breece, 19, has cerebral palsy, a disease of the central nervous system that limits his mobility and his ability to speak. But he is not defined by the disease. He is an avid gardener. It's an interest he shares with 44 inmates participating in the gardening program at the Marion Correctional Institution, where he was invited to give a presentation Tuesday on accessible gardening. It's a subject Breece knows well. He researched adaptive gardening techniques for people with disabilities for his senior project at Tri-Rivers Career Center, from which he graduated in 2011 with a diploma in landscaping and gardening. Breece uses a communication device that emits a computer-generated voice with an odd, robotic cadence, based on keys he touches on a keyboard. Overhead, a PowerPoint presentation churns on a projection screen, as a room full of attentive inmates listen intently in the prison's training room. Breece details the benefits of gardening for the handicapped. He tells how the bending and stretching, however difficult, improves his physical strength and flexibility. He also touts the stress relief physical labor provides, and the simple joy of "sitting quietly" and admiring a living, growing creation. It is a benefit the inmates in attendance echoed during a later tour of the prison garden. Breece then details the drawbacks, including tools that are oversized or require a firm grip, the dangers of uneven ground for folks with balance or stability issues, and the pain of bending and kneeling for people with inflexible joints or who need a wheelchair to get around. Accompanying his narrative are photographs of adapted tools with shorter handles, leveled pathways around plots and an elevated planter that sits on legs, like a table. Finally, Breece reminds his audience that adaptive gardening techniques can help older adults enjoy their passion late into life. Read More. |
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I have heard about the Marion prison gardening program is just so great and effective, I have got one of the best landscaping stone borders ideas that might look really beautiful with their program, Thanks for the share.