Consumer’s vegetable garden offers bountiful harvest, therapeutic escape amid pandemic
- Details
- September 23, 2021
Gardening can improve your physical health. It invites you to get outside, exercise, and eat healthy food.
But can the activity also improve your mental wellbeing? For Lance V., a consumer at SERV Behavioral Health System,
Inc., the answer is a resounding yes.
In May, as the nation prepared for another summer of restrictions and uncertainty, Lance turned his sights to the patch
of unused land behind the Cranbury Neck group home in Middlesex County.
A plan in mind, Lance teamed up with other group home residents and three staff members: Nursing Services Coordinator
Rena Sandomir, Residential Program Manager Christy Hudnett, and Sr. Counselor Elisha Dupree. Together, they tilled the
soil, planted an assortment of vegetable seeds and cornstalks, and transformed the once-empty space into a sprawling
garden.
Since then, the garden has produced tomatoes, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, baby Japanese eggplants, and bell peppers.
Lance and the residents of the Cranbury Neck group home have enjoyed these vegetables all summer, preparing several
nutritious and tasty meals.
“About twice a week, we gather vegetables from the garden and use them to make a nice dinner,” Lance says. “We’ve made
cucumber salads, sliced tomato sandwiches, and an eggplant and squash sauté. The veggies are always delicious, and
everyone really enjoys picking and preparing them.”
The garden has also been a source of solace for Lance. Much like his mindfulness exercises, he says gardening has
improved his mental wellbeing, reducing feelings of stress and anxiety.
“I tend to the garden every morning, around 7:00 a.m., making sure the plants get enough water, weeding, and anything
else that is needed,” he says. “It’s therapeutic and relaxing, and it helps distract me from current events and anything
negative I may be thinking or feeling.
“It also feels great to see the results of my work—to watch the plants grow and know that I helped care for them.”
Lance, who will turn 71 in November, has been a consumer at SERV since 2016 and a resident at the Cranbury Neck group
home for just over two years. A former teacher, he holds a degree in history from Rutgers University.
Lance says his experience at SERV has been “extremely positive.” He has formed a lot of great relationships with
staff members who always have his “best interests in mind” and have helped him realize his "full potential."
He has formed close bonds with many consumers, as well. “We are like a family here,” he says. “We all get along well, and I enjoy the comradery.
“I have a great support system at SERV, and at this point in my life, I really value all of these close relationships I have formed.”
With
the end of summer in
sight, Lance is
already looking
forward to next
year. He says he
plans to expand the
vegetable garden,
adding even more
plants, which he
hopes will produce
another bountiful
harvest.
Once
the pandemic is
over, Lance would
also like to
volunteer at a local
nursing home or for
the Make-A-Wish
Foundation.
“I
want to give back,”
he says. “Despite my
problems, I do feel
like, in my life,
I’ve been fortunate
in many ways. I have
a lot of great
family members and
friends who care
about me and have
helped me. And I’d
like to help others
who do not have the
support system that
I do.”
