NKHS Children and Family Center's Hands-On Therapeutic Approach Blossoms with a New Community Garden

The NKHS Children and Family Center is coming together, and many moving parts are working to make the dream of an interactive community center/therapeutic setting available to kids and families. Nathaniel Lesch-Huie, Clinical Care Coordinator, believes in the value of learning through hands-on engagement and involving clients in creating and completing projects that yield long-term benefits for clients and the community. Beyond learning how to grow food, understanding that growing things takes preparation, cultivation, and nurturing and is why the garden project at the Children and Family Center is so important to maintaining the community therapeutic values that the center is helping instill.

The garden space is now complete and ready for planting. Six 4'x8' raised beds are in a weed-protected mulched area. NKHS clients took part in every step of the process and now get to help maintain and grow a beautiful garden for years to come. Therapeutic engagement through hands-on activities continues to be an essential element of the work done at the center. With lots of resources and plenty of space and property around the building, the garden crew looks forward to the next project: creating nature trails in the woods behind the facility. Lots more to come, so stay tuned!