KCVA Adds Veteran Community Garden for Care-Farming Recreational Therapy at Honor VA Clinic

Veterans, the Kansas City VA Psychosocial Rehabilitation Recovery Center/Mental Health Intense Case Management staff, Voluntary Services, and the grounds crew has teamed up with the Kansas City Community Gardens, University of Missouri Extension, and local scouts’ programs to build the new KCVA Veterans’ Community Garden at the Honor VA Clinic in Kansas City. This new project was made possible by funds raised through Voluntary Services as well as grants written by Paula Newton, recreational therapist, through Sprouts grant, Kansas City Community Gardens, and Kansas City Water.

The Veterans’ Community Garden will allow Veterans to participate in care-farming, which is the therapeutic use of farming practices. Care-farming is used in recreational therapy for the purpose of promoting healing, education, mental health, and social well-being.

History and planning of the garden

The initial community garden was created at the KCVA Linwood campus in 2010 and relocated to the Honor VA Clinic in 2015. With use over the years, opportunities for improvements like taller garden beds and easier access were prioritized by the Veterans and the providers who were part of this project. The success of this previous garden motivated this team to expand the project, creating plans for this larger, more accessible garden. On March 16, 2022, six raised garden beds were built and filled to start the vegetable portion of the garden.

Future goals for the garden

This project will include retaining walls for sensory, pollinator, and butterfly garden areas. These specially created garden areas support Veteran social interactions, positive experiences, mindfulness, improved cognition, and reduce stress. A 1,100-gallon water tower will be installed on site. This new garden location includes purposeful design features such as wheelchair accessible paths, adaptable seating to garden, and ADA compliant distance between garden beds for easy maneuvering. A zero-entry access ramp will be added in the near future to improve access the garden.

Benefits for the Veterans

Veteran patients have been involved in this project from the beginning as part of their therapy process. According to Newton, “Having the Veterans involved from the ground-up to work on this project is an integral part of supporting their healing journey to make a plan and follow through with it to completion. It’s been therapeutic for the Veterans to create something special that continues to provide healing opportunities for other Veterans.”

Several aspects of holistic care are incorporated into this project. Garden signs for education and affirmation will be made through the Veteran creative arts therapy program. The sensory garden provides a relaxing mindfulness experience. The monarch butterfly garden provides milkweed supporting resilient monarch butterflies as they travel back home, like many of our Veterans have done. The vegetables from the garden will be used for healthy cooking classes. Home-bound Veterans can participate through virtual tours and making starter seeds.

This new garden offers a mindfulness experience for all visitors to the Honor VA Clinic. For many of the Veterans participating in the program, this is their only opportunity to garden as they have limited space and resources at home. This also provides them the opportunity to be part of a team with positive roles, connection to community resources, and building of skills that support positive leisure, healing, and recovery.

“This new Veterans’ Community Garden represents the resiliency of our Veterans and the care of our providers who partnered together to create this beautiful healing space,” said KCVA’s Medical Center Director, Jean Gurga.

Veteran patients at KCVA can participate in this additional resource as a treatment option on their health care journey. KCVA’s Veterans’ Community Garden project will continue to expand thanks to generous community partners, dedicated staff, and the hard work of those Veterans participating in this therapeutic treatment option.