Mason County Recovery Garden Success Story 2024 Growing Season

Title: Comprehend Recovery Center: Growing Plants and Expanding Horizons

Byline: Macy Fawns, Mason County Horticulture Agent 

Kentucky faces significant challenges with substance use disorders, and recovery centers are a critical first line of support. Comprehend Recovery Center is one of 500 such facilities in the state. Comprehend offers intensive outpatient programming (IOP) for adults in Mason County. Over the course of the year, approximately 70 individuals come through the recovery program and are exposed to Extension Programming. The Mason Co. Nutrition Educator teaches a 7-week nutrition class to new IOP cohorts and the Horticulture Agent facilitates monthly gardening classes year-round, including topics such as: soil sampling, insect identification, mushroom growing country hams, tree grafting, vegetable production and hydroponics.

On September 21, 2024, Comprehend hosted a two-hour “Ripple Effects Mapping” (REM) evaluation of the gardening and nutrition education programming provided by Extension. Seven people participated in the evaluation, including current clients, alumni of the program, administration and Extension Educators. REM is an evaluation method that engages stakeholders to visually map the chain of effect resulting from a program. The facilitators of this REM session developed initial themes from their discussion that was reviewed by participants during the REM session. From the REM session and subsequent examination of data, Key Themes of the impact of the Recovery Garden were identified by participants, which are summarized below.

Gardening and Nutrition Education at Comprehend….

1. Gives clients an opportunity to bond and have fun together, which grows into connection and positivity.
   1. Engaging in gardening and cooking activities together helps clients bond and learn how to connect in positive ways. The garden itself also serves as a “social hub”, encouraging laughter and a positive attitude essential for recovery.

“There's more laughter when we work together in the garden. It's fun and it connects us. When we garden it brings us together, unlike the isolation we feel with addiction. I've been to a different recovery center and it really felt different. Here we have our garden where we hang out and play games and it feels like having a home. This allows you to think of recovery in a positive way and not just reflect negatively, but look forward. Some of us even come back to check on the garden after we graduate.”

1. Develops a sense of pride that they worked hard, grew something and learned new skills.

Gardening rewards delayed gratification, allowing clients to experience the sense of accomplishment that comes from putting in a great deal of effort and getting to see the results. Taking shared ownership of the garden also instills pride and enhances self-esteem by providing a tangible way to contribute.

“From seed to produce, we learn the whole process. And it is the result of the work of the hand, which brings meaning”

1. Helps expand access to fresh food for clients and the wider community.
   1. In addition to teaching clients how to grow and prepare fresh food, the center sends this produce home with clients and encourages them to share extra plants and harvests with neighbors, thus expanding access to healthy food.
2. Increases the number of people growing gardens and getting excited about gardening and cooking at home.
   1. The opportunity to garden and cook together reconnects clients with positive memories, igniting a renewed interest in these positive pastimes. Programming teaches participants how they can invest in these passions in their current context, which increases self-sufficiency and supports a lean and positive lifestyle that keeps clients focused on recovery.
3. Fosters care and connection with others in the community, which strengthens recovery.
   1. As clients share their renewed love for gardening and cooking with others in the community, their action and “care” grows these relationships. The shared activity of gardening at home and out in the community also strengthens family-like bonds and creates meaningful social interactions that are critical for the recovery process.
   2. “My garden at home is actually tended by the whole community of people who live in the apartment complex. They all keep an eye out on it and water it. It's nice keeping an open garden because it is helpful to have more than one family to take care of it. Other people can also harvest and use the vegetables. Having this thing that we all do together has improved connection in our building. We are a lot calmer with each other becuase of these open lines of communication. It eases the tension between neighbors who have lots of kids and pets because we all garden and cook and play together.”

At the end of the season, 59.9 pounds of produce were harvested, yielding 17.06 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables, according to USDA calculations. This is $227.62 value in fresh produce made available to participants. Medical research indicates that proper nutrition, such as increasing intake of garden fruits and vegetables, can support physical healing of damage caused by substance use and stabilize emotional states, thereby decreasing the risk of recurrence. After harvest, participants had the opportunity to consume the produce.