Since last year, horticultural therapy has been a success at the N.L. Correctional Centre for Women
The Newfoundland and Labrador Correctional Centre for Women in Clarenville now has a new greenhouse. This means that the horticultural therapy program that started there last year can move into its second season.
As part of therapy sessions meant to improve their mental health, the program gives inmates access to an outdoor area within the compound and teaches them how to grow plants.
Irene Hutchings, a prisoner, has found the program to be a welcome change from her daily life behind bars.
“It kept my mind occupied and busy….”I’d go outside to get some fresh air and talk to other prisoners,” she said.
“Before, I didn’t even know what a tree or plant was, much less how they grew. I don’t know how to grow plants.”
Last year, the building already had a greenhouse, but it didn’t make it through the winter. Sun Valley Greenhouses gave the new greenhouse, which is about three times as big and has plenty of room for both plants and therapy sessions.
Stella’s Circle is a non-profit organization that helps women who have been in trouble with the law. They offer counseling in the community and support after they leave prison, as well as therapy inside the prison, such as horticultural therapy.
The people who work for the program say that the therapy will improve mental, physical, and social health.
“Everyone learns differently and responds to therapy in different ways.Amy Sheppard, a social worker with Stella’s Circle, said, “Horticulture is a really cool and unique way to do that.”
“It’s great for people who have problems with their mental health or with drugs.”
In the past, the province’s prisons, including the Clarenville facility, have been criticized for not having enough mental health care, and staffing shortages continue to be a problem across the province.
Sheppard said that “lots of really good things happen” in Clarenville, but that doesn’t change the fact that Clarenville is a prison and what that means, like having few chances to spend time outside, which is what the program aims to change.
Sheppard said with a laugh that the inmates who took part in it last year said they had “blossomed,” and that it helped them be more mindful and have more empathy.
Sheppard said that the women were talking about how peaceful and calm they felt and how it had helped them find a part of themselves they didn’t know was there.
“They can take care of something, help it grow, and watch things happen. And how that really makes them feel better in their minds and bodies.It’s more like a whole-person kind of event.”
Therapy sessions include things like planting seeds, caring for plants, and growing food. There are also creative parts, like making things with dried flowers.
Staff at Stella’s Circle is working with staff at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary in St. John’s, which is home to the Phoenix Garden project, to put together a teaching module.
Stella’s Circle approached Angela Barrett, the assistant superintendent at the facility in Clarenville, about the project. Barrett had worked there before she moved to Clarenville, so she already knew about the benefits of horticulture therapy.
She was on board right away.
Barrett said, “I was thrilled and flattered that they even offered to bring it here.”
She said that the Clarenville inmates liked the program because it helped their mental health.
Barrett said, “Being locked in a one-range facility 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.””It helps them mentally because it gives them a sense of purpose and makes them feel like they’re getting something done.”
She said that’s why staff also brought in chickens, which the inmates care for by feeding them, talking to them, and cleaning out their coop.
“Everyone is crazy about the chickens. “Both the workers and the inmates like the chickens, and it helps keep them calm,” Barrett said.
“They like to go outside and talk to the animals, which is good for them because it makes them happy when they go back inside. And they don’t keep thinking about why they’re here or what they’ve done.”
With the new greenhouse in place, she said, the goal is to grow the horticultural therapy program by adding some standing boxes to grow vegetables in the coming year.
That’s good news for Hutchings because it means she’ll have more chances to be outside, which she says helps her deal with her mental illness.
“It makes me feel better. I can think and I can learn…. “Because being locked up a lot doesn’t help if you have a bad mental illness,” she said.
“That’s what I liked the most. I like learning. You can learn at any age. I hope to find out a lot here.”
Now, Hutchings and the other prisoners will get to choose a name for the gardening project, just like the prisoners at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary did.
Once there are some vegetables growing in the greenhouse, the prison will hold a ceremony to make the project official.
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