Serenity Garden feeds spirit, sense of community

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

Back to Gardening Articles List

The women working in the Serenity Garden were in a joking mood. "I've been digging holes all my life. Now, I'm working hard to get out of them!"

That was a laughing remark made by Michelle Kraus recently as she dug holes for eggplant and tomato plants. She and others in the Women's Program at Community Corrections were planting vegetables in attractive raised gardens just outside the facility.

The garden beds and a fountain have been built over the last two years, using sandstone blocks from the old Larimer County Courthouse that was razed a few years ago.

Both women and men at Community Corrections are working on the vegetable patch, which they call the Serenity Garden. It's an apt name, for a couple of reasons. It ties in with the Serenity Prayer used by many Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous groups, and many Community Corrections residents have gotten in trouble because of substance abuse. And, gardening is therapeutic, offering a measure of serenity to clients' lives just as it does for so many other gardeners.

"This is what I'd be doing at home," said client Lisa Smerker. "It makes me feel like a normal person."

Marcie Kluz, a self-described sun goddess, agreed and added that gardening is great because it gets the clients outside, and it's a chance to do something as a group. "We love to breathe the air," she said.

This year, the gardeners are adding new vegetable beds and planting a huge pumpkin patch, so that clients' children can come in the fall and have a pumpkin-carving party.

Some of the value of the Serenity Garden has to do with community. This year Community Corrections will again have a weekly farm stand on Midpoint Drive and sell produce to the public. That gives clients a chance to interact with the public and to offer something of value.

"They're learning what it's like to give back to the community," said Art Barker, a senior correctional services specialist who is in charge of the garden project. "There's a sense of belonging and responsibility."

The community has also been generous to the gardeners. All supplies and plants were donated by Larimer County businesses, and this sends a positive message to clients.

"The community support means a lot to them," Barker said. "It's important for clients to realize that people aren't judging them for their past mistakes."

The women at Community Corrections also participate in other community projects that have a healing impact. They built a Habitat for Humanity house and have taken part in several events sponsored by Sexual Assault Victim Advocates.

Community Corrections is run by Larimer County's Department of Human Services, not the sheriff's department. As one of the alternative sentencing options, it's a place of transition that helps clients adjust to the responsibilities of the outside world.

Some clients are placed there when they do not comply with terms of probation and the probation is revoked; it's an alternative to going to prison. Others have already been in prison and are transitioning back into the community.

Most Community Corrections clients have jobs, and they pay a fee to stay at the facility. The program does not use county funds, but relies on client fees as well as state funds. Mental health and substance abuse treatment are central to the program.

An important goal of Community Corrections, Barker noted, is to help clients stay on the outside and not make return visits to the correctional system. The hope is that many of these men and women will be tilling their own gardens, at home, next spring.