In 2023, the Garden of Promise will expand its efforts to foster healthy community behaviors with events such as cooking demonstrations, yoga classes, and the addition of a Therapeutic Garden. Therapeutic gardens are natural, plant-dominated sanctuaries that facilitate interaction with the healing elements of nature. Providing a safe, peaceful enclave where life thrives and regenerates can be an incredibly healing space for contemplation, stress reduction, and personal growth. Learning to grow tangible food from tiny seeds is an empowering process that has been proven to raise self-esteem, confidence, and motivation.  
 

The Therapeutic Garden will provide a public space that promotes nutrition, physical activity, stress reduction, and outdoor immersion through educational programming and personal use. Physically, it will include numerous fruit and vegetable garden beds, plus a variety of perennial plants, flowers, native plants, herbs and other low-maintenance landscaping. It will also be available for referrals in the healthcare system. Patients with diabetes, heart disease, obesity, etc. gain long-term benefits from this model, and a Therapeutic Garden space would allow providers to prescribe patients a free lifestyle intervention that is practical, empowering, and enjoyable. Behavioral healthcare providers could also prescribe this intervention, as horticultural therapy provides mental and emotional restoration for those struggling with anxiety, stress, anger, trauma, and pain.