Port Washington Housemates and Staff Create Sensory Garden
Colorful flowers and kindness rocks now brighten the Individualized Residential Alternative (IRA) in Port Washington, creating a welcoming space that stands out along a busy street. The sensory garden came together through a meaningful collaboration between housemates and staff.
So far, the garden is filled with spring flowers, such as tulips, along with hand-painted kindness rocks decorated with everyone’s names, people they love and appreciate, and uplifting words of hope and unity, including “profound,” “I’m passionate,” “hope,” “peace,” “fun,” “trust,” “parents,” and “home.”
The garden has been in the works for several months. Housemates and staff first dug through the backyard for rocks then cleaned them. During the winter snowstorms, they used the time indoors to paint the rocks bright colors.
Agency maintenance also helped bring the garden to life by clearing shrubs and ordering flowers from Wheatley Farms.
Together, housemates and staff also created a low fence around the garden, painting the panels different colors and writing their names and kind messages on them.
“We all worked as a team to get it together so that we’d have it for spring,” Valerie Clemens, Direct Support Professional (DSP), said. “It gives the people we support self-confidence, and it just makes me happy to make their house happy.”
The process itself was a joyful way to connect and come together. Housemates who often enjoy spending their free time relaxing in their rooms spent time together at the dinner table painting and supporting one another.
Brandon Malone and Emily Carman especially enjoyed sharing their love of painting.
“When you look around the house, you see a lot of art and things that they do,” said Tessa Guillaume-Lewis, Assistant Director of Residential Services. “The ladies and gentlemen have been working really well together and with staff, and they quite enjoy it.”
Very soon, they will be planting even more flowers, including sunflowers selected by Emily Furlong, adding bright personal touches to the garden they created together.