June 26, 2009
A Therapeutic Garden
Future Eagle Scout leads project to benefit Genesis rehab patients
Diann Warner of Eldridge digs in the dirt, steadying herself with a cane.
The sun shines on the freshly planted flowers and vegetables in the new raised gardens at Genesis Medical Park, Maplecrest in Bettendorf. The plants represent life and renewal to her, something she values even more since recovering from a brain hemorrhage last January.
"When I dig in the ground, I feel closer to God," she says, with pure joy on her face. "You know, after I got married the first thing I did was plant a flower. I can't tell you the peaceful, calm feeling I get working with plants."
She appreciates how she can reach the plants in the newly built cedar boxes, without having to get down on her knees. She wears a brace on her leg, so that would be impossible.
She also appreciates a teen-ager she never has met: Derek Crooks, 16, the Davenport Central High School student who led the raised gardens initiative as part of his Eagle Scout leadership project.
Planting An Idea
Like the plants Warner and her fellow rehabilitation patients will tend, Derek began cultivating the idea for the raised garden several months ago. His mother, Deb Crooks, is a pediatric speech therapist at Genesis.
"A raised garden is something the LIFT (Learning Independence For Tomorrow) program has wanted to do for a long time," Derek's mother says. "They've had a garden, but it wasn't accessible to everyone. My son was looking for an Eagle Scout project, and we thought it could be a good collaboration."
Derek nurtured the idea with the help of family, friends, fellow Boy Scouts from Bettendorf Troop 89, area businesses and a committee that included Genesis rehabilitation outpatients and staff. He learned building skills while he and his father, Kelly Crooks, constructed cedar garden boxes in their basement. Over three months, there were meetings to attend; adults to approach; donations to solicit; materials to collect; and, even interviews to give to news media.
"It was an awesome opportunity for him, and a win-win for everyone," Deb Crooks says. Derek, an aspiring architect, adds: "I learned I can help organize a big project and successfully complete it. Building the cedar boxes was probably the most challenging."
The Genesis Stroke Prevention and Recovery Center (SPARC) donated money for the concrete pad in the garden. Lawns Unlimited of Iowa, K & K Hardware, Treiber Construction Co., Moonville Timber and Genesis donated materials or helped with installation. Pete Voelliger, Supervisor of Grounds at Genesis, was instrumental in helping to obtain supplies and donors.
Ultimately, Derek saw the project sprout one weekend in May when 35 volunteers united in physical labor to dig, hammer and plant.
"We had a garden here for many years, but it excluded those who had an unsteady gait, balance problems or who couldn't manage the curb. They could only be observers," says Lori Dryg, Supervisor of Outpatient Rehabilitation. Her sons Tyler, 20, and Ian, 19, are Eagle Scouts and helped on the workday. "Now, everyone can participate, whether they have endurance or balance issues or use a walker, cane or wheelchair.
"Therapy itself is really, really hard work," Dryg adds. "But when you do something you love, you get the therapeutic value and it doesn't seem quite as hard."
Patients Take Ownership
Now, participants in the Learning Independence for Tomorrow (LIFT) Program for people recovering from brain injury and the Genesis Stroke Prevention and Recovery Center are the new caretakers of the garden.
They are led by patient Chad West, who came to the LIFT program in February after a head injury put him in the hospital for a couple of months. He has always had a "green thumb," and the new raised gardens have become therapy for him as he works to reintegrate into the community. He built most of the trellises and also volunteered on the workday.
The project includes three raised cedar boxes with trellises - two planted with vegetables and one with flowers. A raised berm also is planted with vegetables. Refinished park benches offer a place to sit.
"It's something people can see from the building, or they can come up and take part," West says. "It's nice to give back. I've had the best service, and the best therapists and have been truly blessed by Genesis."
The raised gardens, with 5 feet of clearance between them, are accessible to people in wheelchairs who come outside to enjoy their beauty and work with the plants. They can work in the garden while developing their upper extremity strength, balance and endurance.
"It takes a lot of good cognitive skills to plant a garden," Deb Crooks says. "They researched what to plant and went to Teske's to purchase the plants. Physically, the exercise of walking to the garden; weeding; and pulling a hose to water the garden can have benefits. Someone recovering from stroke can hold the garden trowel in their impaired hand to get their strength back. They can even cook the vegetables they harvest."
Patient Diann Warner relishes working with her hands. Before her stroke, she used to plant 200 flowers each growing season. Now, she sticks to container gardening.
"I heard just a week ago that a young Scout lead this effort," she says. "I think what he and others have done is fantastic. It's good for everyone's soul to work with the plants."
