Southfield’s Clubhouse for the Common Good opens therapeutic garden
A Clubhouse member enjoys the garden.
Members of the recently expanded Clubhouse for the Common Good (23800 W. 10 Mile Road, Southfield), a day center for people living with serious mental health disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and severe depression, are enjoying working on a new environmentally-friendly vegetable garden this year.
Squash, basil, parsley, cucumber, melon, beets, carrots are all being grown, and a wildflower garden is in the process of being developed.
Clubhouse members were taken on an outing to Detroit’s Eastern Market to purchase items for the garden which will also be ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible so that all members can participate. Clubhouse, which is operated by Gesher Human Services, moved into the newly located and purpose-built Loise and Milton Y. Zussman Center in Southfield last year.
Multiple life-enhancing opportunities
It offers employment opportunities, educational classes, culinary experiences, wellness and fitness opportunities, social and cultural activities plus arts enrichment programs, and now expanded horticultural opportunities.
“Gardening is very therapeutic plus it creates working tasks and new skills. Our members love being outside and get great joy in seeing vegetables grow and then harvesting them to use for the lunch service,” explained Gesher’s VP of Vocational Rehabilitation Rene Dell.
“We like to make sure that when our members are with us, they are at least having one nutritious meal a day and growing your own vegetables is a great way to do that.”
Experts lead the way
Clubhouse gardeners are guided by Molisia Young, a unit coordinator at Clubhouse and an MSU Extension Master Gardener Volunteer, who is committed to smart gardening, creating a more natural garden without the use of chemicals, thus reducing the carbon footprint of the project.
As part of the master gardener program, Young volunteers her time in the community spreading knowledge of gardening and she has plenty of jobs for club members: planning, sowing seeds, weeding, watering, harvesting and preserving and cleaning and storing vegetables for distribution.
A fall garden is planned for after the summer harvest.
“Everything we put in the ground makes its way back to the great lakes, so we are proud to promote a gardening initiative which is particularly environmentally friendly because Clubhouse has a commitment to recycling and reusing items,” said Dell.
Goal: Collaborating with other farms
The hope is that in coming years Clubhouse gardeners will be able to collaborate with other farms.
In the meantime, Yad Ezra, a kosher food bank, is a supporter of the garden, providing starter seeds, a wheel barrel and consultation for the garden.
The garden beds and dirt were donated by Clubhouse supporter and Gesher Human Services Board Member Chad Techner who runs Metro Food Rescue and is a proponent of gardening initiatives.
At Clubhouse, members are expected to take part in a work-ordered day, which might mean seeking employment, furthering their education, making and serving meals, working in the horticultural unit, creating the newsletter, or enhancing their wellness and relationships. Everyone shares the space, with staff and members all being considered as colleagues without hierarchy. The facility does not have a clinical nature, instead focusing on individual growth and community inclusion.
