Arts and Community Exploration (ACE), an interactive day program for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, has a diverse range of talents and ideas among participants and staff. When Sara Burgess, program activities specialist, transitioned to the ACE program last summer from a different role at JFS, she was looking for a way to bring her own interests to the job while creating a project that would benefit everyone. Inspired by Sara’s love for gardening and the desire to encourage others to get involved in the art, the idea for the “Growing Goals Garden Project” sprouted.

“Gardening is not only educational, but also therapeutic, explains Sara. “And let’s be honest, after the past year and a half, we needed something positive to focus on! I wanted us to learn side-by-side what a huge responsibility it is to grow our own food.”

In the weeks leading up to planting the seeds, they began researching the growing season in Colorado, what type of garden they wanted, what germination and pollinators mean, and what plants thrive in our climate. Sara contacted Home Depot on Santa Fe and was connected to assistant manager, Joey Peoples, who loves doing community projects and outreach. He met Sara and two participants at the store, helped them shop, answered questions, and donated supplies to kick off the project.

In early February they set up their gardening corner, planted seeds, and began the germination process. They are growing an array of vegetables, including tomatoes, squash, peppers, zucchini, spinach, and radishes. They have also started pollinator flowers and an herb garden.

“Our entire crew has done their part to keep the garden growing in so many ways,” Sara says. “We check on the green guys/gals every morning, make sure they are watered when needed, transplant to bigger homes as they grow, make labels to keep track of all the plants, and keep the room full of laughter so the plants stay happy and healthy.” Currently their plant babies are thriving under their grow lights in-house, but they will move to an outside garden in late May.

Sara adds, “The growing curiosity in everyone as each plant comes alive has really been worth the time and effort we’ve all put in. I anticipate even more fun and learning as we transition outside, create bigger garden jobs, and reap the fruits of our labor. We cannot wait to share our harvest!”