Good thymes in our garden

Last November, JFS sold its SHALOM Denver location, which is where we offered support services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities—like our Arts and Community Exploration program (ACE). The ACE program moved down the street from the JFS office and is now located at the Calvary Baptist Church.

ACE focuses on the whole person, community involvement, and integration, with activities tailored to each participant’s needs and unique personality and centers around healthy lifestyles and mindfulness through art, exercise, and nutrition. Participants explore the community at cultural and art centers, parks, libraries, downtown adventures, and museums and can volunteer and give back to the community.

The move to Calvary Baptist Church lets us expand the programs and services we offer to our participants, including having an outdoor space for a garden, which is just about to sprout.

Calvary’s Paster Morgan donated two raised garden beds, which our garden volunteer leads have already assembled. There will be garden beds that are accessible for all. Herbs, vegetables, and flowers will be planted and maintained by our ACE clients and volunteers. “We hope to use our harvest ingredients in our cooking classes,” shared Judy Pankoff, ACE program manager. “We also plan to plant cool-season crops to enjoy throughout the year.”

A Developmental Pathways sponsorship, which supports the needs of organizations that serve individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, was approved, and it will help fund the garden initiative.

In addition to creating gardens at Calvary, our ACE participants will be painting buckets to house flowers and working to beautify the Calvary atrium area with landscaping in collaboration with Calvary members.

Be sure to watch how our garden grows in future communications!