Tuesday, August 17, 2010

"Accessible Gardens" workshop presented at NOFA Summer Conference Aug. 2010

This weekend, Karen Romanowski, of Brookfield Farm, Amherst, and I presented our workshop "A Garden for All: Building Community Gardens that are Accessible to All People" at the annual NOFA (Northeast Organic Farmers Association) Summer Conference 2010 held at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Massahusetts. There were over 200 workshops at this year's conference. It was a truly rewarding experience to offer this workshop and to see how deeply interested the participants were in making their communities more accessible.
We created this workshop to share with others the way in which one person -- Patricia -- helped to create a space that welcomes all to share in the gifts that gardening offers. We hope to keep that inspiration alive and keep sharing her gift to us by presenting at other conferences and to organizations, groups, schools, nursing homes, veterans homes, hospitals, and cities and towns. 
Earlier this year, we also presented at the Federation for Children with Special Needs "Visions of Community 2010" conference in Boston, Massachusetts. 


A Garden for All – Building a Community Garden that is Accessible to All People 
Presenter: Theresa Vincent, Parent, & Karen Romanowski, RN, Co-owner, Brookfield Farm, Amherst. 
How a family’s wish for meaningful access into the community for their daughter with multiple disabilities spurred a local farm to build an accessible garden that would be open to all people. Utilize ideas from this small-scale project, brainstorm creative solutions to problems of access, and be inspired to envision and create simple accessible gardens and recreational spaces in your own local communities.

9 comments:

  1. Beautiful blog Theresa. I still see a book in this.Enjoyed the photos and your writing. Carol

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  2. Thanks, Carol! And Congratulations - for being the first person to post a comment on my blog :) Coming from you, it means a lot to me!

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  3. Marvellous job, well done TV.
    I can infer from your writing that you come from a truly comfortable place.
    I love the layout and the photos. Not too much or too little just right to get the message across.
    Overall the project appears as serene as Patricia.

    Juliana

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  4. greetings TV & Kenny from the Kuantan Vincents

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  5. Theresa, Your amazing combination of blogging interesting and innovative ideas and news about accessible gardening, and sharing yours and Patricia's personal story will surely inspire the creation of many beautiful inclusive gardens!! Wendy

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  6. You write so beautifully...Theresa..I would love to stay abreast with your writing as this blog develops. I too love gardening, and love the intention of this blog. Will share it with friends who love gardening and the idea of accessibility for all. love, susanna

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  7. Theresa,

    THANK YOU for this blog, a beautiful document of your incredible work. It is a true inspiration and joy to discover photos taken from this amazing project in our area... on the second page of an image search for "accessible garden" in google! It is a testament to the power of the garden and the importance of this work. THANK YOU!!!

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  9. I own a Travel Agency and tour company in Australia that specialise in holidays for people with a disability and visited Tim's place. Tim you are a legend and an inspiration to the disability community. Please come to Australia!!!!!!

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