Nurturing Plants for Therapeutic Benefits | Aaron Vander Meer and Antoinette Vasseur of ClearView Communities

If you have a plant in your office that's not doing so well, bring them in. And then the residents get to be in the position of saying, okay, let's figure this out. What's wrong with the plant, what's causing that, and how do we deal with it? Which I think is all part of the process of how Plants with Purpose came about, because the residents are put in this position now where they get to not be the ones receiving the help, but they're the ones figuring out, how do I help and care for other folks.

It's a great way for them to learn about plant. Like, I can talk to.

To them.

And I think that's also another difference in therapeutic horticulture. Like, I'm. They're meeting me where I'm at, and I'm meeting them where they're at because I'm not planning a thing that day. I'm running a greenhouse and garden. So when you come up, you are jumping right in, wherever I am today, and I figure out where they're at. And like you said, it's also coming into the greenhouse. You can work or not work. Maybe just being in that space is really serene. And the plant triage was really popular because that's how they were able to jump in and learn about plants. Plants.

Welcome to the Mental Health Entrepreneur Podcast. We are here to inspire creative ideas and connections for entrepreneurs and advocates working to address our mental health crisis. As you listen, I hope you will experience new ideas and motivation to innovate in your business, your community, and in your life. Welcome. Welcome to the Mental Health Entrepreneur Podcast. I am your host, Rachel Harrison, and with me today are Erin Vandermeer and Antoinette Vassar from Plants with a Purpose. Welcome, both of you.

Thank you.

So let's talk a little bit about, first of all, what is Plants with a Purpose?

Ang and I both work for Clearview Communities, and we are a residential treatment center here in Frederick, and we serve folks with severe and persistent mental health disorders. And we're trying to help them find ways to live the life that they want, live a life of purpose and meaning, and find out how we can teach them all the skills to help them live independently in the community. So we have a very comprehensive program that looks at all these different dimensions of someone's lives and in trying to help them learn the skills in those areas. And part of that involves a group program that we run here every day, Monday through Friday from 9 to 3. And as part of that group program, during the pandemic, we built a greenhouse, a Big foundational part of our program is the community integration work that we do. So helping folks to find work, school and volunteering opportunities. And we couldn't do that during the pandemic. And so we started getting creative about what could we do here on campus to continue to serve people and help them explore purpose and meaning in their life and things like that. And so we built a greenhouse. We didn't necessarily know what we were doing when we built the greenhouse. We just knew that it was going to be a great opportunity for folks. Trying to figure out exactly how to do that was kind of part of the learning curve of it all. And we hired someone to do horticulture therapy. And I think Internet and I can talk a bit about the difference we see at least in horticulture therapy versus therapeutic horticulture. It sounds like we're just saying the same things, but we. The main aspect really that we learned in it, it was horticulture therapy was very formulaic. It is a wonderful methodology that people use and people are extremely successful in it. And programs that do that are fantastic. But it didn't really work as well for us.

It's very rigid.

Yeah. A lot of evidence based practices that we use and we have groups that run on those like, you know, cognitive behavior therapy or DBT groups. Those are wonderful and those are more formulaic in the process. And we found that our residents didn't want more of those. They didn't want the formulaic gardening program therapy using plants. We wanted the plants themselves to be the therapy and to create a space that felt safe and welcoming and that didn't require a therapeutic intervention. It just was the place to come and garden. And so we went through this iteration of horticulture therapy and it helped teach us a lot of things for every group we do to provide feedback for us about what works for them and what doesn't. And that matters to us because everything we do is for them. And so we want to design it around their needs. And that's when we went on a search to figure out truly what could we design that works for them. What's an informal approach. So started asking around for if anyone knew someone out there that was gifted and creative and that was passionate about people just as much as they were passionate about plants and gardening and what working with plants can do for folks. And so we met a year ago, a little bit over a year ago now, and started having a conversation about what we just talked about. Here's what we've done so far. But we want to change And I need help figuring out what that change could look like. And from moment one, it was like just creativity abounded. And we were able to talk about a ton of different ideas that we could do. And to that has been an amazing, amazing addition to the team, but a huge part of all of a success here.

When we met, I think we both weren't sure what we needed for this. When we sat down and talked, he said, we have a greenhouse. And I said, well, here is my skill set, and my background is in permaculture design. Okay. So I, I had my own business and I was designing natural gardens. Landscapes. Gardens by like observing the systems in nature. And then you adapt. You plant and adapt to like, what those systems need. And I, I liked doing the one on one garden designs for a while, but it just kind of fell short. And then I started getting nonprofits asking me to build therapy gardens, which I know you. You guys get experience too, and I love that. I love seeing like, oh, wow, like building these, and people get to interact with these. And there is more of a purpose now to my design. I think when Aaron and I had met, that's where I had a few years under my belt of designing building therapy gardens for a lot of local nonprofits. But what I missed was getting to design them and then walk away. I never got to like, grow with that garden. Like, I've worked with detention centers building healing gardens for them. I've worked with Head Start in Washington county and built therapy gardens for the children there and all four of the Head Starts. And I love that. But then I walk away. So I was like, I would, like, my dream job would be to find somewhere that would be like, home where I'm designing these. Then I actually get to interact so with everybody.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

And then I have a greenhouse. So. And I've always wanted to bring that connection with permaculture. What would that look like in a. In a community? So we got to do that in the greenhouse. And it was an empty greenhouse. Maybe you had five plants. So I had to get real scrappy. And so the, the therapeutic horticulture program here is not just the greenhouse. We have the greenhouse and we have on campus gardens. But when we started the greenhouse, we had four or five plants. And my background is with native plants. Plants are very cheap, you know, like, you could split your ethanesia plants with me from your garden, and that's great. Then I walk into the worlds of like, botanical indoor house plants. And I was like, these are wildly expensive, which is why I'm now looking down the greenhouse. My walk in. We have over 300 plants. And a year later. But we. We connected with the community. I started reaching out to the community. We started getting the plants, people bringing, giving plants that needed a little bit of here, the beautiful plants.

It was our first step in the process of filling the greenhouse. It's. We said, okay, so how do we get some plants? If you have a sick plant at home, if you have a plant in your office that's not doing so well, bring them in. And then the residents get to be in the position of saying, okay, let's figure this out. What's wrong with the plant, what's causing that, and how do we deal with it? Which I think is all part of the process of how plants with purpose came about. Because the residents are put in this position now where they get to not be the ones receiving the help, but they're the ones figuring out how do I help and care for other folks.

It's a great way for them to learn about plant. Like, I can talk to them. And I think that's also another difference in therapeutic horticulture. Like, I'm. They're meeting me where I'm at, and I'm meeting them where they're at, because I'm not planning a thing that day. I'm running a greenhouse and garden. So when you come up, you are jumping right in wherever I am today, and I figure out where they're at. And like you said, it's also coming into the greenhouse. You can work or not work. Maybe just being in that space is really serene and peaceful and just feeling being. I mean, I have that. I love being in there. Yeah, they just want to sit. I call it a factory reset. But the plant triage was really popular because that's how they were able to jump in and learn about the plants. Like, that's a great way to really learn about a plant. They came in every day to check their plant. And then for us, it was a great way for us to get plants into the greenhouse. And then we made a connection with. Actually, they reached out to us Green Valley Harvesters in Union Ridge. They have two greenhouses out there. Now it's a nursery. And he offered to donate some plants. I had been maybe all last summer picking up donations for plants for people. They maybe, like, donated five at a time. And I showed up at Green Valley, and he had 70 plants.

Oh, wow.

I had my little Nissan Leaf. Did not bring the van. And I was trying to shove all these plants, and he Was like, you just let us know when you need them and we'll keep giving them to you. And I was like, oh. So when we started, it wasn't for plants with purpose. It was just donating for the residents for the greenhouse. Then we started having a problem of having too many plants. But we're not a greenhouse or a nursery where people come in and shop. Right. So we didn't have a way to get these plants out. So I think then Aaron and I kind of went to the table and we're like, okay, what does this look like? Are we selling plants? No, that doesn't feel right. Like, we didn't know what that would look like. And then I think it just kind of organically happened. We're like, well, what if instead of the residents getting kind of bored with constantly doing the same thing, now you're adding this purpose to the plan? And we pick each month and the residents have buy in. And this, as Aaron said, they do with almost everything here at Clearview is a community. We took a list and we took like, what their values were and we made a list of some of the local nonprofits, organizations, businesses in the community. It doesn't have to be a nonprofit. Any businesses that are doing something in our community as a way to say thank you to them. I know you guys have been a recipient of these stamps.

Yeah, we have. That's awesome.

Now, these plants that they're tending, so some of them are triage plants. Some of them are plants that were brought in that were very tiny baby plants that were donated by Green Valley. So they've all been tended to by the residents. And then every month they select, they go through the greenhouse and they select the plants that they think are the quality that like, what they want to go out the door, be donated. They include the cards that have like the care notes, but with a letter of gratitude attached to it. And then. So we've been doing this since August,

August of last year.

Okay.

And part of how, also like we, we created plants with purpose was when she and I have said, we have this wonderful problem of too many plants. And Chris and Mallory at Green Valley were incredible and still are in helping provide all those plans for us. But we sat and said, we have a lot of plans, so what do we do with this? And. And part of it was, how does this fit also into the greater purpose that we're trying to achieve here at Clearview? And going back to one of the foundational elements of our work here is the community integration program. That's Our residents are finding what is my purpose in life, Do I want to work? And if so, like, what do I want to invest my time, effort, and energy into? And so they're already working with some of our team here on figuring those things out. So if we can. We can time this into that, maybe that'd be really productive experience for folks. So the residents now sit in the greenhouse and Internet talks to them about what are the things you value? And so we start by talking with them about what do you value? Do you value passion? Do you value empathy? Do you value money? Do you value, you know, corporate things? And we try to identify that with folks, and we find the values. We find the organizations that are living out those values in the community. And part of, I think, our own value assessment with plans, with purposes, we want to be able to consistently thank folks that are doing those things that our residents value and that we, as Clearview also, you know, find to be at our core. And not only do we get to give plants, and our residents get to be in a position where they're growing these and taking care of the plants and able to donate them, but they're able to figure out, too kind of figuring out that. That weird mix of what's my place in the world, how do I continue to find purpose and meaning in life, and how do I invest there? And they're identifying, too, that they absolutely have gifts and talents to be able to offer out into the space. So let's identify that and find you an opportunity to go do it. So Plans with Purpose has been fun in that, where we get to talk to organizations like Travel Specialists of Maryland. We get to talk, you know, with Mental Health Association, Hartley House, a lot of other organizations that we've donated to because our residents find the values that they hold to be ones that they hold, too.

Yeah.

So now we get to talk with our Community Integration Team. Know, okay, so what. What volunteer opportunities may exist there? What work opportunities?

Yeah, I really liked that part that kind of, I think, fell into place after we created Plants for is when we realized, oh, there are some nonprofit or some other organizations that the Community Integration Team has been trying to kind of get into the door with more volunteer opportunities. And so it is a really wonderful community partnership for us, too, to say, here's who we are, and we've seen what you've been doing, and we just want to thank you.

Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. I want to ask kind of, maybe it might seem like a basic question, but how do you find that. That plants are therapeutic for people. Because I've been thinking about this because there's a lot of power, I think, in how you're giving, coming and bringing plants. There's a lot that comes into that. So I'd love to hear about just going to that basic how plants influence people.

I think we'll have different answers.

Yeah.

I'm really curious to see what you're

going to say, and I guess it just depends because I'll. I'll have residents that. How the plants are helping them that day and where they're at, it's different. Some of them, it's literally just the soil touching. It's a texture. It's just a. It's a sensory thing. But we just want to talk about, like, on a sensory level. I try to put a lot of the sensory plants on the table, like, out in the center. I put a lot of sensory plants in our. Like, our great room area for some residents that just might be sitting there, because that can be, you know, a grounding technique, too, just to have sensory plants. But like Aaron was talking about, too, taking care of something, some residents might see, they're really struggling. I. I really encourage them to take a plant to their room. There is a tomorrow, and there's a next day after that, and you're taking care of something.

I don't know.

And now I'm like, all these answers, and I'm like, I don't know. Erin, what would you say on so many different. I see how it affects them on different levels. Yeah, right. Like, some of them, it's just they really enjoy learning something new or taking care of something.

And I'm not professional plants person, almost. I have not green thumbs, whatever the opposite of a green thumb is. For me, the outdoors has always been a part of my life, and it's a perspective thing. I think we need to be able to step away sometimes from whatever it is that's occupying us. You know, for me, it might be family or work or the nonprofits I support, but it's. It's stuff that's in my head. And so getting out into nature allows me this ability to. To reset, to breathe in fresh air, allow myself to have fun and just a difference of surroundings. And that's an incredible process that I go through. When I'm able to do that, it just feels. I feel lighter, I feel freer. I feel like I'm able to think more clearly about those other aspects of my life because I've gained a bit of perspective. And that's kind of how I approach some of this work as well, and a lot of learning from Antoinette. But I think it just having a garden program to get your hands dirty is helpful. You know, I like to do yard work or go to the gym and just sweat and get dirty and those things. And that too can be extremely therapeutic. And I again think that that's a perspective things we need to challenge ourselves in many ways. So residents not being in a place where you say, how do you feel? What do you think about this? But they get to create something. They get a change of perspective. They get an opportunity to, I don't know, just take a break sometimes.

And it was wonderful during the winter.

Yeah.

And even today on a rainy day, like I've had residents say they. They've never loved rainy days as much as they have since they've been able to come to the greenhouse. Because the greenhouse has twinkle lights in there. It's a botanical house. I mean, it looks like a jungle when you come in there. And then on the rainy rain on a tin roof and you've got strong lights in there. I like to add some things in there to make it a little funky. And then in the winter when everything is gray and dark and everything's dormant and there's nothing on the trees, you come into this space. Space that just. Good. You're in this little rainforest and you just. You do you feel. I feel very tucked and held. And that's my office. I'm really lucky that.

That you are lucky. That's a beautiful office.

Yeah. So just all the plants together. Just that environment that it creates in there is very therapeutic. That's why I always tell any residents when we get new ones, and I give them the whole elevator. Elevator speech about like, you know, our garden program in the greenhouse. I tell them, you know, I never expect you when you come in here to have to do, like, you don't have to do anything, but if you did. I've got a lot to do. I always have things to do, but I just want them to feel like that's a safe space to just sit and read.

I like the way you said that you don't have to do. You can just be. We have residents who go in and draw.

Oh, yeah.

Poetry. They love it.

We always have music on today. It was like 60s and 70s singer, songwriter theme. Yesterday was 80.

That's great. It does feel like you're allowing them to have whatever relationship with the plants that feel feels best to them.

I've had ones that come in there. Don't they've never gardened or ever worked with plants. And they are curious and some don't. Eventually they do. Some just want to draw. Some will just grab a plant that they really visually like and just do still life drawings. But they're still interacting with it and they're still sitting in that space. Yeah. I just love the, the different energy that's in there from all residents and the way that it interacts with them. And now we have an outdoor garden this year on campus. We have raised beds that are off of like outside of the greenhouse. That's new. We just put in the vegetable like this past week. But I think herbs and things and stuff. So I. And I really like that now that purpose for them is cooking. They harvest things and we put them in the staff kitchen to share with the community so staff can take them. They really enjoy harvesting the herbs every week and bundling them. And then because they know I send out an all staff email for everybody to, you know, come get some herbs. And so they really. Because they're. Again, it's not just the plants of purpose that it's going out to the community and the nonprofits in the organizations that they do a lot here on the, on campus, back to the community as well.

I love that tie in from like this programmatic perspective of everything ties into each other and what we're trying to achieve. Like, if we're trying to help, we have an occupational therapy department. And if we're trying to help people learn how to cook, and if nurses and dietitians are trying to help folks learn what's the right food to eat for you, your body, your own wellness goals. Now our garden program can feed into that as well. Raise your own vegetables. We can talk about the benefits that doing that might have for you and then use those things to grow. I don't know. I feel like even from my own life, if I'm growing my own vegetables, I like eating them more than if I'm buying them from a store.

Yeah. And don't you think they taste better? Isn't that a thing? Yeah.

I can do a lot of one on one activities. So when Erin was saying the difference between therapeutic horticulture and horticulture therapy, sometimes I will have a planned activity. It's very rare, but it will be like around harvesting. So like last year when we harvested cucumbers, then we were able to have like a pickling day. This year it's coming back bigger and better because now they wanted habanero and jalapeno peppers in the Garden. And I like watching this evolve. I love. We made pesto last year and I showed up with a recipe and they all started. We just worked together and the recipe has now changed and evolved. This new pesto that we're making this year. I guess I love collaborating with the residents on this because I, I get a lot of compliments on this program, but I. And I always do, I always jump in and say, I didn't do it alone, I did it. I'm supported by all of my coworkers here. But also the residents helped me, like when I walked into that greenhouse via plants. And I mean, I, I have the experience. I know what to do with the plants and I know how to do it, you know, therapeutically. But they all helped. Like, they really helped. This is this greenhouse and this program is where it is because the residents do.

Yeah. And to tie into that and what you said earlier, Rachel, it's. We are person centered program. Everything we do is sitting with the residents saying, these are your goals, not ours. What do you want your life to look like? And how do we support you in achieving those things? And so the garden program, if someone's able to go in and say, this is all I want out of Perfect, who am I to tell you about it? I just want you to enjoy the space. If you don't, then we have other options.

Well, but then you're also sharing that with the community, which I think is amazing to be able to say, let's bring a little bit of joy, wellness, inspiration, plant vibes to the community too.

One of my favorite parts about that is this can be hard work now, mental health professionals, a lot of people in service professions, it can be really challenging. And so one of the things I get out of Plants with Purpose is we get to go to these organizations and think, thank you.

Yeah. What's next for Plants with a Purpose? What's your vision? What are the things you're wanting to get to?

It's this blend of both of our worlds, I think of what we're calling permaculture Therapy tm. So we're going to trademark that.

Oh, okay. All right.

No hard thing, but I'm not the permaculture specialist.

So much better.

So it's. Maybe it's just because I'm not great at it, but I think of permaculture is creating this wonderful ecosystem that you have to know your role within that ecosystem and you have to know how all the other plants around it also support you and allowing you to do what you need to do and also create that scaffolding around you and that support and the life that they give you. And so when I think of permaculture, I think of that ecosystem. When I think of therapy, when I think of what we can do as professionals to help people, I think we have to help them create their own ecosystem. That it's not about you alone on your island, it's how do you fit into the world. So what do you create around you? Who are those people? What are those contexts? Is it work? Is it volunteering? Is it finding family support? Is it friendship circles? Is it finding other things to go to? But what's your ecosystem that you need in your home?

I love that.

Yeah. And permaculture has 12 principles.

Nailed it.

Got it. And so what we're working on now is how do we take the permaculture principles and marry them with a therapeutic principle and create this amazing opportunity for our residents and creating that ecosystem for

them and getting to take them out and having like a tangible example. So I'll be able to. Starting in July. Ish. We're working on it. I'm still crafting it. Take the residents out and one on. So now instead of just group that we have now within a group, now we'll have more of like an individual one on, one. For my. The one example I use that I think is the. Is the best example of all the different principles and all the different design systems in permaculture is when I talk about guilds. That's one that I use a lot with the residents is when you go out and you see like an apple tree, for example. If an apple tree is out there all by itself alone, it gets attacked by. You're gonna have to spray it, right. Because it attacked by pests. But what if you built a system underneath that tree with pollinator plants that bring in the predators that will eat, you know, the insects that are that tree nitrogen fixing plants that feed the roots of that tree. There's so many different things that you can plant underneath that, like herbaceous plants. So in permaculture design, I'm designing these food forests or these guilds, which is how in nature that's if you look at like a forest edge, right? There's all these plants that are working together. But then when I ask them, when we have like a reflection moment and I ask them, so what that look like for you? What would your guild look like? What are the things that are working together? So that's just like one example of some of the 12 principles. So when I get to being able to take them out and show them that in real life, when I came in, I had the permaculture knowledge, and then I came in here and I was working in therapeutic design, I could never figure out why permaculture and. And like nature therapy, why this wasn't being done.

Yeah, I see the metaphor completely. Yeah. That's fantastic. Well, thank you both for what you are doing. I have a plant sitting right here on my table in front of me that I love every day. And I especially love the card that was written on by the resident who put nurtured that plant. Right. That's the best part.

To me, plant cards have been a really wonderful way for them to learn about plant because if they don't know about that plant, they have to look it up. And then I feel like right before we donate the plants, we end up having like a plant quiz, because we don't put the cards on that plant until they go out the door. Our greenhouse is. It has. Yeah, it gets really wet in the greenhouse. So I'll have a stack of them and I'll just kind of call them out and they have to, like, find that plant. So it's. It's been a fun, like, little plant trivia on donation day before they go out the door. And I didn't even see that uncommon. So that's like another one thing. Yeah.

Amazing. I love how this has unfolded. Well, thank you both for sharing about your program and best of luck.

Absolutely. Thank you very much.