Residents of Belleview Station’s senior living community Carillon won the Elderglow Award for America’s Happiest Indoor Herb Garden. Competing among more than 70 senior living communities nationwide, the gardens built and maintained by Carillon residents were recognized for their beauty, quality results and community participation.
Eldergrow offers an innovative indoor therapy garden program to the senior living community. The DIY Culinary Herbs Program connects senior living community residents with nature and stimulates the senses with fresh herbs. Indoor planter box systems allow growing herbs, vegetables, starters, and other plants of the resident’s choice. The ElderGrow program uses large wooden planting structures with soil basins and grow lights to enable the planting, maintenance and cultivation of plants within the community.
“This has been a great program for the residents. We are very pleased,” said Carillon of Shannon Dionese, Executive Director of Bellevue Station.
“Elders nurture gardens, and gardens nurture elders,” said one resident during the award announcement.
A recent study of the impact of community gardening, conducted by the Department of Environment at the University of Boulder, found participants benefited from many benefits, from diet to exercise to reduced stress and anxiety.
Eldergrow’s program offers communities a fun and engaging “around the world” cooking activity with many health benefits. Studies show that horticultural therapy may have a wide range of positive effects in older adults, including reducing depression, improving balance and coordination, and reducing risk factors for dementia by 36% . *
Elderglow also enjoys partnering with Bellevue Station’s Carillon.
Eldergrow Community Success Manager Kim Obert said: “It’s just a reflection of the care our staff provide to our residents, because if you have a healthy garden, you know you have a healthy community.”
*Washington University, 2014
About Elderglow
Founded in 2015, Eldergrow enhances the lives of older adults by creating meaningful connections with nature through innovative and therapeutic gardening programs. The DIY Culinary Herb Garden includes fresh herb delivery through our fascinating ‘Around the World’ program. The Therapeutic Horticulture Garden program is a hands-on wellness program facilitated by direct Eldergrow educators who teach therapeutic gardening classes and provide garden maintenance. Each program centers around an indoor mobile garden handcrafted in Washington by veterans and adults with disabilities. For more information, please visit www.Eldergrow.org.