I had planned on doing a project for foster children which included making bags full of things that would be given to the children when they are first picked up by Child Protection Services (CPS). 
    The mistake I made was in my time-line plan. When I first had the idea for this project, C.P.S. didn't have anyone doing a project such as this. I went ahead and started interviewing foster parents and children, and I did my Internet and literature search. Then I had my interviews with the workers at C.P.S., and much to my disappointment I found out the Soroptamists had started making the same kinds of bags that I wanted to do. There I was, at the of Christmas break with no community project! 
    Over the break I had to rack my brain for ideas that interest me and could be completed by graduation. I volunteer at a rural adult day care center and enjoy working with the geriatric population, so I decided to do a project that would benefit them.
    Most adult day care centers are non-profit and on a tight budget. I assist the center by doing their social assessments at no charge. In doing those assessments, I would ask the elder what they did before they got to the physical condition they are in now. I discovered the majority of the elders enjoyed gardening of any kind; they even enjoyed pulling weeds! From there came the idea of building elder and wheelchair assessable gardens.

Statement of Need

    The majority of people over seventy years old grew up having a garden. Some out of necessity, some for pleasure. When asked, everyone I assessed said what they loved doing was gardening. Their caregivers told me they did not allow their loved one to get down on the ground for fear they would not be able to get back up. I also talked with people in wheelchairs who were desperate to get their hands in soil again. 
    The director and I came up with the idea of developing some kind of raised gardening boxes that would be accessible for the aged and the handicapped. We wanted to have the boxes high enough that the people could sit in a chair or in their wheelchair comfortably and safely garden.

Description of the Intervention

    For the intervention of this community project, my plan was to be the coordinator, getting the right people involved to build the garden boxes. I did not plan on doing any of the physical labor myself (we do want it to be safe). I planned on having it finished by the end of April to enable the participants of the center to start getting their hands dirty by spring. 
    To educate myself on how, when and where the boxes should be used, I interviewed a recreation director at a rehabilitation hospital, the activities director at my center and at another adult day care center in a neighboring town. In my research on the Internet, I only found advertisements from companies that produce garden boxes. From their pictures, I was able to get a better idea of what I wanted to build. I got a construction company to donate the lumber and the garden club to donate the needed soil and seeds. My husband and father-in-law offered their services to construct the boxes. I forget about getting the nails and screws donated, so I decided to buy them myself.
    While I was getting everything together, the participants at the center were starting seedlings in little pots that we could transplant when the boxes were ready. I ran into a couple snags. The wood that was donated was banged up and had mold on it. All the boards had to be planed first and that set me back two weeks. I was fortunate that my father-in-law had the power tools needed to get the job done. My husband took some vacation days to do the work. I was videotaping the building of the boxes to use during my presentation, and it was hard to find days where my workers and I were both free. 

Evaluation of the Intervention

I was relieved to finally have two boxes finished. The day I delivered them to the center only two elders were there. The woman in the picture gave me permission to take videos and pictures. I also got a permission from her family. This women was excited to be able to plant her seedlings into a large planter. She was also happy to be able do the planting herself, not inside sitting at the craft table, but outside in the sunlight. And she did get her hands dirty. 
It was exciting to be responsible for this project even though it was very time consuming and ended up costing me sixty dollars (I paid for the plastic boxes, paint, screws, nails, sandpaper, and varnish). I thought it was a very worthwhile project. To see the end results were very satisfying. This project benefited the community by being able to help the center that has a limited budget. 

Reflections on the Project

    Reflecting back on my initial plan for the project, I feel I underestimated the amount of time and manual labor that would be needed. I did not take into consideration how busy I would be this time of year with graduation a few weeks away. Also, it would have made it easier if I had asked someone from my class to help me with this project.
    After all the work we did I discovered the garden boxes are too tall. It was a problem easily fixed; we sawed off three inches from the legs, and they are now the perfect height. If I had had more time, I would have been able to get more of the needed items donated. Everyone I asked donated items; if you plan ahead there is no reason for the student to have pay for anything. 

References

Personal interview, Activities Director at Rehabilitation Hospital. February 11, & 14, 2000.

Personal interview, Director of the Garden Club. February 14, 2000.

Personal interview, Activities Director of Adult Day Care Center. February 25, March 25, & April 3, 2000.

Personal interview, Participant of Adult Day Care Center. February 25, 2000.

Internet Reference- www.standupgardening.com, retrieved from the World Wide Web, March 20, 2000.

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