Our Mission 

Giving Hope Gardens is committed to inspiring self-confidence and personal autonomy in adults with special needs .

Planting Seeds for a Brighter Future

Here, the power of a local gardening center does not stop at feeding our city (literally and metaphorically) and encouraging the healthy, whole mind-body relationship that comes with raising plants. Every raised bed full of greens, every customer met with quality service, and every adult seeking the chance to forge a trail of their own makes our community a more conscious one…and thus, a more empowered one. Since 2019, Giving Hope Gardens has opened their gates to adults with special needs with a promise for free access to hands-on work experience and life-skills practice. Over the years, we’ve achieved this in several ways:

-0n-site, where interns develop their customer service skills and best plant-care practices to help operate our small nursery business. During their time at the gardens, they also engage in diverse learning sessions geared toward growing confidence in social skills, independent living skills, money management, knowledge of nature and their community and much, much more.

-Locally, (in cooperation with other local businesses and partners), where interns are able to employ the skills they develop on-site in various off-site work environments such as performing janitorial work at a laundry plant and doing landscape-upkeep downtown for the city.

-Outings, aka Community Based Instructions (CBIS), in which interns take a monthly trip to use the donations they’ve raised through their work at the gardens and from local businesses as mentioned above to practice social engagement and just have fun! These CBIs range from taking a trip to the movies to going to the museum, to preparing a picnic in the park…we gauge their interests and let them vote!

GHG uses the power of teamwork and hands-on learning to work with the needs and desires of each individual adult.

Program FAQs

  • Our program hours in which our interns come to work are Tuesday-Thursday from 9am to 2pm. Send us a message or give us a call if you’d like details about our current daily routine!

  • Stop by and grab an application! Someone will be able to talk to you about what we offer and address any questions you may have. Once we meet with the potential intern and the application is completed, our staff will review it and contact you with options for a good time to come by and try us out!

  • Swing by and fill out a quick application. You will speak to our program director about the things you’re interested in helping out with and they will pass your application on to the program coordinator so they can give you a call. From there we can decide on a good time for you to come try us out!