Bernardine Senior Living Community Garden

The Center for Healthy Aging, One to One Program at InterFaith Works has partnered with Syracuse Grows over the past few years to help beautify the garden spaces of local nursing facilities in Syracuse, New York – to spark joy in the lives of residents!

This summer of 2023, we had the opportunity to receive soil for our ADA-accessible garden beds and woodchips for the garden space of the Bernardine Residence located at 417 Churchill Ave. This facility is in the South side of Syracuse and is often underserved – the area receives a lot of foot traffic and often trash, and debris collects.

With the help of Jeanine Volpe from Keller-Williams Realty and her team, we were able to purchase and install ADA-accessible garden beds that had yet to be filled with vibrant flowers, lush greenery. Thankfully, partnership with Syracuse Grows then allowed us to allocate enough soil to fill each of the garden beds. Afterwards, we partnered with a youth group in the community working together, planting flowers into garden beds, adding yard decorations, and picking up trash and debris.

This enhanced the beauty of the nursing facility and provided a peaceful and calming environment for the residents. They love to take leisure strolls, sit and chat with friends, and simply enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. Overall, the Bernardine Garden is a beautiful section to the facility, bringing joy, tranquility, and a sense of community to the lives of the residents.

Please contact garden coordinator Ruby Lopex at rlopez@ifwcny.org to find out more about getting involved at this garden.