Boston Youth Sanctuary
Boston, MA
The Mindfulness Garden
Boston Youth Sanctuary (BYS) is a non-profit, after-school program for child survivors of trauma. The word sanctuary is the key aspect of BYS and its mission. Founded in 2011, BYS offers a place for children from low income families residing in inner-city Boston’s neighborhoods with the highest concentration of poverty and violence, a safe place to process, heal and grow. As a result of past traumatic experiences, our children struggle behaviorally, academically, socially, and need a place where they can feel safe and be heard. Traumas that BYS children have experienced range from violent deaths of parents/siblings, time spent in foster care, homelessness, exposure to domestic violence and physical and sexual abuse. Children who struggle to feel safe at home or in their community truly need and thrive in our Sanctuary.
Cooking Group, which runs every Thursday, is one of the groups that the children of BYS are most enthusiastic about. Cooking Group teaches children how to cook healthy kid-friendly meals, and provides the children with life skills and self-empowerment.
In the spring of 2014, BYS acquired some used tires from a friend’s car dealership and filled them with soil. Many looked at this pyramid of old rubber and dirt on a concrete patch and did not see the potential. The children were even more put off on the idea of getting their sneakers dirty and growing vegetables. But, once the children’s hands touched the soil, their attitudes changed. Children worked together, focusing on making rows, patiently planting seeds, and watering with care. What was once a vacant, unused backlot of concrete became a green, luscious source of food and learning. In the spirit of the BYS mission, the garden was christened, The Mindfulness Garden. 
The Mindfulness Garden not only helped supplement the ingredients for Cooking Group, but also provided enormous therapeutic benefits. The garden is now a beloved aspect of programming, and children who have never touched soil, seen a plant grow, or eaten a piece of kale now have a place where they grow fresh and healthy food. The children feel such accomplishment and joy when slowly watering a bed of basil, eating a head of lettuce they planted, or explaining the difference between types of mint.
As the garden has grown, children have harvested from the garden, bringing the freshly cut veggies to the kitchen, and making incredible dishes. One child who is always excited to water the garden, beamed with pride when she offered her spring rolls to the staff, knowing that she had helped create that dish. Some of the garden benefits are surprising. One of our therapist used the garden as a way to help a child work through her fear of bugs. Another child was able to identify that when he felt angry or dis-regulated, running his hands through the soil made him feel peaceful.
After a successful first spring season, BYS is excited to expand the Mindfulness Garden to include more diverse vegetables, provide even more food/ecological education, and increase therapeutic benefits. To start off the year, the children of BYS will plant an “intention garlic” that contains a wish that they can nurture and grow. As they plant the clove, they will set their individual intentions, and as they water and care for the growing plant, they will feed and care for their intention. 
Any funds provided for the expansion of the Mindfulness Garden would be put to use in activities like the “intention garlic”, the spring time sowing, and the creation of new planting beds. Another special project that we hope to realize would be the building of a bench that would live in the garden and where children would be able to take a peaceful moment, read a book or have a session with their therapist. The Green Thumb Grant would help the Mindfulness Garden grow for seasons to come.
The Mindfulness Garden is truly a special part of a very unique and meaningful program. The children and the whole BYS team are excited to continue growing the garden we have made together.
