How we cultivate community and connection in our prison programs by Ivy Harris, LAC Program Manager

I run our program at the state prison in Lancaster, and I want to talk with you today about what I consider to be one of the most powerful and rewarding components of the work: community building. 

One of Land Together’s guiding principles is that all humans need to feel like they belong in order to thrive. Prisons, by design, sever community connections and intensify societal divisions. In our in-prison programs, we cultivate community and a sense of belonging through shared experiences and collaborative projects, but also by listening with open minds and hearts to each other’s perspectives, no matter how different they are from our own. We learn from each other’s unique ways of seeing and being in the world and, at the same time, we discover that our emotional experiences of joy, pain, anger, yearning, and hope are strikingly similar. 

One of the first steps we take in cultivating community is sharing our memories of nature, plants, and gardens. Whether it is a sense memory of the smell of tomatoes growing in a 5 lb bucket or the joyful recollection of climbing a tree as a child, I’ve found that the sharing of memories serves as an important foundation for community building and an accessible point of entry for deeper self-reflection and healing work. 

As just one illustration of this, I remember a participant sharing a memory of being raised by his grandmother and how she always took such good care of her garden. He shared with the group how, even as a child, he understood that nothing brought her peace and calm like her plants. His sharing started out light and happy and then, as he was reminiscing, he had another memory – something he hadn’t thought about since it happened – of being arrested as a juvenile at his grandmother’s house. He remembered feeling a strange sense of gratitude that his grandmother had been in her garden when the police took him away. He remembered thinking “Her garden is her calm. While I’m locked up, at least she will have her garden to take care of.”  

He then explained to the group that his grandmother passed away while he was locked up, before his first court date. Then, he began to cry. He hadn’t ever reflected on how gardens were so tied up with his memories of his grandmother. And he hadn’t ever grieved out loud before. The other participants encouraged him to stay with his grief, and they validated his feelings and shared their own.

As trust between members of the group deepened, it began to chip away at the walls dividing us…walls we all construct to protect ourselves, but that ultimately become our greatest obstacles to growth and connection. 

It was an important moment in this individual’s healing journey, and an important moment in the bonding of our group.  

Of course, not every day is about emotional breakthroughs. Many program days are filled with hard work (and play) in the garden, learning about soil systems and climate change, or building practical reentry skills like financial literacy and applying for jobs. When I think about Land Together’s most lasting impact though, I think about the healthy and loving relationships participants are able to form with each other and with themselves. I think about how we are developing not only advocates for environmental justice but also advocates for empathy and mutual aid. How we are developing not just environmental stewards but loving stewards of families and communities.  

We teach in our prison programs that when we plant native species it creates a healthy ecosystem where one plant benefits another, attracting pollinators, providing food sources for wildlife, and ultimately improving the overall health of the surrounding environment.
I truly believe that these kinds of ripple effects are mirrored in our “inner gardening” work, positively impacting the larger prison environment and our participants’ families and communities.