A uniquely designed educational and therapy garden for all children built by volunteers October 14 and 15
For immediate release, Denver, Colo, Friday, October 13, 2017 – A collaborative community volunteer team will plant hundreds of herbs, flowers, bushes, and several trees in a 0.3-acre Sensory Garden for the children attending Sewall Child Development Center at the Koelbel Building, co-located with REACH Charter Elementary School, in the heart of Denver’s Congress Park neighborhood at 940 Fillmore Street. During Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., October 14 and 15, parents, staff from the Denver Botanic Gardens, members of the Congress Park Green Team, and community volunteers continue the site soils preparation and planting initiated by volunteers of the nearby Independence House. The volunteers will install plants, paths, and stones enabling texture, smell, and exploration. The Sensory Garden is an environmental resource for all children to experience additional growth opportunities and benefits for those experiencing a variety of learning issues, including sensory processing issues as well as toxic stress. The Sewall/REACH Sensory Garden is adjacent to the school playground an existing vegetable garden. Neighbors will also have access to the resource.
“Landscape Architecture graduate student Catherine McCord of the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado Denver approached us during her Masters Thesis project in 2016,” said Sewall President and CEO Heidi Heissenbuttel. Her academic, personal, and professional mission is to increase access to gardens for children in a fully inclusive learning environment. Her mission aligns completely with our school mission, and her research was fully inclusive in collecting design feedback for educational and therapeutic elements as well as feedback from school educators, students, and families. Our team was honored to have her talent, and we collaborated to earn a $75,000 grant from the Colorado Garden Foundation to build this 0.3-acre resource,” Heissenbuttel added.
“McCord’s Sensory Garden design is unique because of her extensive user and educator research,” said Angie Andrade, Senior Horticulturist at the Denver Botanic Gardens. Andrade is a Congress Park resident and her daughter, 7, and son, 4, are students at REACH Charter Elementary School, co-located with Sewall in the Koelbel Building. “This is also our family’s community backyard, and I have worked with a number of sensory gardens. McCord, with the guidance of CU Denver Assistant Professor Jody Beck, her Landscape Architecture academic advisor, has incorporated the latest research (she completed her graduate degree in 2017). Our volunteer team has further leveraged grant dollars to add more than $3,000 in donated and cultivated plant materials by the Denver Botanic Gardens and the community,” said Andrade.
“We were honored to name Sewall Child Development Center as one of our major grant winners this year,”
said Jim Fricke, Executive Director for Colorado Garden Foundation. “We were impressed by their initial plans for the Sensory Garden that were included in the application, and look forward to witnessing the impact that this hands-on educational tool will offer for Sewall’s students. We’re fortunate to have the ability to help projects such as these, by way of ticket proceeds from our shows, and we celebrate the completion of this project for Sewall’s students and the surrounding community to enjoy.”
The mission of Sewall Child Development Center provides inclusive, joyful learning environments using the power of partnerships, diversity, and belonging to enrich the social and academic growth of every child and family. Sewall says YES to ALL learners and their families. Sewall operations are 73 years old witha dedicated team of nearly 100 who collaborate with 45 agencies in the Rocky Mountain Region. Directly, we directly serve 630 children and hundreds more indirectly through consultation in a classroom network of locations through the Denver metro area (see sites/location map included with this media kit). Sewall is a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization, so contributions are tax-deductible as allowed by law. Contributions are deeply appreciated 24/7 at ColoradoGives.org/Sewall or Sewall.org/Donate and may also qualify for the Colorado Childcare Contribution Credit.
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