'It clears my head': How working with plants is helping the women behind bars in Clarenville

The installation of a new greenhouse at the Newfoundland and Labrador Correctional Centre for Women in Clarenville means a horticultural therapy program that started there last year can move into its second season.

The program offers inmates access to an outdoor area within the compound and lessons on how to grow plants as part of therapy sessions meant to improve their mental wellness.

For inmate Irene Hutchings, the program has been a welcome change to her daily life behind bars.

"It was keeping my mind busy and occupied.… I'd get outside breathing fresh air, mingling with other inmates," she said.

"[Before] I didn't even know what a tree or a plant [was], or anything about growing. I don't have a green thumb."

While the facility already had a greenhouse last year, that structure didn't last through the winter. The new greenhouse, donated by Sun Valley Greenhouses, is about three times as big, offering ample space for both plants and therapy sessions.

Those are run by non-profit organization Stella's Circle, which supports women who have been involved in the criminal justice system, offering community-based counselling and post-release support, but also therapy inside the prison — including horticultural therapy.

Program workers bill the therapy as a way to improve mental, physical and social health.

"People have different ways of learning, different ways of kind of receiving therapy. And horticulture is a really kind of cool, unique way to offer that," said Amy Sheppard, a social worker with Stella's Circle.

"It's really great for people with mental health issues, addictions issues."

In the past, the province's prisons, including the Clarenville facility, have repeatedly come under scrutiny for reports of insufficient mental health support, and staffing shortages remain a provincewide problem.

While "lots of really good stuff happens" in Clarenville, said Sheppard, that doesn't change the nature of being in a prison environment and what that means, including little opportunity to spend time outdoors — yet that's what the program aims to improve.

Inmates who participated in it last year reported having "blossomed," Sheppard said with a laugh, adding that it helped with their mindfulness and empathy skills.

"Women just talking about how at peace they felt, how calm they felt, how it's helped them being able to kind of tap into a piece of themselves they didn't know that was there," said Sheppard.