Acer Institute, LLC | Collaboratory for Life-Enhancing and Therapeutic Landscapes | Therapeutic Gardens at Veterans Healthcare Facilities

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Therapeutic Gardens at Veterans Healthcare Facilities

In 2005, Acer, ASLA and the Miami VA collaborated to conduct a one-day conference, Therapeutic Garden Design and Veterans Affairs: Preparing for Future Needs.

photo credit: Alee Karpf

“Our conference was well-received by numerous VA attendees from a variety of specialty areas at our facility. The information shared clearly opened new channels of thought and I believe, have set us upon a path for seeing greenspaces in places previously unconsidered and in the healing light of positive therapeutic outcomes for our veterans.”
- Alee Karpf, HTR, MS, CTRS

Out of this event rose interest and alignment of professionals to advocate for therapeutic gardens veterans and their families.

“The conference brought home the need to make healthcare more about quality of living not just preservation of life; and mental and spiritual healing, in addition to physical restoration. We were reminded that gardens and other green spaces allow all users access to nature; that which is natural and right and perpetuating. It was a great conference!”
- Rick Bollinger, ASPRT Service Chief

photo credit: Jack Carman

We were fortunate to receive a considerable donation by LandscapeForms, makers of fine outdoor furnishings, for the production of the day’s proceedings in a DVD entitled Healing Landscapes: Therapeutic Gardens and Veterans Affairs, Preparing for Future Needs. Proceedings from the 2005 ASLA Annual Meeting Field Session.

photo credit: Alee Karp

The notion of conducting health services in more “home like” settings, like that of a garden, appealed to many. Following the Miami VA event in 2005 many inquiries of locations of therapeutic gardens and associated practices were received, thus the impetus of this list. Listings and information contained within is intended for advocates, practitioners, designers, students and veterans.

A community dedicated to collaboration -- bringing healing outdoor environments to veterans and their families -- makes this list possible. Clinical staff working at the respective facilities has provided the Therapeutic Garden Notes. Gratitude to members of the American Society of Landscape Architects’ Healthcare and Therapeutic Design Professional Practice Network and the American Horticultural Therapy Association for their contributions.

This list is for informational purposes only; it is a cursory work in progress prompted by a large number of inquiries. Please note that Acer Institute, LLC does not sanction these gardens, and may not support some of the “therapeutic garden” practices identified.

Acer looks forward to the growth of this resource as information becomes available. Subscribers to this list will be notified as routinely as possible as to updates, thus we ask you for your contact information. We are hoping you will help grow this list and offer photos to post. Please share additions, changes, details and corrections.

As always, Acer Institute, LLC welcomes inquiries and questions about creating, promoting, and stewarding Therapeutic Gardens & Life-Enhancing Landscapes.

We share this resource with the hope that it will benefit you, our veterans and those dedicated to the care of our military families.

Please subscribe for the list by completing the following:

your name
your email
your interest or profession (please select as many as apply)	Veteran Family Member Veteran Advocate VA Administrator VA Staff Landscape Architect / Designer Horticultural Therapist Recreational, Occupational, Speech Therapist Mental Health Provider Event Planner Student Other
your message or special notes
how did you learn about Acer Institute?
	Thank you for your subscription. You now have access to the list of therapeutic gardens at VA facilities in a downloadable pdf format. Please click the download button to retrieve.

Jack Carman & Annie Kirk
Organizers of 2005 Miami VA Event

1959, Plaques installed at Headquarters, Washington DC under direction of Sumner G. Whittier, Administrator of VA read from this quote: “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.” -1865, President Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address

help grow the list

We appreciate your contributions to grow the knowledge and awareness of therapeutic (healing) gardens at Veterans hospitals and care facilities. Please help us in the form below, noting additions, changes, details, and/or corrections to better refine this list. Please be sure to provide your email address in the event clarification is needed. Thank you.

your name
your email
your interest or profession (please select as many as apply)	VA Therapeutic Garden User Veteran Family Member Veteran Advocate VA Administrator VA Staff Landscape Architect / Designer Horticultural Therapist Recreational, Occupational, Speech Therapist Mental Health Provider Event Planner Student Other
list addition
list update or correction	please be specific
additional information or special notes

Want to join Acer on future tours of life-enhancing therapeutic gardens and learn of upcoming conferences and education events? Join Acer's mailing list.

Contact us for information on featuring your therapeutic garden on an Acer Institute garden tour!

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Acer Institute is a collaborative community striving for exemplary and restorative landscapes.

The Institute unites professionals regionally to facilitate dynamic, patient-focused, multidisciplinary design processes; facilitate conferences and education services; sponsor ongoing research and knowledge community repository; and conduct post design evaluations.

P. Annie Kirk, MLA ASLA, Director
PO Box 83 • Aurora, OR 97002
(503) 887-3439 • contact