Many CRi programs have an outdoor space that they use for therapeutic gardening. Gardens are often planned as a team in the late winter/early spring. Crops are planted a little later when the weather has improved. Upon a visit to CRi's Lake Jackson home during the spring and summer months, you will find a large, bustling garden full of life in the backyard. If you are looking for a traditional small "American style" garden, however, you might not find it here.
Mixed in with the staples of tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, and cucumbers are various traditional crops found in western and sub-Saharan African countries. In these gardens, many programs choose to grow crops like cassava root, banana leaf, stinging nettle, and sweet potato leaf.
Many of CRi's direct support staff are from African countries such as Cameroon, Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria, and the Ivory Coast. They make it a point to actively share their cultures with the people they support each day. This has an amazing impact on the food they are able to grow, cook, and eat together as a program.
“We love to grow food from both cultures: American and African. That way, we can cook foods that are important to each of us and, when we break bread, we learn so much more about each other,” says Ursla Mkeh, Program Director at CRi’s Lake Jackson home. Lake Jackson residents are active participants in kitchen activities. Many of their meals include ingredients from the garden. "They love the food, they love to cook it, too. They request it now.”
At CRi, staff work hard to consistently find new ways to meet people where they are, to learn about each other's backgrounds, and to help each program shape their own unique culture. Sharing culture is an excellent way to expose people to new experiences and allow for new choices - especially through food, hobbies, music, and language.
Whether it's through daily dance parties, the introduction of new music, food, or language, Mkeh knows very well the importance of connecting culturally with the people in her program. "Being culturally competent & really understanding people at their core is one of the most important things we can do for someone," she says. "What's around you is a HUGE part of your culture… We want to make sure our people are exposed to many different things and ways of life so they can feel empowered to make better choices for themselves and for their lives. They learn from us, and we learn from them to kind of make our very OWN culture."
"It's harder to connect and care for someone if you don't know their likes, their family, where they are from," she says. "We have to truly understand them. We have to build our own culture with them. It's just a critical part of building a relationship that supports the whole person -- And that's why it's so important to us that we share and learn from one another. That's what makes CRi great."
We couldn't agree more.
{Original story written by Allison John (2020), Edited by Sasha Samarov (2025)}
