Cal Poly Garden Therapy Project Nurtures the Disabled

Surrounded by fields of alfalfa, corn and giant pumpkins, Donald Toscano dug his hands into a plastic pot containing a scented geranium and focused on its tenacious roots. The open field was hot and dust was everywhere, but Toscano took pains to make sure the plant was securely transplanted.

Toscano, 30, is one of 70 participants in Casa Colina’s horticultural therapy program for disabled people who work 15 acres just west of Cal Poly Pomona every day, rain or shine. Casa Colina is a nonprofit, community governed rehabilitation center in Pomona that assists people with disabilities.

The horticulture therapy program is one of the largest of its kind in the nation. Participants, who have disabilities such as a spinal cord injury, Down’s syndrome or a brain injury, earn up to $5 an hour and learn valuable gardening skills, said program coordinator Leslie Gaudineer.

Division manager Paul Alderson said many participants have gone on to jobs outside the program.

Toscano, who has a developmental disability and worked in the program for several years, recently finished the program and started a job at Home Depot in Pomona as a parking lot attendant.

“I will miss Paul. He’s been so nice to me,” Toscano said. “But now I’ll have money to buy a CD player.”

The group is developing a drought-resistant garden using plants from around the world, including Mexican sage, poverty plant and scented geranium.

The group is also involved in several community projects, including composting more than 1,000 tons of green waste from Claremont for use in their garden and redesigning the landscape at the University Village, a 22-acre student housing complex.

“My challenge is to create really meaningful work--not just busy work--for them,” Alderson said. “Working here gives them the sense of being providers, not just receivers.”

Alderson, a former social worker, stressed that it is important for participants to learn problem-solving skills.

“These are my heroes,” he said. “They know they have challenges that other people don’t, but they don’t have a moment of hesitation when I ask them to do something. To me, the real disabled people are people who aren’t doing anything about the environment.”