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Seeing beyond sight embodies the lived experience of the visually impaired and sightless and it vividly describes the therapeutic horticulture program experience that PBR has enjoyed providing Seabury Resources for Aging’s sightless and visually impaired clients since 2017. Enthusiasm and “believing is seeing” have always been on display from the program’s inception with a full embrace of readily attainable interactions with indoor plants and cut flowers. For some, these are exciting first-time experiences, for others they are a joyous reconnection to what was customary activity during their sighted lives. No matter the level of experience or if it’s the sensory sensation of propagating scented geraniums or arranging a summer array of zinnias and marigolds, it's been each person’s individuality, ability, dignity, independence, and belief that’s been the most impactful vision, through which the program has been shaped and the participants have flourished
I’ve always wanted pleasantness and beauty in my home, and I’ve always loved plants and flowers. It’s probably something I wanted even more with the loss of my sight forty years ago. Being empowered to create my own arrangements and to learn adaptive ways to care for indoor plants have been a great joy and is so important for me and I know for so many others. -Gloria Duckett, former Director of Seabury’s Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired
I never really had any interest in indoor plants until I started participating in the plant and flower program. I think it’s all the information we learn, the benefits, the plants’ origins, what plants are best for my apartment, that have grown my interest. Through the program I’ve received two plants and nurturing them is a new and teachable responsibility. -K. Adams
I used to be a painter. In the program when arranging flowers, although hesitant at first, I now see it as another way of painting with colors. -J. Parker
In partnership with Seabury since 2016, serving more than 400 of its clients across its various services and special events, it has been the opportunity to work with these dynamic older adults that’s been, and continues to be, a transformative experience. Seeing beyond sight encapsulates the reimagining ethos of PBR -- seeing beyond what is, to what’s possible, to new expression.
