8/12/2024
The Ramsey County Master Gardener Volunteer Program has maintained a partnership with St. Paul Children’s Hospital since the 1980’s. The partnership program is known as My Little Green Friends. Twice a week, year-round, two Master Gardener volunteers from the My Little Green Friends program visit inpatient children. The children are offered live plants related to a themed activity. The team members of My Little Green Friends have always felt welcomed by staff working in the hospital.
In 2023, St. Paul Children’s Hospital opened an inpatient unit for children needing care for their mental health. Team members from My Little Green Friends were open to visiting the children on this new unit. Supervisory staff approved the My Little Green Friends program for the mental health unit and then provided introductory information about the unit and its needs to the My Little Green Friends team.
The equipment and supplies in the My Little Green Friends program had to be significantly modified to meet safety guidelines on this specialty unit. The adapted supplies now include some everyday items such as coffee filters and colorful paper straws.
The My Little Green Friends program has been making weekly visits to the mental health unit for over a year. The children are seen in a group setting and are monitored by a mental health staff person. Some weeks there are two to three children participating. Other weeks there has been planning for up to eleven patients.
Julianne Escanan, who monitors the Little Green Friends volunteers and the patients being seen on the mental health unit, has identified four therapeutic connections which are provided by this activity.
Mindfulness. The patients must be present and must focus on what they are doing.
Positive Social Interactions. The patients can bond over the shared experience of planting together. They also have opportunities to help and support each other throughout the process.
Caring (for something and caring for yourself). Patients can gain a sense of ownership, pride, and increased self-esteem once they have a plant of their own to take care of.
Improved Mood. The mental health unit does not contain live plants. The Little Green Friends program provides interaction with nature, versus the standard inpatient therapeutic programming.
It has been a privilege to serve these children. Thus far, the My Little Green Friends team are the only volunteers approved to visit these children.
If you are interested in joining this project, contact Lynette to be added to the waiting list.
Lynette Thompson
RCMG Volunteer
Little Green Friends Program co-lead