EAST HAVEN, Conn. — An East Haven urban farm has had a big impact on those who suffered traumatic brain injuries.
Just over two years ago, Ivette Ruiz began Healing by Growing Farms to help brain injury patients, just like herself. Ruiz, a former relief worker for the American Red Cross, suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2020 and that is how Healing Growing Farms began.
“I decided to just start inviting people here and say 'hey, this is a no-cost space, and we donate food,'" Ruiz said.
From growing fruits and vegetables to gathering eggs from the chickens, Ruiz said she has helped over 100 brain injury patients since starting Healing by Growing Farms. Gaylord Specialty Healthcare, which partnered with Ruiz, has patients that routinely get their hands dirty by doing farm projects on the ADA-accessible property.
Corey Podbielski, a physical therapist at Gaylord who helped Ruiz with her rehab, said, “this type of setting is such an amazing place for people to come who have been suffering from a brain injury, or they might be having difficulties in their personal lives and just looking for a place to grow and to heal.”
Pulling weeds from a flower bed, John Micali from Newington said he appreciates the program. Micali suffered a brain injury in 1998 after his truck crashed and rolled over.
Micali said, “[this] makes you feel good about yourself because you’re doing something instead of sitting around and doing nothing.”
Healing by Growing Farms has received grants from both Yale University and the Connecticut Department of Agriculture to keep its nonprofit mission alive.
Ruiz, who is looking forward to creating more healing farm spaces across the country in the years ahead, said, “the best part of this is that I get to give people hope.”
To learn more about Healing by Growing Farms, click here.
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Jimmy Altman is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at jaltman@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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