NORTHAMPTON — Behind an unassuming house on Elm Street lays a garden that gives sanctuary to children undergoing some of the most difficult days of their young lives.
There, children can wander among planted dahlia flowers, paint rocks and play with small forest figurines as they meet with members of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Hampshire County, an organization dedicated to assisting children who have survived abuse and trauma. The center also works with law enforcement, victim advocacy and mental health agencies to ensure children do not have to relive their trauma while still ensuring justice in their cases.
“We really believe that kids deserve to be in a beautiful space, and they deserve to have a kind of place like this to help them and heal them,” said CAC Executive Director Kara McElhone. “They can be grounded a little bit and feel like they can be a part of something growing and something beautiful. For some of our kids, they don’t have a lot of that in their lives.”
The garden, first opened in the middle of 2024, is about to complete its first full year in bloom. The center worked with Erika Zekos, a member of the Architecture Department at the UMass Amherst, to design the garden, with the aim of providing a healing space for children while allowing them to enjoy nature as they work to process their trauma.
“It creates another space that is private, but still out in nature,” McElhone said. “When people need a place to talk, sometimes it’s easier to do that when you’re sitting in a lovely spot outside with leaves falling around you and nice things to smell and see.”
Sonia Serrazina, a family service advocate at the Northwestern district attorney’s office, said she frequently visits the garden to conduct interviews with children survivors of abuse and to meet with families that have ongoing or pending cases.
“It’s more family-friendly, and also just a warmer environment,” Serrazina said. “The kids really do enjoy the space. It makes an uncomfortable conversation feel a little bit more comfortable.”
Serrazina added that she and other staff members sometimes visit just to do paperwork and go through emails while enjoying the garden’s atmosphere. “When we have long days, staff members tend to use the garden,” she said.
The garden features a greenhouse, ceramic sculptures and an outdoor pavilion that further enhances the atmosphere as well as provides more secure spaces for children to feel comfortable. The garden also features edible plants such as mint, berry patches and tomatoes growing off the vine.
Emma Folkins, the operations manager at the CAC, said that many volunteers have contributed to enhancing the garden’s aesthetics. A birdhouse near the greenhouse was made by one of the children who went through the center, and several trees planted in the garden are dedicated to several community members.
“It’s been really an act of love by a lot of community members, to donate a lot of parts of their own garden,” Folkins said. “A really big part of the garden has been bridging ways for the community to be involved, when they’re not directly involved in the services that we’re offering.”
For McElhone, the garden also holds a symbolic presence at the CAC, representing the nonprofit’s aim of letting children thrive by attending to them with nurture and care.
“Gardens are a great way to demonstrate that, and talk about what it means to take care of something,” McElhone said. “To be gentle, and to really nurture something and see it come to fruition.”
