About The Hope Garden

This spring, eight students from Ball State University fervently initiated a project to install a garden for the YWCA residents. The students were enrolled in a community immersion course at Ball State, which allowed them to select a specific organization and project that would be not only beneficial to the citizens in their community, but would prove to hold longevity.

The students were aware of the long-time aspiration the women at the YWCA had for a community garden, but to better understand what would be most beneficial to the women, they sat down and spoke with the residents. The team of Ball State students graciously brought Firehouse Subs to the YWCA one afternoon and had a lunch with a few residents and discussed what they would like to see in the upcoming project. After some brainstorming between the students and residents, they came to the agreement to start a vegetable garden in the patio area of the YW.

The eight students designed the garden and were able to install it, plant the vegetables, and make a beautiful sign for the garden in only three short days. The sign reads, “YWCA Hope Garden,” and a hanging Marigold plant is at each end of the sign. The students chose to hang Marigolds because of a comment made by one of the residents of the YWCA. She described that the women who make up the YWCA family are just like marigolds, they are strong, they are withstanding, and they are beautiful.

We would like to thank the wonderful students who completed this project for their time, hard work, expertise, and mostly, their compassion. The eight individuals who participated not only finished their project efficiently and effectively, but also did it with a great amount of respect and care for the YWCA as an establishment and our residents.