On a warm spring day, participants from Melwood Community Services’ Arlington Day Habilitation program joined residents at an Arlington group home to help build and plant a new community garden, transforming an outdoor space into a place for connection, growth, and shared purpose.
The event, which will be the first in a series of community connection events, brought together members from Arlington County, OSG, and EnCircle.
“I am excited to participate in this gardening project,” said Ann, a program participant with Melwood Community Services. “I will be working with my friends and we will all have a job to do to ensure our vegetables grow.”
A history rooted in innovation
For Melwood, the partnership was a natural fit. Gardening is woven into the fabric of the organization’s history and mission.
Founded in 1963, Melwood began when a group of parents came together with a belief that was considered radical at the time: that their children with disabilities could learn meaningful skills, earn wages, and contribute to their communities. Those first lessons focused on horticulture.
What started in gardens and greenhouses eventually grew into one of the nation’s leading nonprofit organizations supporting people with disabilities. More than 60 years later, Melwood’s horticultural impact can be seen and felt across the region.
Melwood employees maintain iconic landscapes across the Mid-Atlantic
Today, people with disabilities employed through Melwood Enterprises help maintain more than 9,000 acres of land through contracts across the Mid-Atlantic, including work at some of the region’s most recognizable public spaces. Melwood employees continue to plant and maintain the flowers at the Kennedy Center, carrying forward a relationship that dates back decades.
Melwood’s influence extends beyond landscaping alone. In 1973, the American Horticultural Therapy Association was founded at Melwood, helping establish and advance horticultural therapy nationwide. The organization remains the only national association dedicated to the field.
Deep community impact
Melwood also continues to invest directly in community-based gardening initiatives. Its learning garden in Southern Maryland produces more than 1,500 pounds of fresh produce annually, with food donated to local pantries or reinvested into educational programming.
“Gardening builds confidence, reduces stress, strengthens social connections, and creates opportunities for people to express themselves and take pride in their accomplishments,” said Emily Homer, Executive Director of Melwood Community Services. “Gardens don’t grow because of sunlight or soil. They grow because people show up and because communities decide that everyone deserves to be part of something beautiful.”
