As someone who has personally faced the stress and trauma of placing a loved one in a care facility, I understand the importance of revolutionizing our care systems. My passion for innovating a new model of living is rooted in my experience with my great-grandmother, Tess, and the dismay we both experienced when she was admitted into a skilled nursing facility on the sixth floor without access to Nature, fresh air, gardens, or her beloved dog.
In 2012, I left Cleveland, Ohio, shedding most of my material belongings, and traveled nearly 3,000 miles to Big Sur, California, to experience live/work/learn communities. I was on a mission with a vision that would not go away
I lived, worked, and learned at the Esalen Institute, followed by Treebones Resort (the first eco resort to coin the term ‘glamping’). Thereafter, I experienced the corporatized, outdated, and often inhumane practices in the independent, assisted, and memory care “senior living industry.” Profit-Over-People is their foundation, and I realized positive change could not occur in this unethical sea of greed.
In 2020, I returned to graduate school to refine a new model of living and care—one built by the people, for the people in concert with Nature.
Nature-Inspired, Age-Integrated, Community-Based, and Resident-Sustained.
magine for a moment living in a residential care community that does not value your daily
access to Fresh Air as paramount for your health and wellbeing.
People of all ages who can access Nature without support spend less time interacting with the
natural world than previous generations.
Meaningful moments outdoors have been shown to prevent loneliness, boost quality of life
and wellbeing, and have numerous positive impacts on physiological, psychological, social,
spiritual, economic, and environmental health, often simultaneously—for all ages, all people,
including those providing care!
For older adults living in residential care communities, individuals living with dementia or
mobility impairments, and those who live independently with in-home care and support,
accessing the outdoors and Nature can be challenging, primarily when their ability to do
so depends on others.
All Ages Need Nature, yet when accessing Nature is not a valued form of care, nature
deprivation becomes normalized.
To be valued is a human need that does not go away with a dementia diagnosis, mobility
impairment, or when we are receiving care.
To have opportunities to continue making contributions to our world, however large or small, is
a human need.
To feel as though your life has meaning, is a human need from the moment we are born until we
take our last breath.
In Care Outdoors, reciprocity, interdependence, and caring with are paramount for health and
wellbeing.
When our care philosophy is focused wholly on ‘giving care’, we miss out
on the extraordinary power of a ‘reciprocal care relationship.
Reciprocal-Shared Care offers everyone the opportunity to make meaningful contributions, feel
valued, and receive the mental, physical, and social benefits of sharing care.
With Reciprocal-Shared Care, we nurture Nature as Our Care Ally, and we become Nature’s Care
Ally; a mutually beneficial and interdependent care partnership is key.
For most of human history, we have lived in close connection with the land, relying on
Nature for our basic survival needs, health, pleasure, physical and spiritual activity.
Indigenous communities have long-held perspectives that view Nature, or Mother Earth, as
inseparable from people, culture, and spiritual identity and an essential determinant of
Indigenous health.
The decline in human-nature interactions poses a significant threat to both human and
environmental health. As urbanization continues to rise, we are increasingly disconnected from
the natural world, leading to biodiversity loss and adverse effects on physical, mental, social, and
spiritual health.
Eco Gerontology emphasizes the importance of the natural environment in supporting all
domains of livability and advocates for nature-inspired and community-based solutions to our
most pressing social and environmental challenges.
As a change agent and pioneer in the emerging field of
Eco Gerontology, continuing education, and knowledge sharing are currently my priority.
“Agriculture is the noblest of all alchemy; for it turns the earth, and even the manure, into gold,
conferring upon its cultivator the additional reward of health” –Paul Chatfield
In the Eco Generation Park Model, multifunctional regenerative agriculture is the heartbeat of
the care community. The care farm is a comfortable and non-stigmatizing environment with dedicated staff and farming families connecting participants to place and land; participants become a part of the farm.
Green care farms began popping up in the Netherlands in the 1990s as an innovative way to
make farms multifunctional and financially sustainable. From about 70 care farms in the 1990s
to nearly 1,400 today, their number continues to grow. And there are around 400 social care
farms in the U.K.
The growing movement of care farming supports people with various social and medical needs,
including people living with dementia, depression, learning disabilities, work-related stress,
chronic unemployment, marginalized youth, and older adults.
Imagine for a moment, if small-scale regenerative farms around the globe, offered care farming,
residential, and day programs, regenerating and restoring Nature’s Health while nurturing the
quality of life, wellbeing, and health of all people.
Now, consider the possibility of care farming becoming a cornerstone community-based practice
for fostering Dementia-Friendly Communities in rural regions—areas abundant in farms but
lacking traditional support systems for aging populations.
The sky is the limit on what is possible!!! This is the vision of Eco Generation Park!
I am so excited to share the science, research, case studies, experiences, and learn with people
around the globe as we generate a thriving movement that will literally Open the Doors and
ensure no one is locked in an outdated and inhumane model of living and care again.
Too many have suffered; too many are still suffering.
We Are the Change the World needs now, more than ever.
I am so thankful to be here with you all; I appreciate you and am blowing wind in your sails!
Nature is also depending on us, the passionate carers of our shared home, to help regenerate and
restore Nature.
By rekindling our connection with Nature, embracing Eco Gerontology, Growing Reciprocal
Shared Care and Greening Care Communities, caring for each other and the ecosystems that
sustain us, we can co-create a healthier and more sustainable future for current and future
generations.
