Safe Haven plants seeds of purposeful elder care

At first glance, Safe Haven Nursing Home on Red Hills Road looks like what you would expect an elder-care facility to be. It is quiet, orderly, and there is a sense of calm. But as one steps inside, or better still, spend a morning at its newer centre in Vineyard Town, one would realise something different is growing here.

They are not only planting vegetables but sowing the seeds of purpose.

Safe Haven has recently expanded with a day care centre in Vineyard Town. The new space was created for those people who may not want full-time residential care but still need structure, support, and company during the day. What sets it apart is not fancy equipment or expensive programmes. It is soil, seeds, fish feed, and it revolves around one simple idea: people heal better when they feel useful.

Behind the building, residents and day-care members tend to small garden beds. Cucumbers curl along the fencings, pak choi spreads its green leaves confidently, along with tomatoes and peppers, which ripen under the careful watch and care of the residents. There is also a fish pond, which is a Zen space, and a bird aviary that adds movement and sound. It feels less like a facility and more like the backyard of one’s home.

Medical Director of Safe Haven Dr Lorenzo Gordon described the concept: “People don’t stop needing purpose just because they are ageing or unwell,” he said. “When you put a seed in the ground and come back to see it grow, something wakes up inside you.”

The farming project is open to residents from the Red Hills facility as well, he informed. “Those who want to take part are transported to Vineyard Town, turning what could have been a routine day into something to look forward to. Gardening days have become a highlight, with participants discussing which crops are ready, who watered what, and how the harvest might be used,” Dr. Gordon said.

POSITIVE EFFECT

The gardening activity has had a positive effect on the residents, in their posture, conversations. Even their appetite has improved.

“When people are involved, when they feel needed, they engage more with life,” Dr Gordon said.

Not everyone can dig or plant, and Safe Haven has activities for residents who are physically challenged like music and singing. Additionally, there are drumming sessions, drama activities, dance and art programmes, which form an integral part of the home’s calendar. On some days, the compound hums with rhythm, On others, it is laughter from a drama rehearsal or the quiet focus of a painting session.

“These activities are therapy, but they don’t feel like therapy,” Dr Gordon explained. “They feel like life. And that makes all the difference.”

The vegetables harvested at Vineyard Town, including string beans, cucumbers, and pak choi, are fresh, local, and practical. The idea, Dr Gordon said, is to show that food security does not always start with large farms or big budgets.

“This is something you can do in your own backyard,” he said. “Grow what you can, support your health, and even support the economy in a small way. It helps close the gap between supply and demand.”

The residents understand this instinctively. One of them referred to the garden as “our little market.” Another elderly gentleman jokingly said that the fish pond had taught him more patience than any doctor ever did. Watching people wait for plants to grow is like watching a slow dance. Nothing is rushed, and nothing is wasted.

GIVING MEANING

Dr Gordon said that Safe Haven’s approach is not about filling time but about giving meaning to it. Like a well-tended garden, the results do not appear overnight, but they are steady and real.

As the sun dips over Vineyard Town and the last of the watering cans is put away, the space settles into a gentle calm. There is food in the ground, music in the memory, and a sense that everyone has contributed something that day.

And maybe that is the quiet lesson Safe Haven is teaching: when people are given something to grow, they grow with it, too. As Helen Keller once said, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”