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January 7, 2025

Meet Kelly Flynn, Garden and Landscape Manager

A journey towards the Peace Corps led to traveling with a van of hippies, volunteering on organic farms in over half a dozen states, trips to Texas and South Dakota, and much more for Hopewell’s Garden and Landscape Manager Kelly Flynn. You could say that the path had many twists and turns, all leading home with some new direction.

While still in school for her Bachelor of Arts in Art Therapy and Studio Arts from Ursuline College (2018), Kelly planned to go into the Peace Corps. She found after much research that positions in the Peace Corps were highly competitive and required a lot of experience. It was then decided that volunteering would be a great start to gain that experience.

A Turn Towards Horticulture

Kelly’s first volunteer opportunity was through the Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF), an educational organization where one can learn agricultural skills through work in exchange for room and board. “I began my volunteer work on a farm in Richfield, Ohio when a week after I had started, I met a van of ‘hippies’ who arrived to also volunteer. I worked with them for two weeks before I was invited to join them and I jumped on the opportunity. I took a leave of absence from my job and worked with them for over a month, traveling and camping every night. We went to upstate New York, Vermont, Rhode Island, and back to New York, working on farms for various times at each,” she remembered.

The next year she accepted a job with AmeriCorps State/National working with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, teaching natural sciences to kids K-2 in Texas. She also found placements on a community garden in New Orleans and completed a farm apprenticeship in Tampa, Florida.

“Throughout all the places my work and volunteering took me, my main goal was to help others in an accessible and substantial way,” Kelly stated. Upon returning to Northeast Ohio, she realized that she would find it fulfilling to work in Agricultural Education. She pursued a Master of Science in Agricultural Education (Kansas State 2022). She also became certified as a Master Gardener through The Ohio State University’s extension program in 2019. “Every year I complete at least 25 volunteer hours. I also do 10 hours or more of continuing education through classes and tours of local growing establishments. I’ve learned more about setting up greenhouses, irrigation, and lighting, which gave me insight into what I bring to Hopewell for better growing,” she said.

Working With People With Mental Illness

When asked about what motivates her to work with people with mental illness, Kelly replied, “I have an autistic family member with high support needs. Growing up alongside that I naturally found myself working with individuals with developmental disabilities and issues with mental health. When I first started, I wanted to help others but had not decided on a specific population. As I followed my career path, I found my way into that niche and when I arrived at Hopewell, I knew I had found a home. I am lucky that my career encompasses my lifelong enthusiasm for gardening and my desire to work in a therapeutic setting.”

The primary aspect of Kelly’s job is educating residents in a safe environment where they can learn, try new things, and make mistakes. She explained, “There is no failing when gardening in an environment like Hopewell – just a lot of experimenting and learning from mistakes and new challenges. Horticulture and gardening are skill sets in which you start somewhere – really anywhere – and build on what you learn. For many individuals, the most gratifying part of gardening is the end result. By the end of the season, seeing plants develop and grow is a great confidence booster after all the work that was put into it. Along the way there is a lot of immediate and mid-term satisfaction planting, weeding, and watching things grow. Of course, there’s also the joy of being out in nature and working on Hopewell’s beautiful grounds.”

All are welcome to join the Garden Crew with Kelly for any reason. She said, “Some individuals who get involved with Garden Crewdevelop an interest in learning about plant science and agriculture, some like the work involved as there is a good mix of detail work and bigger projects, sometimes they come just to keep busy with others. There are a lot of sensory experiences when gardening. Some residents just like the physical part of it – working in the soil can make you feel grounded – and gardening in general helps you be more active. There is also a socialization aspect. Even if residents don’t want to talk, they can work side-by-side with others to complete unified goals. Being outside is its own reward. Recently a resident with no garden/plant experience who has been joining Garden Crew said, ‘I didn’t realize how much I’d like working with plants. They are pretty interesting!’”

While some residents find comfort in the similar daily routines on the Housekeeping and Farm crews, others look forward to the changing types of work on the Garden Crew. “There are periods when we’re all doing hard work such as shoveling, mulching, and prepping the soil to grow crops, but other days there’s lighter work such as seeding, weeding and pruning. This year the Garden Crew started a native pollinator garden and saved the seeds. All of this involves a little bit of learning as well,” Kelly explained.

Contributing to the Hopewell Community

Kelly coordinates with Food Service Manager and Wellness Educator Jenn Miller on what vegetables, fruits, and herbs to grow to assist the farm nutrition program. “For example, we grew 606 pounds of tomatoes this year of which many have been canned to be used throughout the rest of the year. We harvested over 91 pounds of lettuce, 70 pounds of onions, 144 pounds of yellow squash, 140 pounds of zucchini, 70 pounds of watermelon, and much more. That saves significant money on the food budget.

“In the winter, we propagate house plants, start seeds indoors, grow herbs in the conservatory, and propagate some cold weather crops such as spinach, radishes, beets and lettuce in a hoop house. We often experiment to see if things work or not.”

This winter, Kelly will take over maple sugaring with Theresa Merten, Farm Animal Manager and Program Facilitator. “That’s quite a fun farm project and lots of people get involved. We order supplies, watch the weather to determine the optimal time to tap the maple trees in our sugarbush, and organize residents and staff to help with tapping. Then we harvest the sap, boil, and bottle the syrup. My favorite part is taste-testing the freshly boiled syrup while it’s still warm.”

In addition to gardening, Kelly is a musician who plays in bands with her husband. She brings her talents to the Musical Journey interest group and plays bass so coordinator Bob Weirich can play piano with the residents. One of her goals is to travel with her husband from LA to Seattle, up the coast. She also wants to do more art. She makes jewelry focusing on metalsmithing and enameling.

Kelly finds working at Hopewell to be extremely rewarding. “I love seeing the joy on people’s faces when they realize that all the hard work they did amounts to so much. Planting a seed and watching it grow. Growing a plant and producing food that goes to our kitchen to feed our community.” She continued, “Towards the end of the season, a resident looked over our garden and said, ‘Wow, we grew all of this!’ That realization is what I strive for.”