VA garden that produces peace and healing

WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) – It is a place of peace, comfort and relaxation, but more importantly, it is a place of healing.

The Peace Garden at the Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center is also more than just blooming flowers, but a garden where veterans come to collect their thoughts and heal from traumatic and painful pasts.

“I feel joy; I feel calm; I feel happiness,” said Peace Gardens organizer Laura Nutter.

Nutter lost her father Roland Nutter in 2011 and wanted to find a way to honor him. She said her father enjoyed coming to the VA and that he also enjoyed gardening and sharing his produce.

“He went to the hairdresser and offered them tomatoes and peppers and then he went to the post office, then he went to the car mechanic, the bank and he had friends everywhere,” he said. Nutter from her father.

The garden blossomed in 2013.

Many beautiful flowers grow in the garden. The popularity of this place of peace is also growing for many veterans such as Bill Cawood.

Cawood, who also has a penchant for growing produce, has been coming to the garden for 11 years.

“It’s a heartwarming experience for me to know that every production from that garden, everything that comes out of it, is free to the veterans and the patients here,” Cawood said.

Veteran Richard Manning said coming to the Garden helps him ignore past memories and flashbacks. “It’s a good refuge,” Manning said.

Nutter is proud of how the garden has developed and become. She said: “If you are physically injured, it has been proven that you heal faster when you are in nature.”

A report from UC Davis Health supports Nutter’s statement about how nature helps improve a person’s thinking, reasoning and other mental abilities.

In addition to the beautiful flowers in the garden, stones are placed in the courtyard with the names of various veterans who have died or are still alive.

The garden also has gratitude boxes with snacks and a library.

Nutter said sometimes you can even see ducks, bunnies or birds taking a break from everyday life to enjoy the garden