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Isabella High School’s FFA students helped Butterfly Bridge Children’s Advocacy Center with the construction of The Butterfly Healing Garden. (LUCY EDWARDS | CONTRIBUTED)

The Isabella FFA students laid down an outline of the pathway before construction could begin. (LUCY EDWARDS | CONTRIBUTED)

Isabella FFA students removed sod from the area once the pathway layout was finalized. (LUCY EDWARDS | CONTRIBUTED)

The final steps for students were to insert the stones and secure them for the pathway. (LUCY EDWARDS | CONTRIBUTED)

The final steps for students were to insert the stones and secure them for the pathway. (LUCY EDWARDS | CONTRIBUTED)

The final pathway in Garden Room A of The Butterfly Healing Garden constructed by Isabella FFA students. (LUCY EDWARDS | CONTRIBUTED)

By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Students from Isabella High School’s FFA program helped local nonprofit Butterfly Bridge Children’s Advocacy Center complete a portion of its healing garden on March 19 that will give its clients a peaceful place during a turbulent time.

Isabella FFA teacher Carson Littleton connected with Jana Zuelzke, Executive Director of BBCAC, through Chilton County Extension Director Lucy Edwards to have his students help make The Butterfly Healing Garden come to life. The students constructed a flagstone walkway in Garden Room A of the healing garden during their lengthy workday that started at 8:30 a.m. After a small briefing, the students started the project by marking off the area and removing the sod. The stones for the pathway were then placed and secured.

Garden Room A will be wrapped with evergreen hedges and the walkway constructed by the students will lead to a bench swing under a pergola. The rhythmic motion of the swing promotes calmness and tranquility, and the goal of the garden room is to provide bilateral stimulation which helps children, clients and their families process things that have happened and that may be “stuck.”

“They did a wonderful job, and in the meantime, when they were here one of our staff members got to explain to them what we do here and they were very interested and attentive,” Zuelzke said. “They understood our mission and what the garden will be able to do as an additional space for the clients we see here. They were really excited to be a part of it, and their efforts helped us create a peaceful and welcoming space for the children and their families.”

The Butterfly Healing Garden will be a space where children who have experienced the trauma of sexual or physical abuse can benefit from the therapeutic elements of nature. The garden will feature a walking path with five different garden rooms located off the path — each one offering its own theme and unique features. BBCAC is getting the walking path and hardscapes for each of the five garden rooms done first. Then, in the fall, the planting of all the trees, flowers and greenery will take place to fill out the other garden rooms.

Liberty Hill Baptist Church constructed an A-frame playhouse in Garden Room C earlier this year that is about to be completed, joining Garden Room A as the rooms with construction already well underway.

“There will be a lot of opportunities for the community to help whether it be planting in the fall, donating or volunteering with helping install some of the hardscapes,” Zuelzke said.

The goal for Butterfly Bridge is to have The Butterfly Healing Garden completed by late fall of this year.

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