Did you know there’s a small apple orchard on the Junction City campus of Oregon State Hospital (OSH)?
More than 200 dwarf Liberty and Empire apple trees were planted on the campus when it opened in 2015. Three years later, patients, staff, and community volunteers joined together for the first harvest. While the patient and community picking events are now separate, the harvest remains rooted in community connection.
A bushel of support
Half of this year’s 5,000-pound harvest was shared between Food for Lane County (FFLC) and Fern Ridge Connection Gleaners, a volunteer group that collected the remaining produce after a harvest event with patients and staff.
The harvest is about more than picking apples.
“This is a way for us to contribute to the community,” said OSH-Junction City Associate Director of Social Work Travis Smith. “It’s an important event in a lot of ways. A lot of our (patients) feel like they owe a debt of gratitude or thanks to the community that not only has been part of their treatment, but will also be where they’re living when discharged, so this collaboration teaches the value of service. It also allows them to develop skills around networking and building relationships with their community partners.”
Planting seeds for reintegration
The OSH Junction City campus serves people who were admitted by the courts under a guilty except for insanity order, meaning the courts decided their mental illness was a factor in their crime.
Social workers like Smith begin working with patients at admission on a discharge plan that often includes volunteerism and engagement to help them prepare to reintegrate into the community.
Picking purpose
Michael and David were among a small group of OSH patients who helped with this year’s harvest.
“Coming out here, being able to be a part of the community – still even within these walls – is a good opportunity,” said Michael, who added he seeks ways to give back to his hospital community, too.
He recently created a collage quilt art piece that is a Pride flag that will hang in the campus’ Welcome Center, a space that is a respite from day-to-day life on the unit.
“While it’s not volunteering – it’s something I wanted to do to give back to the hospital while I’m here,” he said. “I like to leave a footprint wherever I go in life and that’s one way I can do that.”
David said he’s interested in other volunteer opportunities. Many patients volunteer with FFLC – either helping sort and box food in the warehouse or at GrassRoots, the agency’s 2.5-acre community garden.
“I think everybody should give of their time,” David said.
Branching out together
The orchard was planted to help build community, and it’s encouraging to see that grow year after year, said Tom Anhalt, OSH Chief Experience Officer and Junction City Administrator.
“Food for Lane County has been our partner from the beginning – and they provide meaningful opportunities for our patients through their volunteer programs,” Anhalt said. “It takes coordination to make the harvest and patient engagement in the community to happen, and I’m grateful to our OSH staff for creating and strengthening these community relationships so our patients can grow and develop skills that will help them as they leave the hospital.”
The apples’ tartness is a bit sourer than a Granny Smith, making them ideal for baking or cider.
The gleaners group plans to press their share of the apples into cider, said Dorothea Sullivan of Fern Ridge Connection Gleaners. The group runs a food distribution site in the Fern Ridge/Veneta area and helps support 138 families.
As FFLC’s food resource developer, Kara Smith connects partners—any food business, including farms and organizations like gleaner groups—with the food bank’s mission of feeding the hungry in the community.
“Every little bit helps,” she said. “We’re feeding right around 80,000 individuals every month in Lane County. Everything helps. Every piece is part of the big puzzle that helps to make sure our community has access to food. We’re grateful for the partnership and it’s awesome to see the collaboration from various parts of our community.”
Partnerships with organizations like FFLC give opportunities to patients to contribute and build skills that will help them as they prepare to go back into their community.
A core connection to community
“Everybody needs purpose, meaning, and hope in their life,” Travis Smith said. “This partnership between us and Food for Lane County could develop into a volunteer opportunity for them in the community and allows them to learn valuable skills that they may not have been able to develop earlier in life. Many of our patients already volunteer at Food for Lane County and that partnership is part of that skills development, networking with the community, developing skills and a way for us to develop healthy relationships with our community members and partner with the community that we serve.”
