Growing Strong: Missouri Division of Youth Services gardening project helps young people

Officials with the Missouri Division of Youth Services want the community to see the progress being made by students in the program.

"Our mission is to have the boys return back to the community better people than they were when they came here," said Anthony Pulliam, youth facilities manager for the Cape Girardeau office.

The Missouri Division of Youth Services is a state agency responsible for the care and treatment of delinquent teens who are committed to its custody by a juvenile court. The facility in Cape Girardeau covers 32 different counties spanning from Park Hills, Mo., down into the Bootheel and west to Cabool, Mo.

"For the most part, the boys here are definitely going to be productive citizens," Pulliam said. "Eighty-seven percent do not get back in trouble."

According to Pulliam, the boys committed to their care are usually on their first offense for acts such as truancy or being beyond parental control. They often have anger, self esteem or grief and loss issues.

William Ingram, 13, watches as his mother, Joanna Howard, slices tomatoes for the Missouri Department of Youth Services' Family Day on July 14. The tomatoes were grown by the students at the Cape Girardeau facility in a garden they maintain. (ADAM VOGLER)

"We teach them how to recognize the cycle and break through it," Pulliam said.

The program uses activities such as community services and working in an on-site garden to help them learn to deal with these issues.

They drew inspiration for their garden from Robert Harris, who helped create the Cape Girardeau Community Garden Project. This project began with a plot of land off South Fountain Street. According to Pulliam, they worked with Harris for the first six years and then decided to make their own garden this year.

William Ingram, 13, of De Soto, Mo., uses the garden as a coping skill for his anger.

"It is a time where I can sit and think and bounce back and do the right thing," Ingram said.

He said he began working in the garden four months ago when it was just a few boxes of manure.

"Over a couple months it started growing like crazy," Ingram said.

Ingram's mother, Joanna Howard, said her son and his identical twin Alan have really improved morally and spiritually since joining the program.

"The garden project has been great for William because he loves the outdoors," Howard said.

She said they have learned book skills in addition to everyday skills. They have been at the facility for about seven months.

Youth Specialist Nick Cody, left, and Alan Ingram, 13, carry jars of vegetables grown and canned by fellow students July 14 at the Missouri Department of Youth Services for the Cape Girardeau facility's Family Day. (ADAM VOGLER)

Wade Lipp, 15, of Ste. Genevieve, Mo., has been at the facility for almost three months. He described working in the garden as very relaxing.

"When I first came here there were barely any sprouts at all and now it is pretty massive," Lipp said.

His mother, Marty Lipp, said she thinks it is a good program and has given her son a different kind of respect.

"He has matured," Lipp said. "He always had that in him, but he'd gotten off track."

She said working in the garden has taught him to nurture plants and be responsible.

"I've already told him that when he gets home he gets to plant us a garden," Lipp said.

The food grown in the garden is used for canning, making relish and salsa, pickling, among other things. According to Pulliam they make dishes that can be put in storage and used later in the year for activities such as campouts. They also have plans to sell some of the food at a farmers market at the facility later in the year.

The boys are involved in a lot of community service activities such as carwashes and cleaning up at the SEMO District Fair. The money raised from these activities benefits causes such as St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and adopting families at Christmas.

"They have done things they are not proud of in the community," Pulliam said. "One of the main things we stress is giving back."

The program also provides the boys with the opportunity to further their education and receive their high school diploma or GED. According to Pulliam, the school is accredited and part of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. He said about 72 boys throughout the region graduated high school last year and about one fourth of them went on to college. This year, he expects 70 will graduate high school and one fourth will continue to college.

"The staff have their hearts in their jobs," Howard said. "They go above and beyond for the families and their kids."

ajones@semissourian.com

388-3654