How East L.A. middle school students use gardening to spread mental health awareness

This story was originally published by Boyle Heights Beat on July 11, 2024.

As a student at Griffith STEAM Magnet Middle School, Emma Oceguera saw how her classmates had increased stress, anxiety and depression at the start of the pandemic.

That’s when she and fellow students came together in the fall of 2020 to form a group focused on addressing those mental health issues. With a lack of green spaces in the neighborhood, they decided to incorporate gardening into the project.

Known as the Mindful Gardeners, the school-based group meets regularly to talk about mental health, plan fun activities and share accessible resources with the East Los Angeles community. The group’s slogan, “water your plants, water your mind,” ties in the relationship between mental health and gardening.

“That message is important because we’ve all got so much going on in life that we forget to take care of ourselves,” shared the now 15-year-old Oceguera. “Just like how you take care of a plant, we need to give the same care to ourselves.”

The program is a GirlsBuild project, an LA Promise Fund initiative that challenges young girls from public schools and youth nonprofits to find a way to make an impact in their community. That’s why you’ll often see the Mindful Gardeners on weekends tabling at the East Los Angeles Farmer’s Market as a way to help address mental health issues and destigmatize conversations about it.

While adolescent mental health issues were increasing prior to the pandemic, in 2022, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy put out a 53-page advisory declaring youth mental health a crisis. A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looking at mental health trends over a ten-year period found that in 2021, 42% of high school students felt persistently sad or hopeless and nearly one-third experienced poor mental health. The situation is even worse for female students, with 60% experiencing persistent feelings of hopelessness during the past year and nearly 25% making a suicide plan.

Members of Mindful Gardners say they hope their group is part of a solution.

“It’s been great being a part of this program because I get to talk to people and get out of my comfort zone,” says Mariah Lizo, an 8th grade student in the program. “We spread awareness to a community where mental health isn’t really talked about. Students need help too, we’re all really busy and don’t really get lots of time to focus on ourselves.”

Lizo says the program has helped her and other students at the school find therapeutic ways to focus on themselves and their mental health.

Since starting, the Mindful Gardeners have engaged with hundreds of students, parents and school staff as well as over a thousand community members through neighborhood partnerships, group presentations and events.

At community events, they distribute planting kits with seeds, custom-made stickers designed by students and resource guides all about mental health. They also offer bracelet-making and art painting activities while tabling to keep whole families engaged.

The organization also hosts “Days of Service” at the school’s garden where fellow students, parents and the local community can come together to tend to the area, engage in fun activities and learn about the intersection of mental health and the environment.

Christine Mariano, the school’s psychiatric social worker, helps oversee the club but says it is student-led through and through.

The group’s logo, a brain blossoming with flowers, was designed by Oceguera and students come up with ideas during weekly lunch check-ins on how to engage community members while volunteering in the neighborhood. The Mindful Gardeners website and Instagram were also created by members.

“Opportunities like this are so important because it gives students on the Eastside a chance to grow as leaders while giving back to their communities,” says Mariano. “It’s been amazing seeing the impact the program has had on the different students who have gone through it over the years.”

Students in the program have also had the opportunity to speak with public officials, including First Lady of California Jennifer Siebel Newsom and L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis, about issues facing their neighborhood.

Talking with others about the importance of mental health is what keeps Oceguera coming back to the program, even after finishing middle school. Currently a rising sophomore at James A. Garfield High School, she still volunteers for the group.

“I love Mindful Gardeners, it’s like a family for me,” said Oceguera. “I hope the program expands. It’s such a great program with such a positive message that has helped me and many others. There needs to be programs and opportunities like Mindful Gardeners in every school, because you help students and you help the neighborhood too.”

You are not alone! If you or anyone you know is in crisis, please call or text ‘988’ (or chat online on 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s website ) for free, confidential and immediate support. The following are additional free support channels available:

• Crisis Text Line : Text “LA” to 741741 to connect with a trained crisis counselor and receive support through text.
• Trevor Project Lifeline : Contact (800) 788-7386 to connect with counselors trained in understanding challenges faced by LGBTQ+ youth and allies in crisis.
• Substance Abuse Service Helpline : Call (844) 804-7500 to connect with the LA County Department of Public Health for resource and service referrals relating to substance use disorders.
• 211 LA County : Dial 2-1-1 within Los Angeles County for health, human and social services in the area suited to your needs.
• National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) : Contact (800) 950-6264 to connect with NAMI, the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization.