Gardens of Hope Gala Raises Over $40,000 For Clubhouse Renovation

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Gardens of Hope Recovery Community Organization (RCO) welcomed the public into The Dahlia event center on Saturday, February 21, as the organization raised over $40,000 to help continue the revitalization of the Lyons Garden Clubhouse.

This annual event began last year, as the organization set out for the same goal: to help raise money to complete the revitalization of the Lyons Garden Club House into a thriving hub for recovery and horticulture therapy. With the funds raised, the organization leaders believe that the work on the building can be completed within the coming months.

Gardens of Hope is an addiction recovery support center located at 145 SW Broad Street in Lyons. Though often confused with Toombs County Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery (PTR) because the two organizations previously shared a facility in Vidalia, the organization is a separate entity. RCO serves as a nonclinical resource hub to connect individuals struggling with substance use disorder and their families to necessary facilities and services.

“[Gardens of Hope RCO] is the starting point in our community for any individual that is looking to take their next steps into recovery,” Gardens of Hope Director Craig George commented. “I almost think of it as an immediate care walk-in facility. Of course, all of our services are free and grant funded, but this is a place where someone can walk in these doors and be met with someone who is in long-term recovery, who is willing to partner with them for their next steps.”

Recovery support meetings are held three times a day — morning, noon, and afternoon — throughout the day at the Gardens of Hope Clubhouse, which is located at 145 SW Broad Street in Lyons. Through these meetings, and the fellowship often shared within the building, recovery is cultivated, as an atmosphere of understanding is created.

Currently, the organization is not only working with those struggling with substance use disorder or in recovery, and those individuals’ families, but also youth and the incarcerated. Programs for these populations began within recent years to help connect them to valuable resources. There are two certified peer specialists for youth — both under the age of 25 — who are preparing to go into school systems and speak with atrisk teenagers in hopes of helping them avoid the dangerous path of substance use disorder.

Forge graduate and Gardens of Hope employee Jimbo Partin launched a program in the county jail. He is helping individuals create plans to connect them with the recovery community so that upon their reintegration into society, they have the tools they need to continue to recover. George assists in the effort, as both he and Partin have spent time within the Georgia Department of Corrections and have since become forensic peer mentors.

Upon moving into its own space and settling into the current clubhouse, Gardens of Hope turned its focus back to the original priority: revitalizing the historic Lyons Garden Club clubhouse. “Our attention shifted years back, because ultimately, the first project we were on was the Lyons Garden Club partnership. Before there was ever anything — before there were any funds — there was an agreement between their organization and our organization that we would work hard to restore that beautiful building, and they would give us access to use it. So, we’re back at that vision and dream,” George explained.

The Lyons Garden Club moved into the structure located at 126 East Liberty Avenue in 1965, after the building had housed multiple women’s organizations whose focus was to stand for civic pride and bettering the community. The building, which hosted both a campaign for literacy in the 1930s and a radio broadcast from the basement in 1947, is currently listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, and serves as an iconic representation of the history of Lyons.

As participation in the Garden Club has dwindled over the past few years, so has upkeep on the clubhouse, necessitating several repairs and renovations. Previously, Gardens of Hope held a work day where members focused on some of the most pertinent issues of the clubhouse, and the group plans to continue its work in the coming days.

In exchange for work on the Clubhouse, the Garden Club has agreed to come alongside Gardens of Hope in its recovery efforts. The downstairs area of the Lyons Garden Club facility will be used for offices, and the upstairs area will be a space for meetings and seminars. In addition to this, the group will help cultivate hope among those struggling with substance use disorder through a therapy garden.

“I think it is really an awesome opportunity for us to partner with the Lyons Garden Club and to bring growth to their organization as well, while also tapping into our area’s agricultural roots,” George emphasized.

For more information on Gardens of Hope RCO, call (912) 454-1953, or (912) 388-2206.