Horticulture’s Golden Legacy: 50 Years of Growth

Syed is learning – and teaching – in the horticulture program

For 50 years, Little City’s Horticulture Center has been helping people with intellectual and developmental disabilities grow in unique ways.

As Little City continues celebrating this milestone, it is participants like Syed who show how special and meaningful this program has been to so many people over the years. Syed has been working in the Horticulture program since before Horticulture Manager Wayne Johnson and Horticulture Specialist Jackie Kenyon joined the team.

Syed’s love for the work keeps him coming back year after year and he has become a role model and teacher for other students . . . and even Wayne and Jackie!

“He just loves the work,” Wayne said. “He’s very proactive and knows what to do next. He’ll be getting things ready before we tell him or move on to the next step.”

“And he is so excited and even vocal about the work,” Jackie added. “He’ll try to say the words while also using sign language, so we actually are learning, too!”

Over the years, people like Syed have helped build a program that now serves more than 60 people and generates major annual sales events like the Plant Sale and Harvest Stand. And with this year’s Harvest Stand, customers can expect a bigger and better experience.

From all-new displays to the new addition of fresh corn grown right on campus, the participants at the Horticulture Center are working hard to create a bountiful Harvest Stand for the community.

These kinds of experiences over the last 50 years have helped countless people at Little City gain vocational skills, receive the therapeutic benefits of working with nature, and engage in social activities with friends.

With your help and support for programs like the Harvest Stand, Little City’s Horticulture Center will empower more people and provide more opportunities for those we serve. Thank you to all those past and present for supporting this program for an incredible 50 years. It is the growth in the people we serve that lasts a lifetime!

Celebrating 50 years of Little City’s horticulture program

What started as a seed of an idea 50 years ago has blossomed into something truly special today. 

Founded in 1974, Little City’s Dorothy Rose Horticulture Center has provided decades of opportunities for individuals with disabilities to immerse themselves in gardening, learn about horticulture, pursue their passions, and gain vocational skills through the joy and beauty of flowers, plants, and produce. 

Since the beginning, this growing program has centered its approach on providing a hands-on therapeutic experience that allows participants to gain invaluable employment experience on campus and develop job skills to help them achieve community-based employment.

Today, the thriving horticulture program serves more than 60 people with disabilities – all thanks to what friends and supporters have shared with this mission for over five decades. Thank you for growing this program into what it is today to empower more individuals with disabilities!

Growing over the years!

The famous A-frame building first opened its doors July 7, 1974, as the Anna Mantel Fishbein Florarium. Anna had dedicated much of her life to special education and believed that a horticulture program could provide vital therapeutic, social, and recreational benefits for people with disabilities.

The program flourished for more than a decade and stood out as one of the few programs in the region that gave people with disabilities the opportunity to work directly with nature and learn vital skills.

After the program unexpectedly lost funding in the late 1980s, it was donors like you who stepped up and saved the day for our horticulture program to keep it running.

The program was revitalized and reimagined in the 2000s and has since grown into what it is today. The Dorothy Rose Horticulture Center launched in 2009 after Dorothy became determined to re-envision the program that had meant so much to her son, Jerry, who is still a Little City resident.

By the mid-2010s, the program was not only serving Little City residents, but also creating opportunities for all participants in our day program following the merger with Countryside Association.

Today, the center is a place where vocational and collaborative skills are highlighted and empowering individuals with disabilities to learn, grow, and reach their unique potential.