The Nimick Family Therapeutic Garden

The Nimick Family Therapeutic Garden at The Children's Institute

  

 Florence and Tommy Nimick's tireless efforts and dedication to The Children's Institute and devotion to our amazing kids are an important part of our history. With the lead gift from the Nimick Forbesway Foundation, we will perpetuate their long-term leadership through the 10,000-square-foot Nimick Family Therapeutic Garden.


Located at the front of our Squirrel hill Campus, the fully accessible garden will parallel the Shady Avenue façade of The Children’s Institute’s main campus. (See attached overview.) Among planned features: gently meandering walkways; an interactive fountain that users can control; a shaded pavilion with sunflower umbrellas (the sunflower is the official flower of The Children’s Institute); a ramp-access treehouse; plenty of places to sit in sun or shade; and raised planting beds that are easily reached from wheelchairs and walkers, and in which colorful and fragrant plants will thrive.

 “The benefits of the garden will be significant,” says President and CEO David K. Miles. “For young patients and students, growing flowers and herbs will be fun, and can be integrated into schoolwork and physical, occupational and speech/language therapies. Parents can enjoy the garden with their children, or relax and restore their spirits in privacy. And our neighbors will be welcome, just as they are at our playground. We’re excited about this extraordinary addition to our facility.”

 

 A Gift in Honor of Their Parents
 
The million dollar grant for the garden has been made through the Nimick Forbesway Foundation, whose trustees are the three adult children of the late Florence and Thomas Nimick: Cathleen Nimick Carrasco of Aspinwall, Victoria Nimick Enright of Madison, WI, and Charles L.H. Nimick of Great Falls, VA.
 
Mrs. Nimick was a long-time member of the Board of Directors, and three-term Board President, of The Children’s Institute—starting when it was still the Home for Crippled Children. When she died in 1981, Mr. Nimick, a member of the Men’s Advisory Board, became the first man to be asked to join the active Board. He continued his service on the Associate Board of The Children’s Institute until his death in 2007.
 
Cathleen Nimick Carrasco says, “We are proud to honor our parents in this way—and we believe that, if they were here, they would have made this gift themselves. The Children’s Institute was a great mutual interest for them, so much so that the three of us practically grew up there. As young children, we played and talked with staff and patients while our mother was signing papers, and later as teens my sister and I volunteered there.
 
“So my brother and sister and I know what The Children’s Institute means to children and families—and we believe that, as the garden is nurtured, it will nurture the people who spend time in it.”
 
F. Brooks Robinson, Jr., a member of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Development Committee of The Children’s Institute, says, “This is a remarkable gift from a family that has for decades been strongly supportive of this amazing organization.”
 
Research Shows Benefits of Gardens
 Click for full size.
Click for full size.

Thoughtfully designed gardens have long been recognized as beneficial for hospital patients. As early as 1859, Florence Nightingale wrote, “A variety of form and brilliancy of colour in the objects presented to patients are an actual means of recovery.” Recent research has shown that, after spending time in a hospital garden, 95% of respondents reported positive changes in mood. Other literature shows that gardens are very likely to reduce stress, and likely to reduce pain and depression.
 

The Nimick Family Therapeutic Garden is being designed by Pittsburgh’s New Dawn Garden Design, which joined The Children’s Institute in conducting focus groups among patients, families and staff.  New Dawn CEO Christine Astorino says, “There was universal enthusiasm. Every group put forward excellent ideas we’re incorporating into the design.”

The Nimick Family Therapeutic Garden, named for the late Thomas H. Nimick, Jr and his late wife Florence Lockhart Nimick, is expected to be completed this autumn.

 

 Breaking Ground

On Thursday, April 22, 2010, The Children's Institute hosted a private groundbreaking for friends and family of Florence and Tommy Nimick. This event marked the official start of the garden. Because the groundbreaking took place on Earth Day, the ceremony included the planting of two dogwood trees— a favorite of the Nimick family. 


Look for a page dedicated to the Nimick Familiy Therapeutic Garden coming this May. The page will include updates, photos and more.

 

For more information about the garden or to find out how you can get involved, please click here for giving opportunities or contact Helene Conway-Long at 412.420.2201 or hcl@the-institute.org.


*Conceptual Drawings by Christine Astorino/ New Dawn Garden Design

 

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