The Troy-Tutwiler gardening partnership recently celebrated its newest graduates, rewarding certificates for incarcerated participants taking part.
Troy University’s Gardening in the Alabama Prison System program (GAPS) was founded by Associate Dean of Administration and Associate Professor of Sociology Dr. Sharon Everhardt and Chair of the Anthropology, Sociology and Criminology Department Dr. Stephen Carmody.
“This is a point of pride, for Troy, as we are the only institution of higher learning in the state of Alabama that is offering programming inside of a prison facility that does not in return ask for money back,” Everhardt said. “We're not interested – truly – in anything but helping these women.
“I feel like everybody deserves to eat healthy food; that should be a right, not a privilege.”
The 15-week Fundamentals of Gardening classes teach the participants about horticulture and nutrition. In addition, the participants gain hands-on experience through the Garden of Perseverance, a garden which was named by the participants. There is also an advanced class offered through the program that builds upon the fundamental course.
Within the garden, participants grow different herbs, fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes, olives and blueberries.
“A couple years ago, some of the women wanted olives, and I never forgot about that,” Everhardt said. “Eventually we got to the right time, the right place, to go get some olive trees, and now they have olives.”
Whenever they can, the participants of the program share the harvested crops with others within the prison annex.
“The women are always very proud to share when they can, and they make those decisions,” Carmody said. “This year, in one of the beds we grew and harvested 400 sweet potatoes, and they actually took them up and made sweet potato fries for everybody in the annex.”
After completing the 15-week Fundamentals of Gardening or advanced gardening class, participants receive a certificate of completion, which they can then use for parole hearings or job searches.
During the once-a-year graduation ceremony like the one on Oct 16, participants are dressed in Troy University cap and gowns to walk along the stage to receive their certificates. For some, it's a point of pride.
“[It's] just a sense of pride I think they feel, to show something for the work that they've done,” Carmody said. “When you talk about gardening, it's one of those things that doesn't happen on nights and weekends.
I think people don’t understand it's a 24/7 operation. I mean, you can't produce the amount of vegetables they produce and not be committed to it.”
In addition to the 15-week classes, the Troy-Tutwiler program offers art classes taught by Department of Art and Design Lecturer Dr. Kelly Berwager.
In the past, participants in the art classes took part in two exhibits: “Garden of Perserverance,” which was showcased in the IAC in 2022, and “Roots of Hope” which was featured in The Kelly Fitzpatrick Center for the Arts earlier this year.
“[Recently] I've kind of focused on doing a lot of art therapy type stuff; we did a Kintsugi project which is Japanese pottery where you break it apart and put it back together with gold, and it’s supposed to be prettier than it was before it before it was broken,” Berwager said. “It just takes them away for a little – a couple hours every week.”
Even after receiving their certificates, participants are welcome to continue their work at the garden, building a community.
To follow along with the Troy University GAPS program, visit @gardeninginalabamasprisons on Instagram.
“The reason [the program] still exists in part is largely because of Dr. Carmody,” Everhardt said. “The women deserve the biggest credit.
“They wanted it, they're the ones that persevered. The garden's name is the ‘Garden of Perseverance,’ and that is a symbol for what they have to do to survive in there.”