’burg and Beyond

Coal Township, Pa.

In 2022, Reece Pauling ’24, an environmental studies and critical Black studies double-major, launched a horticultural therapy program at the State Correctional Institution in Coal Township to equip incarcerated individuals with gardening skills that can help with their post-release reintegration. The benefits of the program extend beyond the prison walls. The flowers grown are donated to residents of local nursing homes and rehabilitation centers.

Measuring Results

This past fall, Christa Starghill ’24, a psychology and women’s & gender studies double-major, collaborated with Pauling to study the project’s impact. She found that the garden not only changed the prison’s environment, but it also improved individuals’ mental health. “One man told me that he became more grounded and calm after working in the garden,” she says. “The garden lightens the atmosphere of the entire prison. It’s cultivating beauty everybody benefits from.”

Future Focus

Pauling and Starghill, who plan to submit their research findings for publication, see their work as a small component in what needs to be a larger endeavor. “The prison system needs a lot of work, and this project is only scratching the surface,” Starghill says. “Yet, it was refreshing to witness this program making such a positive difference in the inmates’ lives and the inimical environment.” As Starghill and Pauling prepare to graduate this spring, they hope to identify other students interested in carrying the project forward.

— Sarah Downey ’25