New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill CEO Grace Elton (center) participates in White Can Safety Day in Worcester.

By Robert Burgess
New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill staff

In recent years, New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill has increased its dedication to making sure everyone has access to the benefits of plants and nature. One of the many ways we’ve been active in that area has been partnering with other organizations, including the Visually Impaired Persons of the Worcester area. It’s been a mutually beneficial connection, helping those involved on both sides broaden their horizons.

Liz Myska, a Worcester County Horticultural Society trustee, chats with MCPHS students on White Cane Safety Day.

In October 2018, Liz Myska, the leader of the VIPs and a member of the Board of Trustees that oversees New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, led community members on a guided walk around the Worcester Public Library’s neighborhood. The goal of this White Cane Day was to raise awareness about how visually impaired persons navigate the world, as covered in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill CEO Grace Elton had the opportunity to learn more about what it means to be a sighted guided, while others, like the Worcester Business Journal’s Brad Kane donned a mask to learn about the challenges of city navigation while blind. Students from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Services Worcester observed and interacted with the participants.

White Cane Safety Day was established in 1964 as an annual celebration of the achievements of people who are blind or visually impaired, and the important symbol of the white cane, a tool of independence.

Worcester area VIPs visit the Garden Within Reach at its opening in 2016.

Myska has led similar training seminars for staff at New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, providing opportunities for employees to think more deeply about what it means to be an inclusive organization and to learn practical tips on how to help if help is wanted.

And each spring the Worcester area VIPs help plant special spaces in our Garden Within Reach that are designed to provide enriching sensory experiences for those who are visually impaired or blind, but also to provide everyone who visits New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill with the beauty and wonder of being among plants.

Robert Burgess is the public relations manager at New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill.