Growing the garden gives the men a tangible way to give back. Picture: Sybil Zeng
Lesa Scholl
3 July 2025
An inner-city church’s community garden is providing fresh food for the elderly and connection for people exiting the justice system.
St Philip’s Collingwood is helping men near release from their sentences reintegrate into society through a partnership with the Judy Lazarus Transition Centre.
St Philip’s vicar the Reverend Bruce Everett said the church’s hospitality toward the JLTC residents acknowledged their humanity.
He said engaging with gardening had positive benefits for the men’s wellbeing, but the program was about connecting with community as well as connecting with nature.
“We can provide meaningful work for them,” he said. “[We] give them opportunity to get their hands dirty.”
Peter* has been the primary contact and project manager. He became a Christian in prison and was studying leadership and Christian ethics.
He said the garden project was a tangible way for him to add value and give back to the community.
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JLTC general manager Tracy Jones said Peter took ownership of the partnership immediately.
“He drew up what needed to be done, what resources were needed,” Ms Jones said. “It’s got him feeling like…a valued part of society again.”
Mr Everett said about a dozen people had worked in the garden over the last few months, including Paul*, an ex-horticulturalist.
“He’s loved just being in the garden and having his own space,” Mr Everett said.
“He came the first week, he looked like a deer in the headlights,” he said. “[But he’s] really owned that front area.”
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Joe* was a carpenter who had not worked in the trade for six years.
Mr Everett said Joe helped build the garden beds, the materials sourced from Bunnings.
Ms Jones said it was important for the men to feel they were giving back to the community but also that they were given different opportunities to develop extra skills.
She said for a lot of the men prison had been their only community.
“It’s really important to connect them into some kind of community where they feel valued,” she said. “It gives them a level of self-worth, confidence and self-esteem.”
*Names have been changed to protect privacy.
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