Adaptive Gardens of the Lowcountry grew from two key ideas:

• That a passion for gardening coupled with horticultural therapy could be used to enrich the lives of people in our community
• That non-profits and businesses can develop symbiotic relationships, called social enterprises, and benefit all involved

From these ideas, horticultural therapists Jodie Thomas and Leslie Wade, have teamed with Maria Baldwin at Our Local Foods, LLC and Thornhill Farm in a program where special needs classes from Charleston area high schools come to Thornhill farm each week so the students can learn gardening and other skills for everyday life.

Our Team

Jodie Thomas

Jodie has been working as a Psycho-Social Rehabilitation (PSR) Counselor serving individuals with disabilities in the Midwest for the last eleven years. He received an AAS in Psychology from Lake Land Community College in Mattoon, IL in 1999 and a B.G.S. with a Psychology Minor in 2001 from Eastern Illinois University. During this time, he also served as a Crisis Prevention Institute Non-Violent Crisis Intervention Instructor as well as an American Red Cross Community First Aid and Safety Instructor.

Growing up in a farming community on the Central Illinois prairie gave Jodie real-world horticultural knowledge. Combined with his educational training he used this knowledge in his seven years as the manager of The Flower Box, a greenhouse that was operated as a means of therapy for those special needs individuals that he served and for community education and outreach.

Jodie’s shares with others on Thornhill Farm his conviction in the overall connection between the act of farming and the food we consume and our mental and physical health. He, also, believes in the importance of horticultural education and training in an individual’s rehabilitation process.  Jodie leads the day-to-day horticultural therapy activities at Adaptive Gardens and can be reached at jodie@adaptivegardens.org.

Leslie Wade

Throughout high school Leslie volunteered at a therapeutic horse riding camp that her brother with Spina Bifida attended. Leslie then moved to Blacksburg and while working on a B.S. in Horticulture from Virginia Tech, Leslie Wade volunteered for a program run by Catherine McGuinn, a certified horticulture therapist who helped lay the foundation for Adaptive Gardens of the Lowcountry.  The horticultural therapy program focused on an alternative school for boys and taught them how to build a greenhouse, propogate plants and how to use learned landscape skills in the community.  After graduating from Virginia Tech, Leslie moved to Wilmington, NC to work at the Pender Correctional Institution.  As part of their rehabilitation, developmentally delayed inmates were offered a horticultural therapy day program which focused on cognitive, vocational and social skills.  Other than developing these skills,  the prison made sure the inmates ate the vegetables and fruits they grew in the program, ensuring more nutritious diets for the men.

Once her contract was complete at the prison, Leslie moved into the restaurant business to follow her interest in food.  Managing restaurants in Wrightsville Beach and Charleston for ten years, gave her an inside look at the food we feed our bodies, both as children and adults.  Through these years, Leslie continued to volunteer with organizations that focused on teaching children how to grow plants and eat well through the things we grow.

Adaptive Gardens of the Lowcountry lured her back into the horticultural therapy scene in 2009 and presented an exciting opportunity to educate children and adults in the field of horticulture.  Leslie is the Executive Director for Adaptive Gardens of the Lowcountry (AGL) and can be reached at leslie@adaptivegardens.org.

Adaptive Gardens of the Lowcountry Board of Directors
Current Members:
Maria Baldwin: Owner of Our Local Foods and Kitchen Table Cuisine, Founding Member
Mary Beth Thornhill: Owner of Thornhill Farm, Founding Member
Sharon Knisley: Wando High School Special Education Instructor, Founding Member
Teri Levin: President of Teri Levin and Associates, a Legal Nurse Consulting firm, Term Member since 2009
Harry Crissy: Clemson University Cooperative Extension, Economic and Community Development, LEED AP++, Term Member Since 2011

Previous Members:
Deborah Peel: Georgetown High School Special Education Instructor, Term Member 2010-2011
Bret Williams: Board of Directors and Investment Committee: Hospice of the Western Reserve, Board of Director and Finance Committee: Great Lakes Theater Festival, Chairman of the Board: YMCA of greater Cleveland, Board of Directors: Yale Alumni Association of Cleveland, Retired: Washington Group International, Term Member 2010
Catherine McGuinn: Horticulture Therapist, Founding Program Director 2009-2010

Learn More

If you are interested in learning more about or supporting the work of  Adaptive Gardens, please, contact us.

Adaptive Gardens of the Lowcountry

P.O. Box 162

McClellanville, SC 29458

(843) 887-3500

E-mail: info@adaptivegardens.org