Inclusive Farmers Market Says 'Disabilities Don't Define A Person'
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A Sacramento business is using gardening to share a message: Disabilities don't define a person.
Every once in a blue moon, The Prickly Pear — a succulent specialty shop in the heart of midtown — changes into a community garden.
A garden where adults with disabilities, like Eddie Silva, get the chance to do what they love without barriers.
"Everybody shows up and a big ole smile on their faces shows up," Silva, a member of West Sacramento's Adaptive Recreation program Spark, said.
Silva is one of many taking part in the Spark program that has been around for more than 30 years focusing on special needs members in the community.
"It is a very tight knit community and it's great to get them out and exposed to all kinds of different things," Erik Rommel said.
Rommel is the lead recreation leader for the Spark program and thanks to Mona Bahraini, the owner and founder of The Prickly Pear, these members are able to do something they love and share it with others.
"This gives them a totally and completely different experience being around these awesome and cool plants, growing their own vegetables and giving them a little more purpose outside of their regular program and feeling like they can connect with the greater Sacramento community," Bahraini said. "Connecting with the community by selling their harvest...showcasing that disabilities don't define a person."
And in the garden, the farmers are planting more than produce. They're planting happiness in the hearts of many.
Mona says her goal is to continue the gardening program for years to come and hopes that other businesses will join in and do more for the special needs community.
