Hattie Ide Chaffee Garden Club, RIFGC’s newest chapter and first garden club in East Providence will make a significant difference in the lives of the Home’s residents, by embracing and integrating Rhode Island’s horticultural community.  The creative expression of gardening can be very moving, especially when participants start to embrace their inner feelings, and as we participate in hands-on creative activities, we can gain a sense of accomplishment and start to open up in ways that can be powerfully stimulating and uplifting. When folks, regardless of age become interactive, they experience better social supports and an improvement in overall quality of life.  Our Garden Club will offer therapeutic activities to maximize comfort and emotional well-being, aimed at supporting the highest level of functional ability, while maintaining maximum levels of self-care and dignity. Our gardening activities will be tailored to individual abilities and offer opportunities for challenge and stimulation to maximize awareness, orientation, and independence, establishing links to the healthy and familiar, opening lines of communication for positive social interaction, enhancement of self-esteem and personal integrity, while optimizing the role of friends, family, and community.