For these Philadelphians, nature is a pathway to healing from gun violence

For some survivors, hiking and gardens offer deeper healing than pharmaceuticals.

This story is the first in a series in collaboration with Love Now Media for the Philadelphia Journalism Collaborative.

The way survivors and co-survivors of gun violence are taught to heal from gun violence can be formulaic: talk to your loved ones, seek therapy, and take anti-anxiety medications. But the path to healing isn’t the same for everyone, and these solutions aren’t a fix-all. For many folks seeking a remedy to the emotional pain they have experienced, the key has been access to nature and green spaces.

As a co-survivor of gun violence, Philly resident Denisha Odom knew she needed to find a way to cope after witnessing multiple shootings and losing loved ones to gun violence from a young age. “Sometimes with trauma, you’re kind of forced to take medication,” she said. Not wanting to rely on pharmaceuticals, she chose to look into the natural ways she could treat her body and mind.

Odom goes on hikes, plants trees and flowers for those she has lost, and has become an herbalist, finding ways to substitute what’s at the pharmacy for natural solutions and remedies.

Instead of taking a sleeping aid, for example, Odom will make herself chamomile tea. To help with her PTSD, on nature walks, she takes time to pause and allow herself to acclimate to sudden noises, such as a large branch falling in an otherwise silent space. “In Philly, we always hear noises. You never know if it’s a gunshot or fireworks,” she said. “Going out in nature just helps you reset. I try to quiet my mind and find five things I can hear.”

It makes sense that Odom is able to slow down and breathe when she goes on her hikes, because the simple act of going into nature allows us – physiologically – to do just that.

“Bringing people into nature literally taps into a different neural network that moves people towards peace instead of separation, isolation, disconnect, and chaos,” says O, Healing Justice Coordinator at Philly Thrive.

At Philly Thrive – a member-led organization that focuses on environmental justice and community – O plans and facilitates the group’s “action circles.” Currently, Philly Thrive hosts three circles: the Restorative Justice Healing Circle, the Race Relations Circle, and its flagship circle, the Alternatives to Gun Violence Project Circle, inspired by and modeled off a project of the same name created by incarcerated people at Green Haven Prison in Upstate New York.

The Alternatives to Gun Violence Project Circle was created in 2020, when Philly’s recorded gun violence numbers skyrocketed to over 2,200 shootings, with almost 500 victims having died by shooting. In the midst of a global pandemic, Philadelphians were rattled by the increase in need and the lack of resources provided by the city.

Stepping up to the task, Philly Thrive got to work building out their circles, which are open to all ages, as a way to help folks experiencing trauma reconnect with the healing energy of nature. Participants can expect to sit in a circle, do an agenda preview, and play games.

O says that many healing activities like these can end up being retraumatizing, but Philly Thrive focuses on games that allow the community to share their stories while having fun at the same time.

For Terrez McCleary, founder of Moms Bonded by Grief, group settings like these can make all the difference.

After years of trying to cope privately with the loss of her daughter, McCleary founded Moms Bonded by Grief in 2017 to create a community for mothers experiencing profound loss. She had previously tried to connect with friends on the topic, but found that it was difficult because they had not experienced a loss like hers. Now, she views her group like a part of her family.

“We lean on each other all the time,” she said. “Helping them is what gets me through this every day.”

In November 2023, after seeing a similar garden on a trip to Connecticut, Moms Bonded by Grief broke ground on their Botanical Garden of Healing at 51st and Woodland.

“It’s a space to find solace,” said McCleary, who lost her 21-year-old daughter Tamara Johnson to gun violence on Easter in 2009. The healing garden is home to a large set of memorial rocks that the group cleans and personalizes to honor victims of gun violence in Philadelphia from 2020-2023. Soon, they’ll pick the project back up and go back as far as 2017; tragically, McCleary also lost her nephew to gun violence not long after starting Moms Bonded by Grief.

One of McCleary’s goals is for schools to take kids on field trips to the garden, which she hopes will deter vandalism and help young people understand the space’s significance. “If you have 500 rocks under this tree …  at one time, they were human beings,” she said. “Visualize that many people standing there and see how many people we are losing to this senseless gun violence.”

The garden has several trees (one for each year of Moms Bonded by Grief), benches, and a brick pathway inscribed with names of those who have passed away due to gun violence. “We just wanted it to be a place to come sit and reflect,” McCleary said. When she’s in the garden, she is able to find peace. “I just look at the beauty around what we did, what we were able to do with a lot that had been vacant for decades,” she said, adding that the Moms feel that their babies are there with them in spirit, making them even more determined to create a beautiful space for those who need it.

Being able to nurture the mind and spirit through access to nature and community has allowed many survivors and co-survivors of gun violence to cope in ways different from what was prescribed to them after they experienced a tragedy. Whether it’s on a trip outside of the city or a community project in an otherwise urban space, it’s clear that these methods are working for people. In a city with several approaches to preventing, predicting, and processing gun violence, it’s worth forging your own trail to wellness.