The Green Street Project: Fostering Mental Health through Nature and Infrastructure

Partnership for the Green Street Project: CMHC, CVC, and CBT Join Forces to Promote Mental Health and Environmental Sustainability

Chesapeake Mental Health Collaborative (CMHC) is pleased to announce an exciting collaborative project with the Gunpowder Valley Conservancy, bolstered by funding from the Chesapeake Bay Trust under the Green Streets, Green Jobs, Green Towns initiative. This ambitious undertaking will lay out a conceptual plan for CMHC's Towson-based headquarters, focusing on the integration of green infrastructure and nature-informed therapy.

The Green Street Project seeks to address the scarcity of practical methodologies available for combining the benefits of green spaces and mental health. By marrying the worlds of green infrastructure and therapy, the project is a step towards pioneering the implementation of nature-informed therapy in urban and suburban settings.

Heidi Schreiber-Pan, Executive Director of CMHC, expresses her enthusiasm, "The Green Street Project symbolizes our commitment to promoting mental health in harmony with environmental sustainability. We aim to create a blueprint for other mental health facilities to follow."

This project will enable the creation of a green urban space offering nature-informed therapy, benefitting CMHC clients and practitioners. Its location in high-traffic, high-visibility Towson also affords an opportunity to educate the public about the therapeutic potential of nature.

Furthermore, the project will also enhance the educational capabilities of CMHC. The Nature-Informed Therapy Certification course will now have a living example for trainees to learn from. And importantly, the developed methodology will reach landscape design professionals and therapists far and wide through a published journal article.

CMHC's collaboration with the Gunpowder Valley Conservancy—a trusted land trust and watershed restoration non-profit—is central to this project. Schreiber-Pan noted, "Our collaboration reflects our shared belief in the therapeutic potential of nature. By bringing nature closer to our clients and practitioners, we're expanding the boundaries of traditional therapy, enabling holistic healing and well-being."

CMHC eagerly looks forward to the transformative impact the Green Street Project will have on the community. Stay tuned for more updates!

Read the full press release [here].

[Green Street Project], [Gunpowder Valley Conservancy], [Chesapeake Bay Trust], [Nature-Informed Therapy], and [CMHC] are paving the way for a greener, healthier future.