Douglas County Health Champions of 2018: An advocate for new moms and a community gardener

2018 Douglas County Health Champions: At left is Melissa Hoffman, a nurse at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. At right is Aimee Polson, a founding member of Common Ground, a community gardening and urban agriculture program.

This year’s Douglas County Health Champions, Melissa Hoffman and Aimee Polson, have spearheaded efforts that continue to grow and make a positive impact on hundreds of residents in the community.

Ten years ago, Hoffman, a nurse at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, founded a peer support group called Build Your Village of Douglas County for mothers who experience perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. Polson is a founding member of Common Ground, a community gardening and urban agriculture program, created by the city of Lawrence in 2012.

The Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department will recognize Hoffman and Polson during a community breakfast from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. Friday, April 6, at the Community Health Facility, 200 Maine St. The event is free and open to the public.

“Communities are only as great as the people who call them home,” said Dan Partridge, director of the Health Department. “Melissa Hoffman and Aimee Polson are two wonderful examples of what makes Lawrence and Douglas County a vibrant and healthy community. They are models for all of us and are deserving of being recognized as Health Champions.”

Melissa Hoffman

Hoffman, a Lawrence High School and KU School of Nursing graduate, started her career as a labor and delivery nurse and childbirth educator, but soon added advocacy for women experiencing perinatal mood disorders after experiencing them herself.

“After the birth of my first son, I realized there was such a need for psychosocial support for expectant and new parents. I was a childbirth educator and nurse and knew so little regarding mental health complications in the childbearing years,” she said.

Hoffman had panic attacks and intrusive thoughts that caused her reluctance to seek help. When she finally reached out for help, she was offered poor explanation from health providers and found little information about what was happening to her.

“I just felt so alone. I felt like nobody else felt like this,” she said.

Four months later, she attended a presentation by Pec Indman, author of “Beyond the Blues,” in Lawrence. She went to take notes for her job.

“It was like, ‘Oh, my God. That’s me. She’s talking about me,'” Hoffman said.

She bought the book and read it that night. Then she reached out to the Pregnancy and Postpartum Resource Center in Kansas City and spoke to the founder Meeka Centimano, who also experienced a postpartum mood disorder after the birth of her daughter.

Community Breakfast

The Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department will recognize Hoffman and Polson during a community breakfast from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. Friday, April 6, at the Community Health Facility, 200 Maine St. The event is free and open to the public.

“It was the first time I didn’t feel alone,” Hoffman said. “I promised myself when I recovered that there would be something in Lawrence.”

Hoffman held true to that promise by starting Build Your Village, which meets from 10 to 11:30 a.m. every Thursday at LMH. When the group started, Hoffman said it would be her and one or two moms. Now, there are between eight and 12 women who attend the meetings. Hoffman estimates the group has helped hundreds of women during its 10 years.

Alex Myers began attending Build Your Village when her son, Owen, was 9 days old.

“My son was a tough baby and we had initial breastfeeding issues. On top of that, he wasn’t a good sleeper, so I was adjusting to life as a new mom and I was exhausted all of the time,” she said.

Myers said she won’t soon forget Hoffman’s help on one of her toughest days. “I came to Build Your Village that day after seeing a lactation consultant who wasn’t able to diagnose why I was in so much pain, and Owen starts to lose it. Mel just looked at me and understood that I was running on empty. She picked up Owen and rocked him like he was her own. She let me vent everything that day, hands-free.”

Myers said Hoffman and the other moms have been a lifeline for her because they’ve listened, offered helpful feedback and provided a safe place for her to express her feelings.

“Through that group, I have a network of moms that I have stayed close with for almost two years now, and we have continued to share the highs and lows of parenthood.”

After encouragement from her doctor, Anjali Kansal-Rill attended Build Your Village about a year and half ago when her daughter, Amara, was a few weeks old. She was struggling with depression and thinking about suicide.

“I was welcomed into the group and was encouraged to talk about what was going on in my world and concerns I had about my baby,” Kansal-Rill said. “Melissa was always supportive and didn’t force solutions on me; instead she offered advice and just lent an ear when needed.”

Now, Kansal-Rill, a social worker, works with Hoffman in helping to raise awareness about perinatal mood disorders.

“Melissa has gotten me into the advocacy side and has encouraged me to share my story,” she said. Last May, Kansal-Rill spoke to legislators in Washington, D.C., on behalf of the National Coalition for Maternal Mental Health. She described it as an amazing and empowering experience.

Hoffman also has spearheaded Postpartum Support International of Kansas, which officially became a nonprofit a month ago, and Hoffman serves as president. The goal is to create resources for women across the state and for agencies to work collaboratively on maternal mental health efforts.

Additionally, she’s the state coordinator for Postpartum Support International, which means she answers calls and receives emails from women in Kansas who are seeking help.

During her career, Hoffman also has advocated for infant safe sleep practices and mental health screenings and resources. She currently is pursuing a doctorate in nursing practice with a psychiatric and mental health focus at KU.

“I’ve been fortunate to spend my whole career working with not only expectant and new moms, but fathers and children as well, at a critical and important time in their lives,” Hoffman said. “I really enjoy helping people through the transition to parenthood and the early years. Perinatal mental health support plays an essential role in short- and long-term maternal, child and family wellness. That is what motivates me.”

Aimee Polson

After receiving a bachelor’s degree in sociology and political science from KU, Polson worked at a local restaurant and was unsure about what to do.

“I had a passive interest in gardening. I read books and thought a lot about communities and how they work and prison reform and gardening. I just sat on the couch and would ponder that thought,” she said, with a chuckle.

Then she volunteered to help at an event that featured local food and sustainable agriculture. That event sparked her interest in farming, which led to a master’s degree in community planning with a horticulture therapy emphasis from Kansas State University. Polson wrote her thesis paper on community gardening, which included information about inner-city gardens, heritage gardens, prison gardens and school gardens. She was inspired by Manhattan’s community garden project.

“It’s well organized and ginormous,” she said. “It really impacted me.”

After graduation, she worked in the greenhouse of an alternative high school in Kansas City and later for the Kaw Valley Heritage Alliance, an environmental education nonprofit. In 2007, she began working at the KU Endowment Association, where she is senior gift planning administrator.

When the city of Lawrence wanted to start Common Ground, Polson decided to become involved.

“I was thinking, ‘I haven’t used my degree lately,'” she said, jokingly.

Polson applied to use the first Common Ground site — an acre plot in John Taylor Park, Seventh and Walnut streets in North Lawrence — for a community garden. Two other applicants wanted to use the plot for a children’s garden or as a place where beginning farmers could grow produce. The three were asked if they wanted to submit a joint proposal, and they did. The site is now called the Garden Incubator, which includes all three elements, and Polson manages all of it.

“Aimee took a chance that first year and applied to the fledgling program,” said Rep. Eileen Horn, former sustainability coordinator for the city of Lawrence and Douglas County. “She took a neglected plot in the back of a city park and has transformed it into a vibrant community gathering space and community garden.”

Horn said Aimee’s garden became the model Common Ground site.

“She hosted countless meetings and site visits at the garden to show community members and visitors her vision,” Horn said. The Common Ground program has grown to include eight more sites.

Polson’s volunteer work includes maintaining the budget, signage and equipment, applying for grant funding, and communicating with the city of Lawrence, farmers, gardeners, volunteers and neighbors. She organizes workdays and ensures the volunteers have everything they need.

She also maintains the children’s discovery and sensory gardens, which means a lot of mowing, weeding, planting, watering and harvesting. She said the community garden plots cost between $20 and $70 per year, depending on the size. The plots raise about $800 annually, which is mostly spent on plants and items for the children’s area, which includes a vegetable maze. She typically plants beans, cucumbers, squash, carrots, potatoes and tomatoes.

“I like to plant things that kids will eat right off the bush,” she said.

The children’s area is open to the community and anyone is welcome to pick produce, which Polson encourages.

“I have seen people drive up in their car, come over with a bowl and get some food and then take off. I’m like, ‘Awesome — that’s what this is all about,'” she said.

Lisa Grossman and her partner, Kelly Barth, have had plots in the community garden since its inception. Grossman said they plant a variety of vegetables, herbs and flowers each year. Grossman described Polson as a great organizer and people person.

“I love how she’s worked to make it inviting with the colorful shed and signage, the sensory garden planters, maze and community plantings of gooseberries, raspberries and strawberries,” she said. “Managing the garden is a huge undertaking, but we appreciate it.”

Elena Semyonova-Smith, who has been a community gardener for four years, said Polson is welcoming, positive and a problem-solver.

“She leads by example and is always figuring out things to add or ways to improve,” she said. “With her, it’s about community and everyone is welcomed, whether they are part of the garden or not.”

For six years, Polson tried to grow blueberries. That’s because she and her son enjoy picking and eating blueberries from a relative’s big patch in New York.

“It’s such a hoot,” she said of the experience. She wanted to bring that same joy to the children’s garden, but wasn’t having much luck until last year when one bush produced a bunch of blueberries.

“This little girl and her dad came up and made their way to the blueberry bush and started eating them right off the bush,” Polson said. “That was so awesome — finally after six years. That’s what gets me excited.”

— Karrey Britt is communications coordinator for the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department.