What It Means to Belong: Creating Connection in Unexpected Places

It doesn’t look like a forest. There are no trees overhead, no trails beneath your feet. But if you step into a memory care unit during one of our programs, you’ll feel something familiar—something that feels like nature, like home, like belonging.

At The Nature Connection, we bring nature into places where people can’t always access it: group homes, adult day centers, therapeutic schools, long-term care facilities. For the people we serve, a walk in the woods may not be possible. But connection still is.

It starts simply. A volunteer places a fragrant sprig of rosemary into someone’s hand. A program facilitator gently describes a rainy day in the woods. A small, curious rabbit is introduced with quiet patience. And in that moment, something shifts. Someone who hasn’t spoken in days recalls their grandmother’s garden. Someone who’s been anxious all morning gently reaches out to touch soft fur. A spark of presence. A memory. A moment of ease.

These are the kinds of connections we create—person by person, moment by moment.

Our work is grounded in relationship, not performance. We’re not here to deliver a show or even a lesson. We’re here to build a bridge between the natural world and the inner world of the people we meet—regardless of their age, ability, or circumstance.

We believe that everyone deserves to feel a sense of belonging. Not just to a program or an activity, but to the living world around them. To each other. To themselves.

For someone living with dementia, that might mean remembering the scent of lilacs in spring. For a young person in a group home, it might be discovering a sense of calm in the texture of a pinecone. For someone in a day program, it could be the simple joy of being seen and spoken to with care.
We work in places where people are often overlooked—those “in-between” spaces of care that aren’t always in the public eye. But they matter deeply. The people there matter. And for 40 years, we’ve been quietly building community in these spaces, using nature as our guide.

Because connection isn’t a luxury. It’s a need. And nature is one of the oldest, most reliable ways to meet it.

To learn more about The Nature Connection or support our work in building connection through nature, visit www.nature-connection.org. Our nature center in West Concord, MA is open to the public on Saturdays from 12:00 to 4:00—we’d love to meet you.