Once a junkyard, this LA garden is a healing 'altar' for survivors of violent crime
LOS ANGELES -- Walking into the Survivors Healing Garden on 108th Street, just blocks from Watts Towers, Oya Sherrills radiates calm as she stops to pick up trash that has blown in from the Union Pacific railroad tracks nearby.
"This was a junkyard with cars all over the place," she says, surveying the 3,150-square-foot plot of land that surrounds the office of the nonprofit Reverence Project.
Beneath the cleared debris of the former junkyard, a garden is blooming with fragrant culinary herbs, newly planted trees and low-water California native plants.
As the project director of the Reverence Project, which offers healing services and support for survivors of violent crime, Sherrills has implemented many healing methods, in partnership with the city of Los Angeles' Gang Reduction & Youth Development office, such as healing circles, talk therapy, massage therapy and yoga. Participants include peacemakers and crisis intervention workers who are skilled in de-escalating conflict and often struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder.
