This article appeared in the March 9, 2012 Jewish Advocate.

For Massachusetts organization, hope springs eternal

By Susie Davidson

Special to the Advocate

Roberta Dehman Hershon developed a green thumb at an early age, helping her father tend his vegetable patch at their Sharon home. And when Hershon bought her first home in her early 30s, she helped her childhood pal, Beverly Eisenberg, cultivate her own gardening habit.

The two women met when they were 7 and 8 years old. “Our birthdays were 363 days apart,” recalled Hershon, the younger of the two. “We spent many happy hours at nurseries, designing our gardens, swapping cuttings and planting together,” she said. “For almost 50 years, she was the sister I never had.”

Hershon lost that sister after she fought a 10 month battle with breast cancer. Eisenberg died in 2005 at age 55.

Her death inspired Hershon to create the nonprofit Hope in Bloom, which plants indoor and outdoor gardens at the homes of breast cancer patients in Massachusetts. The service is free of charge.

“While Beverly was sick, I saw firsthand the harsh realities of treatment and the emotional upheaval she faced every day,” said Hershon from the Dedham office of the public relations firm she has owned for 22 years.

While her friend was undergoing treatment, Hershon tended to Eisenberg’s garden and made sure her house was always filled with flowers.

“I noticed how she perked up every time she looked outside at the riot of color in her yard or received a new bouquet,” Hershon said. “When she passed away, I decided to honor her memory and set about creating a way to keep her spirit alive and improve the mental roller coaster for other breast cancer patients.”

Hershon’s parents owned Physician’s Medical Lab, a clinical lab in Mattapan, that performed medical tests and the diagnostic work for doctors. It was through their work that she was first exposed to the plight of those in distress.

“Many of his patients were not well-to-do, and suffered from illnesses that included heart conditions, cancer, diabetes, strokes and polio,” she said. “For years, I watched my dad reach into his own pocket to buy groceries, cover veterinarian bills, or deliver food to many of these people, many of whom often joined us for dinner at our home,” she said. “I was brought up to lend a hand whenever possible.”

Launched in 2007, Hope in Bloom relies on volunteer gardeners and landscape designers. Each garden is personalized, based on the recipient’s lifestyle, likes and dislikes and gardening ability, as well as the sun and shade aspects of each particular yard.

“Being exposed to flowers and greenery lifts everyone’s spirits,” Hershon said, noting that studies have shown that the calming effects of nature can counter depression and even boost energy levels. Add to that the benefits of exercise and fresh air for those who are well enough to tend to their gardens.

Hope in Bloom purchase plants and materials, generally from wholesale growers. Occasionally, garden clubs and the volunteers themselves donate plants. Whenever possible, the group purchases “hardscape” – benches, stepping stones, pots and other decorative and functional structures – directly from manufacturers.

Hershon said that when a garden is set to be planted, volunteers living within a 20-mile radius are asked to come and lend a hand. “Generally a dozen people plant the outdoor gardens,” she said, noting that each project takes roughly eight hours.

Thus far, 111 gardens have been planted across the state.

“Many recipients were living with some of the deadliest forms of the disease when they received gardens,” Hershon said. “Months later, these women were deemed cancer-free. Everyone involved knows their gardens played a part in their miraculous turn of events.”

She has enlisted an army of 800 volunteers, distributing brochures at garden centers, mammography clinics, oncologists’ offices and hospitals.

“We have a Facebook page; volunteers tell friends; friends tell more friends, recipients tell friends,” said Hershon, who makes the rounds of garden clubs giving speeches.

What about winter? “When it’s too cold to plant outdoors, we concentrate on indoor garden requests,” she said. Winter also is when designers have more time to develop plans for the gardens.

“Massachusetts has the seventh-highest rate of breast cancer in the country,” said Hershon. “But there is nothing like Hope in Bloom anywhere in the world. My goal is to expand the concept across the country.”