Nature, Solidarity, and the Healing Power of Connection: A Journey Across Borders

A standing ovation as Dr. Heidi Schreiber-Pan welcomes our Ukrainian visitors—an evening of stories, solidarity, and nature-informed healing.

This morning, I dropped off our Ukrainian visitors at the Baltimore train station.

Just a week ago, they began their long journey—traveling for hours from their towns in Ukraine, crossing the borders of Poland or Moldova, and finally catching a flight to the United States. With no airports currently operating in Ukraine and embassies closed, even securing their visas required days of travel to foreign embassies months in advance.

Learning, Sharing, and Healing

They came to the Center for Nature-Informed Therapy to explore how nature can be a source of healing and how to bring this healing to the people of Ukraine, who are living through unimaginable trauma.

Their stories remind us how fragile everyday life can be. One woman shared that during the first month of the war, she and her husband slept in their office building because it offered better protection. Now, the front lines are only fifteen kilometers from her home.

There were many tears, and many questions: How do you make sense of war when all people want is to live a simple life of peace with their families?

Gardens and Rituals That Refuse to Stop Growing

Amid the heaviness, they spoke about gardening as a force of hope.

“At first I thought, what does it matter to tend a garden that might be destroyed? But then I realized—I have to continue growing things.”

Another woman shared how she and her husband began a ritual of eating breakfast by the river every Saturday. The war has deeply shaken her spouse, and the river restores him. Their simple ritual has become a lifeline, a weekly practice of grounding, connection, and healing in the midst of chaos.

These everyday acts of tending, whether to a garden or to a ritual, become small anchors of survival and resilience.

What Mattered Most

As we said our goodbyes at the train station, they told me the most meaningful part of their visit was not a particular place or event, but the warmth they felt from people they met.

“Solidarity means everything. It means people far away care about us—it means everything.”

They carried with them memories of standing ovations after sharing their stories, the kindness of a stranger on a hiking trail who said, “I’m so sorry about what’s happening in your country—we are with you,” and the generosity of shared meals and hospitality.

Nature Heals, And So Do We

Yes, nature heals. But humans, too, can be a force of nature’s healing—through kindness, compassion, and solidarity.

At the Center for Nature-Informed Therapy, we are hopeful and committed to supporting Ukraine as it rebuilds—with the help of the natural world.