Over the past eight years, Forsyth County Senior Services’ Live Well Community Garden has blossomed into a thriving outdoor sanctuary where friendships flourish alongside flowers, herbs and crops.

Listen as Don, a member of Senior Services, shares what the Live Well Community Garden means to him, and read the full story of how this special space took root and continues to bring people together:

In 2017, the Live Well Community Garden first took root through a $2,000 Senior Modernization & Innovation grant awarded by the Thanks Mom & Dad Fund in Atlanta. The funding supported the creation of 20 raised garden beds and six raised flower beds—built in collaboration with local members of the Boy Scouts of America, eager to make a lasting impact in their community and subsequently earning their Eagle Scout awards. 

To bring the garden to life, Senior Services partnered with the Forsyth County Master Gardeners, a community volunteer program through the University of Georgia’s Extension Office. The Master Gardeners’ expertise helped shape the garden’s layout, planting selections and overall design, ensuring it would become a space not only beautiful to look at but meaningful to experience. Over the years, additional grants and contributions from local civic groups helped the Live Well Community Garden continue to flourish, adding new features like a pollinator garden, a pergola, an outdoor recipe library and several areas for gathering outdoors. 

Beyond its blooms, the Live Well Community Garden has cultivated something equally valuable: connection. It offers local seniors a place for creative expression, gentle physical activity and shared moments of joy. Programming now extends naturally outside, promoting wellness of both body and spirit. The garden has also become a welcoming space for volunteers, families and community members of all ages—bridging generations and inspiring a shared love for gardening. 

"The people here are really nice and they share ideas. We do things together. If someone has a problem, they all try to help each other," said Don Skeens, member of Forsyth County Senior Services.

From a single seed of an idea, the Live Well Community Garden has grown into a vibrant, living testament to what’s possible when vision, community partnership, and high-quality local government service come together. Its impact reaches far beyond the garden beds—nurturing friendships, inspiring creativity and proving that growth, in every sense, can continue at every stage of life. 

For more information about Forsyth County Senior Services and their various programs and offerings, visit the department's website or follow them on Facebook.