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A true community effort rooted in care
By Ashleigh Lail
At Juneau Family Birth Center, midwives provide prenatal, birth, and postpartum care with time, education, and support for informed choices, building respectful relationships with families across Southeast Alaska. JFBC also offers affordable office space for health and wellness providers, plus free or low-cost events and classes that ease isolation during pregnancy and early parenthood.
In 2008, JFBC completed its current building with temporary landscaping that gradually declined as poor soil, drainage problems, invasive plants, and limited maintenance funding took their toll. Years later, JFBC staff and board members partnered with Jessie and Felipe of Lady and the Land, a local family-owned landscape business, to imagine what the space could become.
JFBC recognizes its responsibility as a steward of the unceded lands of the Tlingit and Haida peoples and is committed to preserving an ecologically resilient space for future generations. Nature-based spaces can reduce stress, support well-being, and foster connection, benefits that are especially meaningful during major life transitions, such as welcoming a child. JFBC's mission is grounded in holistic, collaborative, and sustainable care. With these considerations in mind, JFBC launched a landscape renewal project, Rooted in Care.
On Sept. 16, 2026, the team completed Rooted in Care, transforming more than 3,000 square feet of degraded soil and struggling vegetation into a welcoming, resilient garden.
Volunteers worked with Jessie and Felipe to clear the site, restore the soil with local compost and seaweed, and preserve mature, healthy plants..They added native, pollinator-friendly, and edible species, along with stone paths lined with community-made mosaic tiles.
At the entrance, they installed improved drainage and decorative water chains to manage water flow. A climbing-rose trellis, three hand-painted murals, and a handcrafted bench added color and warmth. As summer progressed, dragonflies, moths, bees, beetles, and worms joined flies and mosquitoes, bringing new life and diversity.
The garden now welcomes both wildlife and people to a place to pause, connect, and enjoy nature.
The project took shape through a shared outpouring of community support: funding from the Rasmuson Foundation, funds allocated by JFBC, in-kind donations, and countless volunteer hours. Six community members returned several times a week to help the garden grow. Later, a larger work party of local doulas and their families gathered for an entire Saturday to tend the garden.
Two community events brought JFBC clients, project volunteers, and supporters together to plant edible plants in the garden beds, paint rocks, and celebrate the exciting transformation taking shape. Local businesses, including Seaquestered Farms, Cross Island Services, and Clarke's Tree Services, contributed time and products, helping turn the project into a true community effort rooted in care.
Rooted in Care is ultimately about more than landscaping. It is a reflection of the kind of community JFBC strives to cultivate: one where people contribute what they can, where care extends beyond the walls of the birth center, and where small acts of stewardship can grow into something lasting. The garden may have begun with tired soil and an uncertain future, but it now stands as a living reminder of what can happen when a community comes together to nurture the land and one another.
