{"id":1462,"date":"2026-04-27T09:16:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T16:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/mgcoordinators\/?p=1462"},"modified":"2026-04-20T12:29:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T19:29:30","slug":"meet-noelia-jimenez-noe-master-gardener-volunteer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/mgcoordinators\/2026\/04\/27\/meet-noelia-jimenez-noe-master-gardener-volunteer\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Noelia Jimenez (No\u00eb), Master Gardener volunteer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>For\u00a0No\u00eb\u00a0in Salem, the OSU Extension Master Gardener program became part of her healing. After deep personal loss, gardening gave her a place to begin again \u2014 and the people,\u00a0knowledge\u00a0and community she found helped her grow stronger in body,\u00a0mind\u00a0and spirit.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"822\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2972\/files\/2026\/04\/IMG_2750-1-822x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1463\" srcset=\"https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2972\/files\/2026\/04\/IMG_2750-1-822x1024.jpeg 822w, https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2972\/files\/2026\/04\/IMG_2750-1-241x300.jpeg 241w, https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2972\/files\/2026\/04\/IMG_2750-1-768x957.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2972\/files\/2026\/04\/IMG_2750-1.jpeg 1206w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u201cWhen community comes together, you build great connections and get to spread your knowledge with others.\u201d\u00a0\u2014\u00a0No\u00eb, Salem\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The Master Gardener program has helped me in\u00a0more ways than one. After my mother and partner passed away, I fell into a depression. Gardening became a therapeutic outlet that helped me move through that grief, along with all the great people and connections I have made through the program.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the things I value most is the knowledge you learn from everyone in this great program.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The connections I have made have helped me learn more about gardening and how to heal on a deeper level \u2014 not only mentally, but physically, too.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since growing my own food and learning about the benefits of herbs,&nbsp;fruits&nbsp;and vegetables, I have lost 70 pounds over the last two years. I am no longer diabetic and physically, I&nbsp;am able to&nbsp;do a lot more. Mentally, I have overcome the depression that came after losing two&nbsp;very important&nbsp;people in my life.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think Master Gardener volunteers&nbsp;are needed more than ever because when community comes together, you build great connections with people and learn so many things. Then, you get to spread your knowledge with others, just like others have helped you.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am only a couple\u00a0years\u00a0in, but this program has gained a lifetime member.\u00a0&#8220;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8230;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>P.S. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the OSU Extension Master Gardener Program<br>\u2014 and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.damproudday.org\/campaigns\/statewide-master-gardener-program-fund\">early giving is now open for Dam Proud Day.<\/a> If this program has shaped your life,<br>your garden or your community, consider making a gift today to help support the next 50<br>years. We\u2019re also collecting stories from current and past Master Gardener volunteers.<br>Share your story with us: <a href=\"http:\/\/Beav.es\/mgstory\">Beav.es\/mgstory<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For\u00a0No\u00eb\u00a0in Salem, the OSU Extension Master Gardener program became part of her healing. After deep personal loss, gardening gave her a place to begin again \u2014 and the people,\u00a0knowledge\u00a0and community she found helped her grow stronger in body,\u00a0mind\u00a0and spirit.\u00a0\u00a0 &#8220;The Master Gardener program has helped me in\u00a0more ways than one. After my mother and partner &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/mgcoordinators\/2026\/04\/27\/meet-noelia-jimenez-noe-master-gardener-volunteer\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Meet Noelia Jimenez (No\u00eb), Master Gardener volunteer&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10670,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[1238876,1238873],"class_list":["post-1462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-50th-anniversary","tag-dam-proud-day"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/mgcoordinators\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/mgcoordinators\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/mgcoordinators\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/mgcoordinators\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10670"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/mgcoordinators\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1462"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/mgcoordinators\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1464,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/mgcoordinators\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1462\/revisions\/1464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/mgcoordinators\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/mgcoordinators\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/mgcoordinators\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}