For the past two years, Phoenix House has partnered with Big Sunday, a community outreach program in Southern California which coordinates volunteer events on first Sunday in May each year . This year, staff and residents at our women’s programs in Santa Fe Springs and Monrovia were joined by community volunteers to work on special projects at each of our facilities. In our Santa Fe Springs program for women and children, staff and residents and members from the community joined together to create a serenity garden. In Monrovia, everyone helped with painting some rooms in the facility and building a new fence. Funding and in-kind donations were coordinated by Big Sunday.
Big Sunday allows those in our care to work on projects that have a 
lasting, positive impact on their physical environment and that engender pride. The Serenity Garden provides our residents with a calm, safe place in which they can experience ordered beauty and gather their thoughts. The garden has two abundant flower beds and a small fountain. Women visit the serenity garden when they want a moment of tranquility, want to practice “grounding” strategies to deal with trauma, or need to think about a personal challenge.