Surrounded by rolling green hills, a nursery in Orange is doubling as an important mental health facility for people in western NSW.
For a person receiving treatment for a mental illness, the environment around them can be integral to a successful recovery.
Just outside Orange, in central west NSW is a care centre with a difference. The 'Kallara' health care site is both a plant nursery and a 10 bed residential facility for people with complex mental health issues. The site is part of the SHIPS program- the rehabilitation arm of Western NSW Local Health District's (Western NSW LHD) adult mental health services division.
"We involve most of the community, which is one of the best learning institutions in the world to help these people get back into [society]," said Nursing Unit Manager at Kallara, Terese Pedrsen.
"[We want the patients to] be happy, or more content in their life, [so they can] move-on in areas of education, vocation, daily living skills and to manage their life by themselves with support."