VICTORIA, Texas-Johnnie Johnson, 46, watches her co-worker carefully trim plants at Devereux Gardens.
"I don't do that," she said. She points out the sections of plants in the garden that she's responsible for watering and sweeping.
"I just try to make them look good," she said.
The Victoria Advocate reports Johnson is part of the vocational training program at Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health Texas.
She works at Devereux Gardens, a professional nursery open to the public, which offers hundreds of varieties of specialized and unusual plants.
When she first started in the Devereux program, she worked in the bakery.
"I think I like this better," she said.
The vocational training program helps those with severe mental and development disabilities learn vocational and social skills in a therapeutic environment.
Horticulturist Tim Hoover said he's gotten to know the clients in the program and tries to focus on what they can each do best.
Some days are more challenging than others, but he uses positive reinforcement to help those in the program continue to grow their skills, he said.
"My goal is I want to make each day a successful day," Hoover said.
The nursery itself has grown substantially since it started about 26 years ago, said Paula A. Dixon, vocational manager at the Devereux campus located off U.S. 59 South of Victoria.
The growing center was once one little greenhouse and now features seven.
There are about 55 participants in the vocational training program, which includes the gardens, bakery and "pic pac," which is the assembly of individually packaged plastic cutlery.
Pic pac program instructor Ray Reyes said while it sounds repetitious, every day is different.
"I've been with them so long that when they come in, I can tell if we're going to have a good day," he said.
He has two clients who can do all of the tasks, which involve packaging a spoon, knife, fork, salt and pepper, wet nap and napkin.
Others do a very specific task to contribute to the assembly of cutlery kits, which are sold to Mumphord's Place BBQ, Uncle Mutt's Bar-B-Q and Ventura's Tamales and for catering special events.
Clients learn a different set of skills in the bakery.
Ron Smart meticulously cleans and organizes as he dances to hip-hop music playing from a speaker.
Laurel Williams helps dry pans washed by Rodney Connor, and nearby, Andre Charles is scooping cookie dough on a large pan.
Charles lives on campus, while others live in Victoria and come in for their shift.
The 32-year-old just recently started in the bakery program at Devereux.
"It's giving me a new challenge," Charles said.
Della Brown, who has worked as an instructor for 19 years, watches as her bakery crew helps to make baked goods from scratch.
"I love my clients," Brown said.
Together they produce about 100 dozen cookies and 90 boxes of brownies each week and many more during the holiday season.
Devereux products are sold at Devereux Gardens Floral and Gift Shops located in Victoria and Goliad.
Some clients work in the storefront learning how to work within a community retail setting.
Dixon said in all three vocational training programs, the experienced staff help their clients work past any individual limitations.
"We don't focus on the negatives," Dixon said. "If they mess up a whole tray of brownies, that's OK. We'll just start again."