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Barbara Gibson, a resident at the Bradford Oaks Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Clinton, says she misses her home in District Heights, where she kept a small garden. But she says she misses it a little less since Britni Hodges, a senior at Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, planted a new garden along the center's patio as part of her senior service requirement.

"I feel like I'm at home," said Gibson, 52, at the Oct. 23 dedication ceremony for the garden, which Britni planted with the help of local businesses. "I like plants. I like being around plants."

Britni, 17, has been volunteering at Bradford Oaks since she was a freshman. The Upper Marlboro resident started serving at the center in 2005 and worked on the garden—which includes two statues and flowers—to satisfy her school's service requirement.

But residents said Britni's service did more than let her graduate.

"I like her. She's funny, she's very nice," said Alice Marschat, an elderly Marlow Heights native who said she plays bingo with Britni.

"[The garden is] very pretty," Marschat said. "Like the garden of Jesus, the Garden of Eden."

Britni said she was nervous when she started at Bradford Oaks because she knew she would work with people who were sick or dying. There are good days and bad days, she said, but her job became more rewarding throughout the years.

"If I could make at least one person smile by the end of the day, I was happy," she said. "You could say [the residents have] become like family."

Britni volunteered more than 133 hours of her time at Bradford Oaks during the summers of her freshman, sophomore and junior years. The school requires 75 hours, according to Jodie Dean, the service coordinator at Bishop McNamara. Britni said she still comes in regularly to check on residents and make sure her garden is being cared for.

She said she came up with the idea for the patio garden earlier this year when she remembered that her uncle, Thomas Hodges, who lived at Bradford Oaks before moving to an assisted living facility in La Plata, used to complain about how plain the patio was.

"He would always tell me it was so bland, and he usually didn't like to be out here," she said.

She sent letters to local businesses asking for help in June, and Lowe's Home Improvement and McHale Landscaping in Upper Marlboro and Ed's Plant World in Brandywine agreed.

Ed's Plant World contributed four workers and a day's worth of labor to the project and half the mulch that was used. McHale Landscaping planned the garden and contributed the rest of the mulch. Lowe's contributed flowers and a gift card Britni used to help buy materials for the project.

Most of the planting and landscaping was finished by August, Britni said. She added the finishing touches—two statues, of an angel and two turtles, which she bought with her Lowe's gift card—a little before the October ceremony.

Lori Lusby-Hamilton, the administrator at the 166-room center, said she was impressed by Britni's commitment and compassion.

"In this day and age where it's always a ‘me-me-me' society, she put herself aside and put the residents first," Lusby-Hamilton said. "Seeing the youth come in—it's an inspiration, it really is."