About Us

SUSAN BRAVERMAN, M.S., CRC, HTM
Susan Braverman is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, a Horticultural Master Therapist, and a Licensed Mental Health Counselor. She holds a Masters in Counseling and worked as a Rehabilitation Counselor for nearly 40 years at Kingsboro Psychiatric Center.  In 1997 Susan collaborated in the development of Urban Oasis, a rehabilitation program and horticultural business at Kingsboro and directed the program, which included an urban farm and greenhouses, until her retirement in 2010.  

Through this program she developed strong relationships with many community greening organizations, such as the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation.  In 2004, with the guidance of NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets, she established an on-going farmer’s market where mental health recipients would sell the produce they grew to the public. 

Since her retirement, she and Joyce Jed have formed The GreenWorks Team, a not-for-profit organization with the mission of integrating horticultural therapy activities with community improvement and beautification.  Since 2011 they have been working on a project with teams of people with emotional and cognitive disabilities to beautify the area around a Brooklyn public library branch in Windsor Terrace. They were awarded a grant from the Citizens Committee for New York City for this project in 2012.

Susan has also been providing a leadership role in her Kensington neighborhood by enabling the block on which she lives to win two grants from the New Yorkers for Better Neighborhoods to involve neighbors to collectively grow vegetables and share in the bounty.

JOYCE JED, Ph.D., HTR
Joyce Jed is a Registered Horticultural Therapist, with a Certificate in Horticultural Therapy from the New York Botanical Garden and a Certificate in Horticulture from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.  She also has a Ph.D. in Community Psychology and worked as a psychologist and administrator at South Beach Psychiatric Center for over 25 years, until her retirement in 2000.  She has also worked as a volunteer at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for over 10 years.

As a horticultural therapist Joyce created a program at South Beach that trained interested consumers to be gardening assistants in small businesses and nurseries; she consulted at the Urban Oasis program at Kingsboro Psychiatric Center, with Susan Braverman, where she helped develop vocational opportunities for clients, and trained inpatient men and women to establish and maintain indoor and outdoor gardens; she has conducted horticultural therapy groups in a number of senior centers in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens; and she developed a horticultural therapy program at the Cobble Hill Health Center, with Susan Braverman, for the severely impaired elderly.

She and Susan Braverman are currently collaborating on The GreenWorks Team.  Joyce has also provided a leadership role in her Brooklyn neighborhood by enabling the Park Slope block on which she lives to win various prizes in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s contest for The Greenest Block in Brooklyn!