Josephine’s Garden Continues to Bloom

For nearly a dozen years, Josephine’s Garden at Hackensack Meridian Children’s Health at  Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital has provided an oasis, offering families dealing with pediatric cancer a place to relax, recharge and recreate. The garden has been a labor of love and devotion for Heidi Hartung-Rispoli, who transformed the fifth-floor rooftop in Hackensack in tribute to her daughter, Josephine, who died from a brain tumor at age seven in 2011. 

Heidi, of Saddle River, raised funds needed for the project and designed the space. She subsequently founded the Josephine’s Garden non-profit group that also has provided aid to families and funded research on pediatric cancers at Hackensack Meridian Health.

The group founded a research lab named for Josephine at the Children’s Hospital and has supported the work of Derek Hanson, M.D., focused on clinical care and developing new treatments for pediatric brain tumors at the Hackensack Meridian Health Center for Discovery and Innovation.

“As we commemorate Brain Tumor Awareness Month in May, it’s important to stress how research is essential in combating brain cancer, which remains the number one cause of death by disease in children in the United States,” says Dr. Hanson, who is program head of Pediatric Neuro-oncology at the Children’s Hospital. “The funding provided by Josephine’s Garden for critical research and clinical trials has enabled our program to make great strides. It is a beautiful tribute to Josephine's memory, and we are most grateful for the dedication, vision and hard work of Heidi Hartung-Rispoli," he says.

This spring, a canopy will be installed at the 1,000-square foot garden, providing shade and a measure of shelter from the elements, and the space will get a bit of a facelift. “It’s a work in progress, always,” said Heidi, an artist who created the garden’s murals and has tended the plantings. Her design included “symbols of strength and hope,” she said, including a “warrior pole,” hand-stained “circles of energy,” a frog fountain, and climbing boulder. Slate tiles from Italy are a canvass for children’s chalk drawings. “I’m never done,” Heidi said. “I feel like I’m taking care of Josephine’s Garden like I would take care of Josephine if she was here.”

Josephine was the middle of three sisters; the eldest just graduated from college and the youngest is in high school. Meanwhile their mom has also been busy completing a master’s degree in Social Work and plans to create programming for families dealing with pediatric cancer. 

Heidi continues to raise funds for research and aid to families through her organization, which is hosting a fundraising luncheon at Seasons in Washington Township on October 18. The work has been healing, Heidi said. “This helps me so much and it also helps other people...Josephine’s Garden is growing branches.”

Care teams and families alike at Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital are grateful for the respite that Josephine’s Garden brings and thank Heidi for the love that she pours into the garden every year.

Next Steps and Resources

• To learn more about Josephine's Garden, or Children’s Health contact Amy Glazer, executive director, Tackle Kids Cancer and Children’s Health, at amy.glazer@hmhn.org.

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