BANGOR – Every year, volunteers from Northeast Occupational Exchange add something to Zoidis Park on Central Street.

This year, a hand-painted rock designed by a patient has been placed in front of the park’s middle flowerbed, welcoming visitors and recognizing the volunteers who keep the park pristine every summer.

“I think it’s great,” Deb Rounds, the artist, said Monday at a gathering to recognize all volunteers. “We are benefiting the community.”

Rounds, 50, a former psychiatric nurse, said being a patient at Northeast has given her a different view of the interaction between the community and those struggling with illnesses and other issues.

The park is sandwiched between downtown buildings. Sprucing up the park and doing other projects to benefit the area helps show people that the patients are an asset and are trying to make a contribution, Rounds said.

“[The community] shouldn’t shy away from us,” she said. “We can all work together.”

Northeast, which provides treatment programs for people with mental health, substance abuse and development needs, adopted Zoidis Park three years ago, said occupational therapist Lee Marville, who works with the volunteers.

“I have the best job in the world,” Marville said. “We get to help things grow, and I get to help people grow.”

The volunteers help with the upkeep at the park, as well as the gardens at the waterfront. The work is in partnership with Keep Bangor Beautiful and Bangor Public Works.

This year’s addition, a rock painted blue with pictures of a watering can, a frog and lady bugs, is a colorful addition to the small space.

“We wanted something that would kind of be permanent,” Marville said.

On the rock is a message thanking Northeast volunteers for “their time, their energy and their skills.”

“All the volunteers are wonderful,” Judy Perkins, executive director of Keep Bangor Beautiful, said.

“I think it’s wonderful, the willingness of people to do this for us,” said Cynthia Cavanaugh, president of Keep Bangor Beautiful. “‘Us’ meaning the people who enjoy [the park].”

Once the site of an abandoned lot, the park has become a place for area workers to have lunch, or just relax, said Kelly Cotiaux, who works in downtown and sits on the board of directors for Keep Bangor Beautiful.

“When your head’s full of everything else, it’s a nice place to sit down and get out of the office,” Cotiaux said.