Veritas Academy grad hires teens to work in community garden, clean up Philly neighborhood [column] | Home & Garden

Gardens don’t just happen. We cultivate them. The evidence of such care is everywhere here in the Garden Spot. Aromas of spring, the prosaic as well as the pungent, even make their way to my Lancaster city row house.

These perfumes remind me not only of our rich heritage but also of twin brothers I had the honor of meeting at Veritas Academy in Leola in the late aughts: Josh and Jeremy Chen. Soccer practices near farmers’ fields in spring, I’m sure, produced powerful (and perhaps pungent) memories for them.

Though it’s been over 15 years since we’ve been in close contact, Jeremy and I have recently become reacquainted with his own form of gardening in an unexpected place: The Kensington section of Philadelphia.

Two recent visits to Jeremy’s neighborhood moved me to tell a bit of his story of working alongside teens in a rather challenging ecosystem.

On a crisp, clear day last October, I rode my bicycle from Fairmount to drop in on a Saturday block party hosted by Klean Kensington, the nonprofit Jeremy founded in 2020.

Klean Kensington pays teens to tend to community gardens, offering mentorship, workshops and other development opportunities along the way. He pays them with help from community donations and grants.

During my October visit, I bumped into Bruce Gingrich, a volunteer from New Holland, as he unloaded lumber from his small trailer. He contributes muscle, supplies and carpentry expertise for raised beds on abandoned lots. More than that, he’s the kind of volunteer, Jeremy says, who’s becoming a vital mentor. A familiar face, he’s “committed to showing up regularly, and this makes him trustworthy.”

Jeremy was bouncing among teens who were giving tours of gardens on formerly abandoned lots, grilling hamburgers and getting on the microphone to welcome neighbors.

The event was a modest yet vivid demonstration of Klean Kensington’s vision: “To see all teens in our immediate vicinity engaged in productive activity and part of a neighborhood fabric that takes a sense of pride in the cleanliness, beauty, safety and connectedness of our community.”

The affair wasn’t slick, but it was authentic and upbeat. Definitely not a love bomb tossed in by well-meaning outsiders, the party was home-grown just like the green peppers on the vines. I met a few of the students who were clearly proud to cultivate their surroundings. They all seemed to have great affection for Jeremy.

Watching a Princeton University graduate move in such an underserved place was heartening. In 2012, Jeremy invited me to speak to a group of 100 or so of his fellow undergrads at a Christian retreat. At its conclusion, a group of seniors sat in a circle to share “prayer requests” concerning their next steps in life.

I was impressed by their prospects: An internship in D.C. with the World Health Organization; a consulting job on Wall Street; a fast-track PhD at UCLA; and an MBA program in London. The jobs themselves seemed pedestrian to them, but I sensed a strong undercurrent of anxiety and fear of failure.

After college, as he was studying in seminary, Jeremy met his wife, Amy, while volunteering in a youth basketball program in neighboring Hunting Park. She had moved to Philly from Michigan to practice dentistry at Esperanza Health Center, a post she still fills.

Jeremy is a sort of intellectual block captain CEO with a staggering capacity to curate solutions and build relationships, all in a place that really needs it. He’s raising money to pay teens to work the gardens and has yet to take a salary. Incrementally, KK’s teens are not only beautifying Kensington; they’re also finding life-affirming ways to make money and enrich their souls.

Tom Becker, left, and Jeremy Chen, who grew up in the area and attended Veritas Academy. Chen founded Klean Kensington, a Philly nonprofit that employs teens to work in community gardens.

TOM BECKER

On my second visit in January, Jeremy took me on a walking tour of the street made infamous through videos focusing on the impact of an ongoing drug crisis: homelessness, violence and despair.

I marveled at the number of diverse mom-and-pop businesses serving the community. Jeremy knew many of the proprietors by name: A Palestinian woman tending her flea market, two Caribbean guys in their sneaker shop and a woman of Chinese descent sweeping the front walk of her furniture store among them.

We grabbed a coffee in the new facility that houses Esperanza. Jeremy took me to the top floor to gaze out through generous windows. He likes taking his teens up there where the beauty of their neighborhood is more apparent. He believes the view offers them hope.

Back on the street, we entered a gutted storefront at the invitation of another of Jeremy’s acquaintances, an associate with Kensington Corridor Trust.

Kensington Corridor Trust’s mission is to empower local people to build needed businesses that fit the scale and integrity of the neighborhood. Like the gardens Klean Kensington is cultivating, they’re investing capital into projects that will prosper and benefit those living near the corridor over the long term.

Strains of Jeremy’s upbringing in Lancaster are sometimes evident in how his calling emerged. For instance, Bill Dawson, one of his former teachers, also invests his time in Klean Kensington, recently leading a Bible discussion group with folks from Jeremy’s neighborhood on the topic “What is Money.” Bill is passionate about economic justice and helping people see how money works and connects to cultural, economic and personal realities.

Jeremy also credits his parents for setting a tone of service to others. His father is a retired physician, and his mother a tireless volunteer within Chinese American congregations.

Jeremy’s parents have moved to the suburbs of Philadelphia and actively support their son’s mission. Babysitting Jeremy and Amy’s daughter is a part of that, and so is the cultivating of myriad friendships they’ve made in and through the Chinese community. Tending gardens and building bridges are apt metaphors for their ongoing family story that took root here in Lancaster.

One life that has been touched by such cultivation is Emerald Martez, an intern from Jeremy’s neighborhood who now works with the teenagers.

Reflecting on their M.L.K. tree trimming day, Martez says, “The challenges of city living are not confined to the experience of human beings. Whereas isolated people struggle amidst adversity, adverse weather affects stand-alone trees too. Physical trauma from careless city drivers and insect infestations add to the harm. As experienced arborists trained our teens in tree tending, I noticed some layers of healing taking place in the process: Teens healing trees; trees healing teens.”

Along the corridor Jeremy had one last thing to show me. An abandoned lot, but not for long. It’s bounded with colorful murals of foliage and flowers, images foreshadowing what’s to come on the ground: Another garden spot in Kensington.

Tom Becker captures slice-of-life stories from around Lancaster County, and occasionally beyond; he also writes regularly at tombecker.substack.com. He founded the Row House Inc. in 2010 as a forum for “engaging current culture with ancient faith.” He tells that story in his book, “Good Posture” (Square Halo Books: Baltimore, 2017). Becky and Tom have five grown children and live in Lancaster’s West End where he can be seen daily walking Rue the dog or riding Frodo, the gravel bike.

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