Each summer nearly 140 neighborhood youth from We Got This work to transform these often abandoned and neglected eyesores into beautiful spaces — changing their community for the better.
They do that with every vegetable and every flower garden they plant on city-owned vacant lots pockmarked throughout the 53206 Zip Code.
That effort garnered We Got This a $20,000 grant from Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day, a cleaning supply brand known for its garden-inspired scents. The youth-led garden initiative is among ten organizations nationwide to receive the grant.
The grant is going to help beautify these spaces but also help kids invest in their own neighborhood, said Meg Bruzan, who is part of the six-member all volunteer board of We Got This.
“Being able to take a lot and turn it from a … liability into an asset is a wonderful thing,” she said. “I think the kids have a huge appreciation for being able to see the difference that they have made.”
The grant is part of the Mrs. Meyer’s Lots of Compassion initiative, a program to transform vacant lots across the country into community gardens. The initiative plans to transform 50 gardens nationwide by 2027. So far 20 gardens have been completed since Lots of Compassion began two years ago.
The timing couldn’t be better. We Got This recently took over a city-owned lot on North 12th Street and Concordia. The lot will be the organization’s seventh garden so far. We Got This maintains 15 city lots in the 53206 Zip Code.
The money will be used to pay for operational costs – to buy supplies, dirt and compost to maintain the lots – but are often not covered by grant dollars.
“People want to donate to pay the kids,” said Alex Bruzan, a We Got This board member and volunteer. “They don’t want to donate to build the planter boxes. That grant is super helpful because it will allow us to build at least 3,000 more square feet of planter boxes.
“It’s going to allow us to continue to do the work on a bigger scale,” he added.
The group pays local youth between $10 and $40 to help maintain the lots. Youth are paid based on age and job function. Youth leaders receive $40.
For 12 Saturdays during the summer, they converge on the North 9th and Ring Street, the organization’s home base. There they get their work orders for the day. Some arriving as early as 5 a.m. The group takes kids on a first come first serve basis.
Youth split up into groups and fan out to the different gardens, weeding, watering, planting and harvesting the vegetables. Other groups cut grass or tend to several flower gardens.
And if neighbors want flowers planted in their yards or their grass cut, the youth will do that as well. This year, youth cleaned up 15,000 gallons of trash over the summer program, which runs from June through August.
“Young people want to work, and they want to be given responsibility,” Alex Bruzan said, adding that grant will help hire more kids next year.
The program goes beyond neighborhood beautification. Youth are taught life skills like conflict resolution, leadership and self-worth. The program, Bruzan said, is intentional in helping youth understand they’re making a difference in their community.
Iyuanah Holbrook, 13, has been with the garden for two years. She admits it is tough work, but she still likes it.
“I like weeding. I like planting. I like going to each gardens…. I like making the flower bouquets too,” she said.
And just like the vegetables and flowers she planted, Holbrook saw her self-confidence grow too.
“I was low. Like I really didn’t know anything,” Holbrook said, adding that she’s more knowledgeable about gardening. “I’m proud of myself and more self-assured.”
Nariah Eubanks, 16, a student at South Division High School, rose to be a youth leader at We Got This. She’s been with the program for four years. She became involved after a school field trip.
“It turns out we were going right across the street from my school,” said Eubanks, who at the time attended Robert LaFollette School, 3239 N. 9th Street.
“So, it was actually a field trip this time,” Eubanks quipped.
Impressed with Eubanks’ work ethic Meg Bruzan invited her back. She stayed because of the welcoming environment.
“They didn’t judge,” Eubanks said.
For Eubanks it was something positive to do in her free time.
“I just didn’t want to go outside and do something bad,” she said. “This was a way for me to come outside and meet other people and have a little fun.”
She found working in the garden amazing, especially how quickly the vegetables grow. The gardens are filled with tomatoes, cucumbers, collard greens, mustard greens, cabbage and carrots. There are even blackberries, peaches, and apples.
The food is given to the community for free so they residents can eat healthier, Eubanks said.
Since being in the program, she found a passion for cooking. She makes fresh pasta sauce from the vegetables she brings home.
“I like growing the food and seeing it grow from what you put in the ground,” Eubanks said.
The 53206 Zip Code often gets stereotyped as the most incarcerated, most poverty stricken or “the most” of any other socioeconomic ill affecting residents there.
But board member Shawn Jenkins has seen a change in the community because of the gardens. Residents, he said, are more likely to check someone throwing trash on the ground.
“A lot of community members give up hope, don’t have hope. But I think this restores hope,” Jenkins said. “We want to give a new image to our zip code. We want to show that 53206 can be a great place.”
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