MILWAUKEE- One man's labor of love is producing a bountiful harvest of dedicated young men ambitious to change their neighborhood.
At the corner of 9th and Ring Streets, life lessons are being taught in a garden blooming with opportunity and possibility.
"We also want to teach and train about good healthy food and show how this food can become a revenue stream and we can have our own walk to work program,” said the founder of "We got this", Andre Lee Ellis.
On a windy November morning six young boys were putting the neighbor back in the hood cleaning up the block at 9th and Ring Streets.
"Sometimes I don't want to get paid because I just want to clean up," said Emanuel Johnson.
Johnson, like so many others that André Lee Ellis has mentored, returns year after year.
"The fact that we are changing lives, me at my age I get to touch people's hearts and change their lifestyle," said Roshaun Collins.
In five short years this community garden has become a second family for these young boys. Many of them do not have male role models at home.
"I may not be their birth dad but I can be the Earth dad," Lee Ellis said.
An Earth dad that encouraged Nathaniel Collins to turn his grades around.
"Like the next school year I got a 3.7 (GPA) thanks to Mr. Lee Ellis. He put me on the right path," said Nathaniel Collins.
A path that is leading these young boys into becoming accountable men of the community. To find out more information about We Got This, visit their website.
