The Middle Ground MKE, a community organization with the mission to engage youth, families, and communities to break the poverty mindset, reduce violence, juvenile injustice and unemployment, used their grant money to create The Let’s Grow Initiative. This initiative transformed Antoine’s Garden, double-wide city lot located on 39th Street, by building an arts pavilion for events, decorated garden beds and bird boxes, and a water system.
The garden became an intergenerational space where relationships are formed, cultivated, and knowledge exchanged. The creativity, the colors, the thought provoking verbiage, and art in the garden spreads positivity throughout the neighborhood. Community members describe the space as peaceful, and they come to sit and relax. The garden allows the youth to sample vegetables and fruit that they’ve never eaten before.