Milwaukee Teens Turn a Vacant Lot Into a Community Garden That Gives Food Away for Free

In Milwaukee's 53206 ZIP code — a neighborhood that carries more than 800 vacant lots — a group of teenagers is proving that empty land can become something nourishing. Through the nonprofit We Got This, young people aged 10 to 18 maintain 15 formerly abandoned lots, planting produce and flowers and giving the harvest away free to neighbors. Their newest project, Coaches Corner Garden, sits between West Concordia Avenue and North 12th Street and is set to open in early June 2026.

The garden was born from a hard moment. After violence broke out in the neighborhood involving a teen, the young participants decided to channel their response into building something positive — a place that might inspire others to get involved. They chose the corner lot deliberately: it sits in a high-traffic spot near a corner store, so neighbors can grab fresh produce on the go. "It's beautiful to see a garden like this about to flourish in our neighborhood," said Denzil Brinson, 16, one of the youth gardeners, as reported by Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service in February 2026.

“Through the nonprofit We Got This, young people aged 10 to 18 maintain 15 formerly abandoned lots, planting produce and flowers and giving the harvest away free to neighbors.”

The work is also about confronting fear with action. "We realized that if we're scared then it's going to show that everybody else is scared too," said 17-year-old Nariah Eubanks. That sense of leadership is by design. We Got This provides paid opportunities, so young people earn while they learn to grow food, manage a plot and care for a shared space. In 2025 alone, more than 375 children worked in the organization's gardens, dedicating roughly 7,000 hours of service.

Board member Meg Bruzan framed the broader mission plainly: "53206 has over 800 vacant lots with liabilities or assets, but we want to create more assets." Each garden turns a symbol of disinvestment into a source of fresh food, beauty and pride — and gives the next generation a stake in the place they call home. Coaches Corner Garden is small in acreage but large in what it represents: a community reclaiming its own ground, one lot at a time.