MEMPHIS, Tenn. — An organization looking to sow seeds of hope into the youth is preparing to sow seeds into their community. 

Rachel Street has been hard at work with a plan to transform a plot of land in Orange Mound into a plot of new beginnings.

She’s the Executive Director for Serving Others Well Community Outreach, or S.O.W. for short.

“We hope to have a building constructed here because we want to be able to do our mentoring sessions with the kids right here,” Street said.

Street says they are hard at work sowing the knowledge and skills needed to maintain healthy and positive relationships in the children they mentor.

Now, they’re preparing to sow seeds into the soil in the heart of Orange Mound.

“We are still working on preparing the ground for planting. We have a greenhouse in here that’s going to help us grow year-round,” she said.

The organization is transforming this plot of land across the street from the Orange Mound Park on Carnes Avenue into a community garden. 

“We know right here in Orange Mound, we don’t have a lot of grocery stores. So, we want to be able to give the food that we produce here and that we grow back to the people in the community,” she said.

Street says the garden will also be a powerful learning tool for their mentees.

“So, it’s going to give the kids the opportunity to give back to other people. It’s going to teach them about entrepreneurship, work ethics. It’s going to teach them a lot about building character,” she said.

Street says they’ve come a long way with the garden, but there’s still more work that needs to be done. 

She says the goal is to have the garden up and running by the end of August. 

“As we’re helping people in the community, we’re helping ourselves, because we all have room to grow. We all have spaces that need to be healed in our lives, and so we’re just doing this work together,” Street said.

The organization has been documenting its progress on social media. You can check it here.