Meet the Secondhand Man Behind Milwaukee's We Got This Garden: Trevis Hardman
Trevis Hardman unloads a van that donates free lunches to hand out to neighbors in the community. (Picture by Dylan Deprey)
There is an unmistakable serenity that surrounds the corner of 9th and Ring in Milwaukee.
Whether the sun is shining or its down-pouring, one can find solace and safety in the We Got This garden. It’s a sanctuary, a space for reflection and reinvention.
The garden is smack dab in the 53206, which holds the infamous statistic as the most incarcerated zip code in Wisconsin. Among the struggles of high poverty and violent crime, there is an aura in the garden. It’s one that deflects any thoughts of defeat or hopelessness.
Among the many garden boxes and sprawling vegetation, neighbors can always find Andre Lee Ellis, Founder of We Got This and the community “Earth Dad”. Sometimes he’s giving out free lunches to neighborhood youth, other times he’s taking phone calls from scared mothers, but he’s always speaking knowledge.
Whether he’s blessing young men with skills during the We Got This program, or empowering a neighbor, his positive attitude can overshadow any naysayer.
When he moved to the neighborhood, nine years ago, it was considered one of Milwaukee’s most violent blocks. After a tragic incident feet from his house, Ellis knew something had to be done.
Andre Lee Ellis is the community-proclaimed “Earth Dad,” and We Got This founder. (Picture provided by We Got This)
The Wise Old Man Meets the Strong Young Man
In 2011, the first week Ellis moved to the neighborhood, he came outside to start cleaning the block. To his surprise, a young man was already picking up trash in the area. Trevis Hardman was just a hardworking 20-year-old trying to keep his neighborhood clean. Hardman had lived his entire life on that block and at the time, he was unemployed and going to school for environmental cleaning.
“He came outside and noticed that I’d been cleaning up the block. I’d go corner to corner and wrap around my house,” Hardman said. “He actually gave me a couple bucks, and said to go get something to eat.”.
The two would eventually meet on several other encounters.
“We started to be cordial with each other whenever we saw each other cleaning up the street,” Ellis said. “Then we had a situation where a young man got killed in the street. That’s when I had the thought to have a garden at the end of the block.
It just so happened, Hardman had been gardening his entire life.
“I’ve always been a gardener, been learning from my grandparents and I finally put it to good use,” Hardman said.
After the two decided to work together, the abandoned lot across from the local corner store began to transform. Raised garden beds popped up and fresh vegetables sprouted.
“He was the first person working in the garden that was from this hood,” Ellis said. “He was somebody born here, bred here, who everybody knew.”
The Green Thumb and the Mediator
As the story goes, a neighborhood boy came out to help Ellis and Hardman in the garden one early Saturday morning in 2014. Ellis gave the boy $20 for working from 8 a.m. to Noon. The next weekend, he came with several friends. They then took to Facebook to raise the money and eventually, the garden slowly became a mentorship program for young Black men in the community.
Since then, the We Got This message has gone nationwide. The program has nurtured hundreds of underprivileged Black youth by providing resources and mentors, along with gardening and life skills. The garden has gone from a once-a-weekend neighborhood project to a full-fledged non-profit intended to embolden and enlighten youth in the 53206 area.
Throughout the entire experience, Hardman has been at Ellis’s side. He was Ellis’s green thumb in the garden and bridge to the youth.
A lot of the young men in the program knew Hardman, as he was only several years older. He was acquaintances with their siblings and parents. Hardman had the ability to translate Ellis’s message to the youth.
“I think I’m the bridge between him and the kids. We’re working with 13 through 18-year-olds. I’m there and he’s 60-years-old, but I can relate his stern message in a way that’s more sensible to them. I really didn’t have that barrier there with the boys, and I kind of bridged the gap with Andre,” Hardman said.
Ellis said that he knew Hardman was in tune with the boys, but he didn’t realize how big of a factor he actually was until later on.
“Gardening is a hands-on thing. You can literally see the plant stand up when you pull a weed,” said Trevis Hardman (Picture by Dylan Deprey)
“I thought that the old man was so cold, that he just had the charisma with the kids. That’s why they didn’t talk back and wouldn’t snap on me, but I didn’t know that I had a mediator that was prepping them for the outcome—Trevis was that,” Ellis said.
Hardman said becoming a mentor forced him outside of his comfort zone. As he worked alongside the charismatic and outspoken Ellis, it rubbed off on him. As he was mentoring the youth, he was also changing himself. He kept the youth at heart and never lead them astray.
“I was a young adult teaching young adults, so it kind of made me have to be on my square a little bit more and represent myself a little better, if I wanted to be a teacher,” he said.
“When I’m dealing with men younger than me, I never lie to them because growing up in a neighborhood you’d call a ‘hood,’ you hear a lot of lies and you see a lot of lies. There are things that may make you look wealthy or some kind of status symbol, but at the end of the day, it’s like the higher you see somebody rise, the harder they fall,” he added.
Making a Garden Pit Stop
Hardman’s career path in landscaping outside the program slowed up after several injuries set him back. While he loved working outdoors, he also felt just as comfortable behind the wheel. Over the course of his time on the road, Hardman has driven a dump truck, tow truck, freight truck, bus and school bus.
Now, he is currently driving for Quicksilver, while also making daily pit stops at the We Got This garden on his route.
He travels as far north as Green Bay and as far south as Indiana. He said driving can get tiring and that there is some leeway when it comes to stopping for breaks. It’s a perk that most wouldn’t use to weed and water garden beds, but for Hardman there isn’t anything else he’d rather do.
Within the next two years, he plans on getting his Class A license to finally drive across the US and explore the country.
We Got This Continues to Grow
On a sunny afternoon morning, Hardman directs several youth planting berry bushes in front of the garden, as an alternative for neighbors to grab a healthy snack. He then directs another group working across the street. The abandoned building that used to be there is now a fruit orchard with a stage for a soon-to-be “Shakespeare in the Hood” program. There is also a We Got This podcast in the works for the youth to share their stories.
We Got This’ roots are so deeply engrained in the community, it continues to grow year after year. Ellis said that the garden really represents the famous dichotomy between elders and the youth.
“I think one of the disconnections is the old man with the young man. Every time that is displayed, goodness gravitates around that,” Ellis said. “The old man has wisdom, the young man has energy, knowledge and creativity.”
“In today’s terms, Trevis is “essential,” there’s no garden without him,” he added.
At 28-years-old, Hardman has two sons and a third on the way. His mother still lives in the area and the garden gives him hope for the neighborhood.
“I look at it as a sense of security,” he said. "I totally see it as a safe hood for my kids to go to, and I feel like there should always be somewhere they can relate to in the community.”