Sandra Webb
Ms. Sandra Webb was born in Tennessee. She moved to Milwaukee when she was 2 years old. Her grandmother would take her back to Tennessee 2-3 times a year, and she ‘never forgot where [she] was from, because [she] would always go back to Tennessee.’ She has lived in the Park View and Midtown neighborhoods ever since, making each house she’s stayed into a cozy home. Making her world homey is something Ms. Sandra excels at. She explained that “whether you renting or whatever, you still make it home.” One can easily identify Ms. Sandra’s home. She has carefully planted shrubs near her front door and personalized the entrance. Her garden bed at the Cherry Street Community Garden is also decorated in order to make it unique and beautiful. She is proud of her collard greens, and is happy to share tips on gardening with anyone who asks. Ms. Sandra is the mother of five children: three sons and a daughter, Santana, who is the youngest. She has lived across from the Cherry Street Community Garden since 1991. She remembers the time when the garden plots were occupied by homes. When these homes were demolished neighbors turned the site into a garden. In her retirement, Ms. Sandra enjoys cooking, baking, shopping, and “peacefulness.” This is why you may find her lounging in her chair sitting outside her home, keeping an eye out for the neighborhood kids playing on the street and sidewalks. She watches over the garden beds from her seat, making sure that people who may not be familiar with the community garden respect the fruits and veggies. After all, these are grown by people to feed themselves and their friends and families. Her strength and fortitude that holds the community together is part of her heritage. These are values that were handed down to her by her mother and her grandmother. Ms. Webb always finds ways to feed people around her--whether it is her extended family, her friends, or her neighbors. She remains a vocal advocate for her community; often calling up her alderperson in order to make sure that her neighborhood receives the services it deserves and to ensure that things are getting done. She believes in unity and community and she explains that “people need to come together more. Communities need to come together more, and, you know, stop looking at everything in a negative way, and start putting positivity in your life.” And that is exactly what Ms. Sandra Webb does: she leads through example. |
Ms. Sandra talks about the neighbors gardening before BloomMKE
Ms. Sandra talks about gardening tips from her dad that she shares at gardening club
Ms. Sandra talks about learning to love fried green tomatoes and sharing them with her family
Ms. Sandra talks about neighborhood kids
Ms. Sandra gardens with her mother and daughter at the Cherry Street Community Garden. Her son, who graduated high school this year, helps out too. He will be going off to college and he will miss the family garden beds.
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