CAGE community garden gives Milwaukee teen 2nd chance

Community garden gives teen 2nd chance

Instead of placing him behind bars, a judge allowed a Milwaukee to work in a community garden as part of his sentence for a 2021 crime.

MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee teen said, around two years ago, he was on the wrong path.

Instead of placing him behind bars for a crime, a judge allowed him to work in a community garden as part of his sentence.

"Before we started coming here and working, the garden wasn't like this," said Kwentin Broadway. "It wasn't beautiful how it looks now."

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Hard work helped the plants inside Milwaukee's CAGE garden flourish at 13th and Reservoir. It helped the teen boys working there grow, too.

"It's a stress reliever," said Broadway. "I'm trying to succeed in life. I'm trying to do good."

Kwentin Broadway

Saturday morning, Broadway's mother, Ebony Warren, watched him with pride.

"It makes me want a tractor for him, too," said Warren. "You can tell he enjoys it."

Warren said the 17-year-old has come a long way since he got in trouble with the law in 2021.

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"He got into a little trouble, made some wrong decisions," said Warren. "I feel like someone got into his head."

Broadway had to go to court. Reyna Morales was the judge.

"If you have programs like this, you're teaching them how to self-regulate, and then you're keeping them in the community and allowing them to stay in the community," said Morales.

Ebony Warren watches her son, Kwentin Broadway, at CAGE community garden

Instead of spending time in jail, Broadway said he was monitored. Helping out in the garden became part of his sentence.

"The reality is, if you send somebody to jail, they're going to come out," Morales said. "What are the skills that you're giving someone that you sent to jail, and you're coming out?"

"What I did in the past. It was a lesson learned," said Broadway. "I learned from my mistakes."

Group celebrates Kwentin Broadway

Broadway said he stopped talking to the bad influences from his past.

"I don't want to be in jail or dead," Broadway said. "I want to continue having a family like I do."

Earlier this month, Broadway completed his probation and committed to coming to work in the garden. People celebrated him and his growth in a ceremony.

"I'm not going to lie. I dropped a few tears," said Broadway. "It was exciting to see a lot of people come out there for me to celebrate me. Kwentin. Kwentin Day. Being off probation and changing his life for a second chance."