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humansofnewyork:

(3/3) “When you sit in this garden on a summer day, you hear things. There are fourteen homeless shelters within a four-block radius. So when it’s hot outside, and the windows are open, you can hear the stress of poverty. Sometimes mothers will yell at these kids like they’re grown men. They’ll call them names. They’ll tell them: ‘you can’t,’ and ‘you won’t.’ And after awhile the kids start to believe it. When they first come into this garden, they’re so freakin’ happy. Especially the really young ones. But at the end of the day, they’ll say: ‘I’m going home.’ And home means shelter. It’s an epidemic, man. 115,000 kids in this city are living in shelters. It’s a freakin’ epidemic. But it’s invisible. You’d never know these kids are homeless, because they’re so happy. But something happens around 9, 10, 11. I see it all the time. Those eyes dim, man. It’s just life. There’s too much stress around here. And they grow up fast. They lose that light. I just want to slow it down, that’s all. I want them to have a safe place where they can just be them. That’s all any of us want, right? To slow it all down so we can find out who we are? I was such an arrogant motherfucker when I first came here. I was unhealthy. I was 52 lbs heavier. I was depressed. My entire life was about things and money. I was doing it all wrong. Yet I came to this school thinking I knew all the answers. I thought I was going to fix these kids. But they were so fucking happy, and I wasn’t. They didn’t need to become like me. They needed to stay like them. It hurts my heart to say, because it means I’m getting old, but Nevaeh is all grown up now. She’s sixteen. Straight A student. Honor roll up and down. I still do my best to help her whenever I can. Recently she had a C in math, so I said: ‘Let’s find you a private tutor, I’ll pay for it.’ But she wouldn’t let me. She grabbed the rake out of my hand. She said: ‘No Mr. Tony, I got this myself.’ And she got a 93 on that final. She was the tiniest little thing when I met her. With glasses so big. But even back then she had everything she needed. It just required a little protection. And a little time. She just needed some space to grow.” 

We’re putting together a very unique and fun opportunity to support Harlem Grown in the next couple days, so stay tuned. In the meantime you can support Tony’s effort by ordering his wonderful children’s book ‘Harlem Grown’ wherever books are sold. Tony donates all his earnings back to Harlem Grown. You can support indie bookstores by ordering here: https://bit.ly/harlemgrownbook