Man: We want MudTown Farms to be a welcoming, beautiful place, not just WLCAC's idea and dream of what is good and what's great.

We want it to be what people that find themselves on that campus and how they feel about it.

We want the transference of our vision.

I want to take all of these boxes and we're gonna put 'em outside the fence.

Man: Outside the fence?

Watkins: Yeah, we're gonna make gardens outside the fence so the community can come.

And once we put, you know, lettuce and tomatoes and onions, they can get what they need.

If we do that all successfully, not only does peace take on a new meaning in what is sometimes, sometimes a hyperviolent community, but it gives us the opportunity to negotiate more peace, negotiate solutions to poverty and the pain of hunger.

All about done now.

♪ Woman: For me, this community is very nostalgic.

Man: We are taught to survive.

Man: We're talking about the cooks, the artists, the music.

Man: I had no idea I was privileged to be in Watts.

I actually spoke my future to life.

Man: That dream is coming to fruition.

Woman: When I was coming up, I was loved.

In this neighborhood, I was loved.

Announcer: This program was made possible in part by generous support from Carol Shandler, Paula R. Kendrick, and Nikolai Shandler Bokin.

Congregation: ♪ Oh oh oh this is the day that the Lord hath made I will rejoice and be glad in it This is the day This is the day that the Lord hath made ♪ Man: I was born and raised in Watts, lived here all my life.

I grew up, not in the projects, but I grew up close to the projects on 109th and Mona, right between the Imperial Courts and the Jordan Downs projects.

Graduated from Jordan High School, and after going to Southwest College, trying to do something with my life, so I got caught up in the gangs and everything, and I end up going to prison.

♪ Once I began to experience the in and out of jail, the cycle of that life, I wanted--something clicked in me, said, "You have to change.

Something has to change."

That click was my religious life.

I was raised in the church, you know, and I went back to my roots, you know, to what my mother installed inside of me.

Whenever we go through some mess in life, whenever we go through situations that hold us back, if we keep our minds staying on Jesus-- Congregation: Hear hear.

Hall: He will bring us through.

The prison--it happened for a reason.

It happened for a reason, for the Lord to get my attention.

And once that happened, I began to educate myself on a lot of things, reading the word of God, but educating myself more on life, what real life had to offer.

They had prison ministry inside the prison while I was there, and there was some mentors that I had an opportunity to meet.

So when I got released, I came home, went to school and I stayed in contact with them.

I joined the church, and I'm still with that church as of today.

I'm a minister at the church.

All the glory!

How did you come down through 40 and 2 generations?

How did you shed his blood for me?

But that was not all.

Paul said that I may know him and the power...

Upon my release, I went back to school.

That's--that was my start to go back to school and to get an education, which I did.

I wanted a job back in Watts.

I wanted to come back home and do something for the community.

I wanted to give back, and With that, I've met one of the cooks.

"You see, we have some cook positions open," you know, and I say, "Where?"

And he said, "Right there at WLCAC."

I came down here, and I was hired as a cook here.

WLCAC, they offered that second chance to a lot of people that come out of the institutions.

It was faith that steered me in the right direction, continuing to trust in Jesus, you know, and he's not finished with me yet.

He's still working on me, still working on me.

♪ [Drumming rhythmically] Man: My name is Thomas Dorsey, Jr., and I'm somebody's son.

I'm somebody's father.

I'm somebody's employee.

I'm somebodys supervisor.

Thing about it is that, I'm a human being first.

I went to Reseda High School, and I'll never forget my coach.

His name was Joel Schaefer.

I missed the school bus one day.

And he's like, "I'm gonna take you home," and we drove up.

I was so embarrassed.

My mom was drunk on the couch, and he woke her up and he told my mom, he said, "I'm gonna take Thomas with me, and if you say or do anything, I'm gonna call the cops on you.

I'll have them arrest you for neglect, because there's no way that he should be living like this.

He's 15."

My coach moved me in his house with his three sons.

One of the most painful days was when I graduated and I couldn't live with him anymore and I didn't have anywhere to go.

So I went back out into the streets, started gangbanging, selling drugs.

I got into a pharmaceutical disagreement with some gentlemen and some people got shot and some people got dead.

[Drumming rhythmically] I was in Soledad 180.

It's a level 4 maximum security, and I was out cleaning up.

And the guard was doing something up in the tower, up in the bubble.

He dropped his firearm and it hit the ground.

I walked over to it and I just looked up to him.

I said, "I'll stand right here until somebody comes.

I won't let nobody bother this."

And everybody is looking out the window like, "What?"

When the shift comes, you have to choose a side.

You're either with us or you're with them.

'Cause it ain't gonna be no middle stuff.

We don't play that.

Because, see, when I was growing up, I was never taught right from wrong.

I was taught good and bad, and I never knew how to differentiate between the two.

But there's a big difference.

When somebody said, "That's good," that's good to your perception, not to mine.

I want to know what's right, and I had to teach myself that.

And I knew what I was doing at that very moment, unconsciously, was the right thing to do.

And right after that, my whole life changed.

[Drum beating rhythmically] [Doorbell ringing] Dorsey, Jr.: Just a moment!

You say a person is a product from their environment?

I said it starts with the child.

I said, "Man, I can tell you of many a times, man, when my teachers actually told me, 'cause I asked too many questions, they put me in the back of the class."

Print your last name and your first name.

You know, now my confidence is shot, I have no focus, I have no direction.

So I was always angry, you know?

And my anger led up to me doing 35 years.

I had 17 to life, brother, and I was in prison.

I was mad.

No one wanted to listen to me.

And that's all I wanted was somebody to listen to me.

Don't give me your opinion about what you think I should do.

Just let me talk.

How you doing today?

And that's what's going on now.

The community is trying to speak.

Nobody wants to just let 'em speak.

You always want to-- "And now, we just gonna do this to you.

We're gonna make you do this," and it's like, "No, you're not listening," you know, and that's one of the reasons that when I was liberated, I made it a mission to not make it be about me.

That's why I reached out to Tim.

That's why I'm a Crisis Intervention Specialist today, because my whole thing is just, "Look, man, I just want to be here and just talk."

The things that WLCAC does, it's just about trying to help the community heal.

So my thing is just, I try to be a good soldier and I go where they tell me to go.

I never thought I could be as passionate as I am about anything.

I always wanted it when I was a kid, and I was thirsty for it.

Now it's like, I get up in the morning, I just want to help somebody else.

[Drum beating rhythmically] Man: I'm 18 years old, born and raised in Nickerson Gardens and kind of have all the experience of the inner-city child growing up in Watts.

So that's kind of my identity and character.

Early on, up until probably 10th grade, you're kind of numb to the unideal circumstance you're in, so you're kind of used to gunshots at night.

You're used to seeing crackheads diving into trash cans.

You're used to people dying on a monthly basis.

I mean, just this past summer, my neighbor was gunned down in my front yard.

[Dog barking] That's where I started playing basketball.

Been a sanctuary ever since.

I'm not perfect.

I was consumed by the--by the culture at a point.

So, I was running around with my friends in 3rd grade, and we were kind of just being bad, honestly, and one day, we decided it would be nice to run up within a local elementary school and we took some fake money out of there.

And we thought it would be a good idea to get a joyride on a local railroad train and throw the money off while we get the joyride.

So, it was my turn to jump on a train, slipped off, and I look down, and I see my left leg is gone.

And I look to my left arm, and I see it's gone as well.

And about 10 minutes in, I recall probably the whole of Watts coming out to see what had just happened.

[Sirens] Growing up within the Nickerson Gardens, and projects specifically, I think a lot of people subconsciously are kind of consumed by the environment and use that kind of as a self-conscious excuse to not strive for more.

I decided I wanted more.

I knew it was more, so I kind of utilized my resources to my benefit, leveraged my understanding of life to instill a drive in me to attain success and attain fulfillment outside of what everybody else was kind of dumbed down to not doing.

My whole life, I've been playing basketball, and I've been excelling...for sure.

And it's a beautiful thing, because just like I never victimized myself coming from the environment I've come from, my amputations, I never victimized myself in that.

I never put a boundary on what I can do in terms of playing basketball.

So I was competing against people who were well-suited and most of the time winning, too, so...ha ha.

Man: So, how you doing in your new place?

King: I'm all right.

Its ups and downs with it.

Man: Yeah, like I was telling you, a change is sometimes better.

King: Mm-hmm.

Man: My name is Darryl Edwards.

I lived in the projects back when I was a teenager.

Well, I started a nonprofit, which is Uplift Sports and Mental Health.

I wanted to put the mental health part into it because of what I've been hearing the kids been going through in Nickerson's.

I put fliers out on doors, and he was the first one--him and this other kid Manu--were the first one at the gym door.

I was like, "Oh, this kid.

He has a disability, you know, with his leg and arm," but when I seen him on the floor playing, I was like, "OK, this kid he play harder than the kids that don't," so I made him my leader.

Just get one thing or two things.

Stay focused along with your basketball, and it'll take you a long way.

I feel, you know, in just talking to you as how I talk to my son the same way.

King: Yeah?

Edwards: Yeah.

So we good with that.

King: Mm-hmm.

Edwards: Happy to see you.

King: Thanks.

Edwards: My boy right here.

King: I think I embody all the problems of people within the inner city and what they're going through.

If you just look at me, you see everyone.

I want to go to college either to study nutrition, public health, or psychology, because I know those are all underlying factors that are discrepancies within the inner city.

I kind of understand the people that are able to escape the projects and never come back, but I feel a sense--a kind of burden to assist the place that built me into the character I am today.

So, I think it's a voluntary responsibility to help out.

Simple as that.

[Tires thumping over train tracks] Man: Mr. Andrews!

Andrews: Yes, sir.

Hall: Check your--your spinach.

When I come to work, I come to work at 3:00 in the morning every morning, and some of my cooks say, "Why you come in so early?"

You know, I say this is-- this has been me all my life."

I set the stage for my cooks, try to give them the experience that I had when I was in the kitchen--you know, the ins and outs, the do's and don'ts.

Alma!

[Utensil banging against pot] How are you?

Alma: Fine.

How are you?

Hall: [Indistinct] My career at WLCAC started in the mid-seventies.

I had a chance to work with the founder Mr. Ted Watkins.

I came up to fill out an application for work, and he had a bunch of kids with him.

He used to take them out and put them to work.

You know, he created an opportunity for the young people, you know.

Being hired here was my first job.

It was my first job.

Ted--he was--some would say he was-- stern--very stern person because he had a goal, he had a vision that he wouldn't let no one step in front of to distract it.

I mean, he was loving, kind.

I mean, I could see him--you know, getting upset, you know, it was for a good reason, but the love always outweighed it, and just having that little bit, it helps me in life today to continue on the vision, the opportunity for youth, young people, families that struggle in Watts.

Food that We preparing about to put together for the seniors, Father God.

We just ask that they enjoy it today, Father.

Give us peace, give us grace.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

Workers: Amen!

Amen!

All right.

Hall: I've been here 9 years leading the nutrition program here.

We do all type of services for the seniors.

I do the Meals on Wheels program.

Annually, we're serving over 400,000 seniors a year.

A day, I'm serving almost 2,200.

♪ It reminds me of Saul in the Bible when God told him that he was going to send him back to where he came from.

And that was one of the biggest things that caught my sight in the Bible, is that he sent me back to the old neighborhood to allow them to see the change, not just see the change, but me living the change and being able to help others that are--were in the same predicament I was in.

I'm just grateful the opportunity that WLCAC has given me to be a help to the community.

It's just--it, you know, it makes you want to cry.

Ha ha ha!

Love is what love does.

If you have the love in you, it's gonna move you to do the job to the best of your ability.

♪ Man: Hold on, hold on!

Let me help you.

Let me help you.

Put it on the barbeque pit!

Man: Uh, I'm trying to figure out where to put this horse.

Man: Oh, we gonna get all these cars out here.

They all going out.

We're gonna put 'em all back on the back parking.

If it's a film crew or whatever, they can park back there.

We gotta get everything clean.

Man: I need that Bones & Blue sign hung from the food area.

I know we need a person there at that gate, a person there at that gate.

Register everybody that comes in.

♪ Woman: It is such a pleasure to be here.

This amazing, amazing farm!

Woman: Oh, my God!

Ha ha!

Woman: Yeah, we love it.

[People speaking indistinctly] Woman: Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you our leader, our president, our CEO, our big brother Timothy Watkins.

[Cheering] Watkins: Thank you, thank you.

Long time coming over here!

Long time coming.

Women: Yes!

♪ Woman: MudTown Farms is a symbol of the resilience of community.

It is a place that was fought for, it is a place that will continue being fought for, and people here deserve to thrive not just survive.

Woman: There's no farm without a community, and I am just so happy and grateful for everybody here today.

[Cheering] Gardens are a place where people have really personal experiences, they're very individual experiences, and I think that it's important for people to have that, especially in a place like Watts.

Woman: Everyone turn and take a good look at Jeannine riding a horse [indistinct].

Give it up for Jeannine!

Man: Ha ha ha!

Woman: Earth Day is coming, and what I want to see out in that audience is all the babies in this neighborhood coming, because that's what this is for.

And it's for those babies and those future generations to teach them where they come from, how to grow their own food.

So, that's what this farm is all about.

[Cheering] Man: In my mind, MudTown Farms should be a prototype of what all communities like Watts need.

It's the northern star of agriculture for us here in this ghetto.

Woman: Ha ha ha!

Man: This is gonna be a good day, I promise.

Woman: Ha ha ha ha!

Man: Thank you for showing up and helping and all of that.

[Man speaking indistinctly] Woman: I got you.

I got you.

Man: So, on behalf of Congresswoman Nanette Barragán, it's my honor to present this certificate of recognition in celebration of the grand opening of MudTown Farms, a transformative urban agricultural park and community wellness center.

Woman: So, the most beautiful thing about the Watts neighborhood and about what WLCAC does, it's that Ted and Tim and I and the people who work here in this family-- and we call it a family-- believe that every single human being we encounter is invaluable.

Man: I think it's a lot more impactful when we have organizations like this that can all kind of gather around the mission of serving Watts, improving the environmental quality in Watts, and we can all come together and achieve great things.

Man: WLCAC is such an important place.

It's been here for so long.

It's been such a giving, not a taking place, you know.

It's just about the community trying to help.

Watkins: And there will be a full-size, state-of-the-art commercial kitchen right over there where you see those collard greens growing.

And there will be a research center here to study the effects of home food on young people as they grow up in a community that we all know is too toxic.

Man: Mr. Watkins has given me a lot of work to do here, not just work but a lot of purpose, and it feels like in 10 years, I'll be able to say that I'm a part of this community in L.A. Man: The perception of Watts from the outside is one of danger, crime, unwelcome, and, to some degree, even undeserving.

You have to ask yourself, "Why?"

when that is not the truth.

There is so much depth and beauty and opportunity and hope here.

[People talking and laughing] Woman: It's my mission to make sure that this community, my community, evolves and thrives.

Even if I can just change and improve someone's life just by a tiny bit, that--that makes me feel better.

Dorsey, Jr.: I've been in some of the most horrific situations, but I feel like me going through the storm and being here today, I'm here for somebody else.

There was a reason why.

I've been there and I've done it.

You know, let me just show you a new way.

King: A lot of people from the inner city feel that their problems aren't understood, that they don't have any advocates.

I know what they're going through, and I'm gonna be an advocate.

Man: It is something to be proud of.

Woman: I just want to thank all of the volunteers that came out today.

Man: I think God had a plan for me, and because of him, I'm still here, I'm still doing the work in my community with my guys, and all these communities have struggled, went through the same identical thing that I went through.

And this is why we trying to make that difference.

Edwards: Our work is cut out, but the good thing--they showing up.

The doors are open for them, and they showing up, and they want to learn.

It's just going to take people like myself and other mentors to come in and show them that path.

Hall: Never say you can't do it.

whatever it is that you have inside of you, the desires that you have, never say that you can't accomplish it.

You can.

I'm a witness.

I'm a miracle standing before you.

Man: Hello!

How are you?

Wonderful!

Wonderful!

Enjoy!

Man: Oh, thank you so much for inviting us to this event.

Woman: Great.

Yeah, you got it.

[Speaking indistinctly] Oh, look!

He's the fastest boy alive!

Man: Together as people, we could show how beautiful our community is.

A lot of people don't understand.

This is all we have.

So, we--we really treasure it, and we really love our city.

Man: I've lived all over the United States, but the old saying is "Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home."

And, to me, Watts is home.

It might be hell to others, but it's heaven to us, because it's all we got.

[Woman laughing] ♪ Man: The man that I love more than any other man in time was my father, and he came here to escape a lynch mob at 13 years old, with no more than a little cardboard suitcase that had in it a couple of little things.

I didn't create this.

My father created this.

That was my mission was to make sure that the work of the founders of this organization is appreciated and that it is respected and that it serves as a model that informs others going forward.

Great things are happening in Watts.

It's true!

We can overcome the perception that nothing very good ever happens here.

That's the--the beauty of Watts, how they get by, how they innovate solutions to all of their different challenges is remarkable here.

♪ Girl: Watermelon!

♪ Great pumpkin!

♪ Boy: Does anyone [indistinct]?

♪ Announcer: This program was made possible in part by generous support from Carol Shandler, Paula R. Kendrick, and Nikolai Shandler Bokin.