The Garden She Couldn't Stop Tending

In 2019, retired teacher Maria Gonzalez started a community garden in a vacant lot on Chicago's South Side. She had no funding, just a handful of seeds and a stubborn hope that something good could grow in hard ground. She planted tomatoes, peppers, and marigolds. Neighbors watched from their porches, skeptical. Then one morning, a teenager named DeShawn showed up asking if he could help.…