Our story & roots
He planted love. We are helping it grow
JWSH sprang from Jelani’s family’s love for him, his love for others, and roots that reach back through generations of humble, agrarian, service-oriented people.
Where our roots begin
Grounded in family, farming, humility, and service
The roots beneath our mission-framework graphic represent the roots from which our family sprang. On Jelani’s maternal side, those roots reach back to Alabama farmers and generations shaped by the land, humility, hard work, and service to others.
One of Jelani’s greatest influences was his great-uncle, Ephraim Smiley, Jr., a Fort Wayne, Indiana, hunger-relief gardener, founder of Smiley’s Gardening Angels, and recipient of the Sagamore of the Wabash—one of Indiana’s highest honors. Uncle Ephraim was Jelani’s idol.
A love planted early
At two years old, Jelani found his garden
Jelani first visited his great-uncle’s hunger-relief garden when he was only two years old. He fell in love with gardening instantly and never looked back. Even during the winter months, he nurtured plants indoors and looked forward to the next growing season.
For Jelani, gardening was more than a pastime. It was curiosity, responsibility, patience, generosity, and joy—all growing together.
The garden he was planning
His biggest garden yet
One of Jelani’s last truly happy outings was a trip with his mom to Menards to purchase seeds and starter plants. By then, cancer had spread throughout his body, including his ribs and legs, and he was in terrible pain. Still, he relished going through the aisles and beginning to plan his 2025 garden. He told his mom that he intended to grow the biggest garden he had ever planted and even asked her to take him to Walmart to see what other plants he might find.
During the final weeks of his life, Jelani planted dozens—if not hundreds—of seeds. He carefully tended his “plant babies,” looking forward to the day when he could transplant them outdoors. Sadly, he did not live long enough to see his flowers, vegetables, and fruit grow beneath the sun.
Jelani passed away on a gray, rainy day in May. The lives of those who loved him would never know quite the same brightness. His family resolved to honor his final wish by giving away forget-me-not and sunflower seeds at his Celebration of Life—living reminders that love, memory, and hope can continue to grow.
A little cart with a lasting legacy
The inspiration of Kate’s Kart
During his weekly visits to the pediatric clinic led by Dr. Dennis O’Brien, Jelani was offered his choice of books to help while away the time. The books came from Kate’s Kart, a Fort Wayne nonprofit created by Krista and Andy Layman in memory of their daughter, Baby Kate. Kate was born with a severe congenital heart defect and passed away in 2008 before she had the opportunity to experience adult life. Reading had comforted Kate and her family during long hospital stays. Determined that her memory would continue to make a difference, the Laymans began giving brand-new books to hospitalized children—offering comfort, choice, distraction, and joy while encouraging children and caregivers to read together.
Jelani was not a great fan of formal education, but he was a voracious learner with an insatiable curiosity about the natural world. Rather than waste the offer of a book, Jelani—in his typically loving fashion—thought of his baby sisters, Everlee and Eden, who were only two years old at the time. He remembered how much he and his own twin, Azaria, had loved having their mom read to them as toddlers. Jelani resolved to gather a collection of books from Kate’s Kart and give his little sisters a library.
Visit Kate’s Kart
How Seeds of Hope began
A garden larger than Jelani ever imagined
As his mom reflected on Jelani’s gift to his sisters, his concern for other children in treatment, and his enduring love for plants, she imagined how wonderful it would be if the garden Jelani had wanted to plant could become even bigger than he ever dreamed. The idea took root in the form of a small cart or kiosk inspired by the simple reach of Kate’s Kart—only this one would share seeds, starter plants, encouragement, and living reminders of hope.
The Jelani Washington Seeds of Hope Foundation sprang from Jelani’s family’s love for him and his love for others. It is our hope that the foundation will spread far and wide like the garden Jelani wanted to plant, and that its harvest will be blossoms of hope, happiness, health, awareness, and goodwill.
Explore the mission framework