This film depicts the Verde Partnership Garden, a school garden in a low-income community of color in North Richmond, California. Although it touches upon some of the many troubling issues facing North Richmond, the film emphasizes how small-scale projects such as the Verde Garden can serve as real bright spots in even the most disadvantaged neighborhoods.

The movie doesn't sugarcoat the current circumstances in North Richmond. During World War II, this was a flourishing African-American community, with plenty of jobs in the shipyards and other nearby industries, thriving small businesses, and overflowing churches. Now, many households are on public assistance, fewer than 50% of parents have high school degrees, and over a third of families are below the poverty line-four times the national average. Gangs, drugs, and violence have ravaged the area; Richmond as a whole was recently named the 11th most dangerous city in the country. However, the film tries to look beyond these statistics, to show the human stories behind the so-called "facts," and to portray the strength and potential of the people who live here.