In a patch of garden behind her church, a family legacy took root for Pat Jones. Behind historic St. James AME Church — in the heart of The Ville — sits the community garden she and her late sister, Juanita Walker, built with their own hands. Today, that garden bears Juanita’s name — the Nita Walker Ville Community Garden.
The event was part of Major League Soccer’s Greener Goals initiative and a collaboration with Seed St. Louis and the United Way of Greater St. Louis. St. Louis City SC players rolled up their sleeves, grabbed shovels, and got to work.
Within eyesight of the garden stands Sumner High School, the first high school for Black students west of the Mississippi. Its alumni list reads like a roll call of Black brilliance — including the one and only Tina Turner, Class of 1958.
St. Louis City SC — the team currently wearing a kit inspired by Turner’s life and legacy — showed up to help Jones prep beds and plant vegetables in the neighborhood Turner once called home.
The event was part of Major League Soccer’s Greener Goals initiative and a collaboration with Seed St. Louis and the United Way of Greater St. Louis. St. Louis City SC players rolled up their sleeves, grabbed shovels, and got to work.
Jones was grateful for the help.
“There are two bags of compost next to that Chevy,” she said mid-interview, pointing across the lot. “If I could get someone to bring that over here, that would be great. Thank you.”
The players didn’t hesitate.
“It feels very good to have them here helping,” Jones said. “Sometimes it feels overwhelming with everything you have to do. And I want to get the beds ready to plant.”
Among the helping hands was St. Louis City SC defender Lukas MacNaughton, who understood the weight of where he was standing.
“It’s pretty cool,” he said. “Listening to her music and having the kit — when you wear it, you feel it. But being here, where she lived, adds another layer of our connection to the city. To be in this garden, in this neighborhood, is really special.”
For MacNaughton, being able to pour into Turner’s former stomping grounds was great – but the true joy the day came from showing up for the people who show up for the team.
“It’s great for fans and people in the community to know that we care,” he said. “The fans mean everything to us. So if we can give back in this way, it means a lot.”
For Vivian Partridge, Director of Network Relations for Seed St. Louis, the partnership was a perfect fit.
“It’s fun to see them in the community,” she said. “Spring is really busy for us — a time when we can really use help — so we’re glad they’re here.”
And for The Ville, she added, the moment mattered.
“This neighborhood has been important to St. Louis history,” Partridge said. “To give love back to this community — for the people who came before and the people coming after — is really great. That’s part of what Seed St. Louis is about, and it’s great to partner with St. Louis City SC in that mission.”
As the players worked, Jones reflected on the history surrounding her — the church, the school, the garden, the legacy of her sister, and the unexpected thread tying it all together.
“Tina Turner went to Sumner? I had no idea,” she said with a laugh. “I knew Dick Gregory and Arthur Ashe. I used to watch Arthur Ashe practice with his coach when I went to Sumner.”
But on this day, Turner’s presence was felt — beyond the nearby mural that bears her likeness — in the quiet, steady work of hands in the dirt. In the neighborhood that shaped her. So was Jones’ sister – in the garden that carries her name.