Sharon Adams returned to the Milwaukee neighborhood where she had a happy childhood. She was determined to make the fear and systematic isolation that her neighbors were experiencing, the norm back in the `90s, a thing of the past. She restored a beautiful, turn-of-the-century home. She took regular walks in the neighborhood, calling out to her neighbors, getting to know people and inviting them to walk with her. She defied drug dealers on the street. She transformed vacant lots into gardens where peach trees blossom in the spring and where people gather for yoga today. She developed wellness and economic development programs and pathways to meaningful jobs. She did not do one thing. She, along with her husband, Larry, made countless acts of citizenship, as a matter of course, for decades. We were so moved by what Sharon, founder of the Walnut Way Conservation Corp., had to say. She described democracy as something she is still “growing her understanding” for. Aren’t we all.