The Power of Roots, Community, and Care

From shy third-grader finding his voice through poetry to urban farmer cultivating community healing, Stephan Hamer’s journey shows how SCORES plants seeds that grow far beyond the field — creating leaders who understand that caring deeply about your community is the greatest practice of all.

Finding His Voice

When Hamer joined SCORES as a third-grader, he was drawn immediately to poetry. As a shy child, the poetry program gave him an outlet to express himself and a stage on which to find his voice.

"I just remember feeling really invigorated on the stage. I think it's really fundamental to how I show up," Hamer says.

His family was always present in the audience at jamborees and poetry slams, showing him the importance of intergenerational connection — the act of building relationships and sharing wisdom across age groups. That foundation of support helped him develop the vulnerability needed for storytelling, opening the door to deeper connections with his family's traditions.

Soccer complemented what poetry had started. It gave Hamer a sense of pride and accomplishment while teaching him the value of teamwork. He still remembers walking past the Golden Boot trophy in his school's showcase, a reminder of his team's commitment. Both poetry and soccer prepared him to see himself as a community leader in the making.

What mattered most was having adults who believed in him. Hamer remembers when his SCORES coach, Coach Rambo, pulled him aside during practice and called him a leader. That moment influenced how he saw himself and moved through the world after.

"Being a positive adult role model in a child's life, the smallest minute instances or words or interactions can be very transformative," he reflects.

Cultivating Roots

The Chicago native carries with him the sense of teamwork and belonging he found through SCORES. He now applies those lessons to his family homestead on Chicago's South Side, where his passion for gardening grew while caring for his grandmother.

"Listening to her and just having conversations with her helped me to really appreciate the work that she put in for me to even have a pear tree in my backyard, for us to grow grapes in our backyard, and recognizing how special and spiritual that work is," Hamer explains.

Through cultivating the garden, his connection to the land deepened. He began to experience the joy of growing food and the sense of self-sufficiency it brings.

He also came to see how limited access to farming space is in urban areas like Chicago. He and his grandmother dreamed of creating a vineyard or local farm that would allow South Side residents to enjoy homegrown produce and reconnect with nature.

"I think that oral storytelling is the best way for traditions and routines to be passed down, knowledge to be passed down," Hamer says of the wisdom his grandmother shared.

Building Community Through Shared Harvests

As his connection to the land grew, Hamer began looking for ways to share that passion with his community through urban farming. The vulnerability he first practiced on the poetry stage prepared him to open his private garden space to neighbors, and to share his family’s legacy with his community. 

Photo: Isaiah Reynolds / Blavity

“When she passed away, I think for myself of like looking for community, looking to build community, and understanding just like the process of grief…It doesn't necessarily mean that we are like losing a loved one, but like just the grief of time passing, and that really put me in a space to just go all in with it,” said Hamer. 

SCORES had modeled what community building looks like: showing up consistently, creating space for others, and understanding that everyone has something to contribute. Now Hamer was putting those lessons into practice in a new way.

He began to allow neighbors and family into his space, needing extra hands to help pick grapes. Hamer began hosting dinner parties in the garden, feeling his grandmother's presence embracing him, and feeling how his community embraced him and his garden as their own. 

"It just invites this component of sharing and giving. And I've watched and witnessed how some of my neighbors have deepened their relationships with other community members, and even myself included, where it's also a great conversation starter. People are walking past my house, and they're like, 'Oh, do you have this growing?' And I'm always so happy to say yes, and to show them, and then also just to give it to them," Hamer says.

He noticed the opportunity for urban farming to foster intergenerational connection, creating conversation among elders and young people, both generations looking for connection and activity.

“There's so many people here that migrated from the south that have just planted something, whether it's a tree, whether it's collard greens, whether it's tomatoes, cucumbers, like there is this, I would say like this yearning for us to connect back with the land. And then there's a lot of opportunity to do so,” said Hamer.

Coming Full Circle 

Today, Hamer has returned to SCORES as a coach, helping young people discover what matters most to them. In both his coaching and his urban farming work, the SCORES pillars of teamwork, leadership, and commitment show up every day — collaborating with neighbors to share harvests, leading community garden projects, and maintaining the daily commitment that long-term stewardship requires.

"Thinking about the pillars of America SCORES, like teamwork, leadership, and commitment, these are pillars that I still lean on at this moment," he says.

He lights up when describing his nieces, nephews, and godchildren pulling carrots or root vegetables from the ground, moments that bring him as much joy as if he had harvested them himself. Just as he once felt pride in his team's achievements, he now sees that same pride reflected in neighbors who take ownership of their garden spaces and in young people who are curious enough to learn more about farming.

Urban agriculture is his calling, but it's also a continuation of the mentorship he once received. Hamer learned that SCORES isn't just about teaching poetry and soccer—it taught him that caring deeply about your community is a practice, like any skill, that you have to show up for every day.

Now, he emphasizes the importance of trying new experiences to the Poet-Athletes he coaches. He knows he wouldn't have found his passion if it weren't for the courage to step on stage as a shy third-grader.

“I'm in those same classrooms talking to the kids about how my journey academically and just overall has landed me in urban agriculture and preaching the gospel to them, like having hobbies and just remaining open to different opportunities and experiences because you'd never know where it'll take you.”

He pauses, then adds: "Every day is practice. Every day is game day."

For Hamer, guiding the next generation of Poet-Athletes is both sacred and fulfilling. His journey and legacy are carried on through the Poet-Athletes he continues to inspire, through every neighbor who stops by his garden, and through every community member who remembers that caring deeply matters.