Grandmother and retired childhood care provider, Darene “Dee” Johnson, discusses her childhood growing up in Washington D.C. on 11th Street, NE. She recalls playing games in Lincoln Park with her cousins and siblings and enjoyed the beauty of the fruit trees and gardens in her neighborhood. However, during this period in his childhood, Ms. Dee explains the tension in her family, and her mother’s untreated mental and physical illnesses. Moving to Southeast D.C., Ms. Dee immediately experienced heightened stress, uncomfortable living conditions, increased litter, and aggressive Police jump outs. Herself a survivor of sexual and physical abuse, Ms. Dee describes the family members and teachers who protected her when her self-confidence seemed nonexistent. In later years, having had few role models who believed in and encouraged her, Ms. Dee was determined to provide safety and supplementary learning for the children under her supervision. She closes by describing the importance of Nature and of wild space for improving her own physical and mental health. This oral history interview was conducted under a grant from the Humanities Council of Washington, DC to the Ward 8 Woods Conservancy.