DETROIT – The boys and young men who started Quarter Quts lawn service in Detroit saw their headquarters broken into three times in the last five years.
The last time, thieves took everything. But with the help of mentors and donors, Quarter Quts is back up and running.
Guardian Alarm promised to alarm the headquarters on East Seven Mile. Fifteen Guardian Alarm staffers spent all day doing an extreme makeover on the property -- cleaning, painting, patching and turning the space into a hub for the boys not just to store their equipment but to attend classes in business development.
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“We put in a lot of work to refresh the place,” said Guardian Alarm’s Jason Tague. “To create more awareness in the community that this is a place for children, a safe place and that people should think twice before doing harm to this building.”
The boys have had to constantly battle thieves. Marketing executive Vaughn Arrington oversees Quarter Quts, which teaches lawn skills but more importantly life skills.
“More than them just being financially successful happens in the poverty that they’re from, but they help bring other people with them,” Arrington said.
Weingartz was touched by the boys’ plight, the company has outfitted them with mowers, weed whackers, protective equipment. Owner Ron Weingartz has offered to teach them the landscaping business.
They just landed their first big corporate client, Detroit Axle.
“When you have a young man trying to prove himself, that’s a powerful thing,” said CEO Mike Mousheinesh.
Mousheinesh was impressed by the boys that Quarter Quts is now Detroit Axle’s lawn service.
Five years ago, when he was 11 years old, Adonnis Brooks said Quarter Quts was important to him because it was his company. Today, at age 16, he’s basically the CEO bringing all the young ones along.
“I always loved the before and after,” Adonnis said. “To see a house after it has been cut, trimmed and edged, to see the after, what it can be, I like that.”