Sarah Biren
Sarah Biren
February 15, 2022 ·  5 min read

Family moves from shed to apartment, thanks to money from 8-year-old son’s plant business

At eight years old, Aaron Moreno is one of the youngest entrepreneurs ever. He started Aaron’s Garden in June to help his single mom after she lost her job during the pandemic. The family of four was able to move from a shed into an apartment in Los Angeles — all with the help of one son’s plant business. 

I feel happier because we don’t have to struggle as much as before,” said Aaron. 

His mother, Berenice Pacheco, now has funds from her new part-time job, Aaron’s Garden, and a GoFundMe page a family friend has started. The page has raised over $31,000. Not only were they able to afford an apartment, they could buy a car and furniture for their new home. 

I never thought we would accomplish and come this far… We couldn’t believe that we got a house,” said Pacheco. “I admire him for everything he has been able to do that I haven’t as a mom.” [1]

Reuniting with His Older Sister 

Even better than an apartment, the mother was able to bring her 10-year-old daughter back from Mexico who was living with her grandparents for two years because of the family’s difficult financial situation. 

“I’m just so proud of my brother because he was the one who got me back,” said Ayleen Pacheco, Moreno’s sister. 

Even before the funds became available, Aaron planned to bring her home. Whenever an airplane passed overhead, he would point at it and explain that is how his sister would arrive. 

As they organize their new place, the garage will be remodeled to incorporate Aaron’s Garden. 

I think the best thing for me well, everything has been the best, but is that Aaron got to reunite us with his older sister with the money he received,” said Pacheco. “And he’s just been doing everything for us. And he’s like the man of the house.” 

Read: High School Opens Student-Run Grocery Store For Struggling Local Families

The Beginning of Aaron’s Garden 

Aaron’s Garden had taken over their yard, but it began with just $12. 

The purpose of starting ‘Aaron’s Garden’ was because I lost my job,” said Pacheco. “I live in a shed and we were struggling financially.” 

So, with my last $12 that I had in my pocket, I told him that we were going to invest it.” 

Aaron took the money and bought his first set of succulents. 

She told me if I wanted to do something like just spending money smart and then said ‘I would like to make a business,’” said Aaron. “Well, it was going really small, but I didn’t mean for it to grow this way.” 

Aaron has been fascinated by plants ever since he was little. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Aaron M. (@aaronsgarden)

His favorite, it’s the aloe vera. And he gets a lot of mosquito bites. So we learned that the aloe vera has some type of medicine that heals. So that was awesome to learn,” said Pacheco. 

Aaron and his mother would bus to downtown Los Angeles to buy plants in bulk and then resell them in other areas of the city.  

Thank you to all the people that bought a plant from me. It means a lot,” said Aaron. He explained that he was simply happy to help his mom out. 

When news of Aaron’s Garden and its story reached social media, thousands of followers came forward to help him out through donating to their GoFundMe page or supporting the business. He would post his location on Instagram every day so people would know where to come to buy his plants. 

People support us by buying plants, following us, leaving us good comments, and they tell us nice things to keep moving forward. It’s what we need,” Pacheco said back in July when Aaron’s Garden was building momentum. [2]

Now that they have moved into a proper hope and got Ayleen back, Aaron’s next goal is to get a lawyer to remedy his mother’s undocumented status in the U.S. She had arrived with a visa that had since expired. [3]

“Make the best of what we have…” 

The family shares the news of their move on an update on their GoFundMe page. “Great news. We were finally able to say bye to my shed, the place that taught us to be patient and be grateful in the little things so G-d can bless us with bigger things. G-d tested us hard.” 

The family’s options were to stay at other people’s houses, live on the streets, or occupy the shed. Despite the grueling situation, they made the best of it.  

The shed taught us to make the best of what we have even if it takes 4 people staying in one twin bed. Where we kissed and hugged it out to go to sleep even if we were mad at each other, we had no option. The shed taught us that a home can be many things but a family remains one through thick and thin...  

Keep Reading: Struggling Man Inherits $60 Million Estate After DNA Test Proves He’s The Rightful Heir

  1. “East LA family moves from shed to apartment, thanks to money from 8-year-old son’s plant business.” ABC. Eric Resendiz. November 14, 2020 
  2. “8-Year-Old Starts Plant Business To Help His Mom, Sister in Mexico.” NBC Los Angeles. Norma Ribeiro. July 23, 2020 
  3. “East LA boy starts plant business to help single mom make ends meet.” MSN. KABC. August 8, 2020 
  4. Aaron’s Garden. GoFundMe


Correction Notice (02/15/2022): Aaron Moreno’s name was originally misspelled as Aaron Morena. It has since been corrected

Editor’s Note (02/15/2022): This article originally appeared on The Hearty Soul and has been published here with permission.