Our Story
We answered a call to bring families together.
The Legacy Table Foundation grew from a simple belief: what a family knows, grows, owns, and passes down can shape the next generation. We bring elders and young people to the same table to learn, share food, and keep their stories.
“I didn’t start a nonprofit. I answered a call that had been placed on my life long before I had the words for it.”
— Tamika Ngaham, Founder
Meet Tamika Ngaham
Tamika is our Founder and Executive Director and a licensed nursing home administrator. In her work, she saw families face hard questions about care costs, homes, and trusts during a crisis. She wanted families to have those talks earlier, with clear information and support across generations.
Land on both sides of the family
Tamika’s love of land began in St. Augustine, Florida, on property owned by her grandparents, John Henry Wesley Sr. and Maybelle Lasket Wesley. Her grandfather collected pine resin in small tins. While he worked, Tamika and her sister played among the trees.
Her grandmother kept chickens and a garden. Her mother, Mabellene Wesley Johnson, carried those lessons forward: care for the land, grow food, and share what you know.
On her father’s side, the family’s land was in Leesburg, Florida. Her grandfather, James Johnson Sr., worked in watermelon fields and orange groves. Her grandmother, Carrie Bell Keith Johnson, grew food beside their home.
Tamika still remembers standing beside her grandmother as she snapped green beans for dinner. A meal at the family table held more than food. It held skills, care, and stories.
Keeping that pattern alive
Land can pass down through a family. So can a recipe, a memory, or a lesson about planning ahead. But missing wills, unpaid property taxes, and stories lost with an elder can break that pattern.
Today, Tamika and her husband, Charle, carry forward their families’ ties to land in Florida and Cameroon. The Foundation brings that same spirit to free community learning in St. Petersburg.
Elders and youth grow food, share meals, learn about family finances and land, and create memoirs in their own words. Our work starts with listening to one another.
Grow and learn
Explore ways to grow food and care for land. Bring questions about family finances and planning ahead.
Keep your family’s voice
Youth interview elders about memories, recipes, traditions, and life lessons. Together, they turn those stories into family memoirs.
Our future vision for Palatka
The half-acre parcel in Palatka is raw, privately owned family land registered with USDA. A proposed lease for Foundation use awaits attorney and board review.
Gardens, hydroponics, aquaponics, and a memoir pavilion are future plans, not operating facilities.
Explore the future campus visionPull up a chair
Every program is free. Join us to learn, share what you know, and give the next generation a story to carry forward.
See free programs and dates
