Empowering Communities, Fostering Urban Forests
The Foundation’s Community Roots Program is helping local organizations lead the way in tree planting and care.
Trees are a critical component of resilient communities, but many cities and towns don’t have the trees they need to thrive. That’s why the Arbor Day Foundation created the Community Roots Program, a grant opportunity established with funds from the Inflation Reduction Act. Often referred to as the IRA, this climate legislation included $1.5 billion to increase equitable access to trees and green spaces in underserved communities.
The first phase of this program included awarding funding for projects spearheaded by community-based organizations. A total of 18 awardees were selected from more than 230 applicants nationwide — a clear sign that there is a growing desire to improve communities through trees. Projects range in focus from addressing the urban heat island effect to natural disaster recovery to establishing food forests.
While all of the projects are helping to build healthy community tree canopy, each offers a glimpse into just how unique community tree projects can be from place to place. Here is a sample of a few projects that will be funded through the Community Roots Program:
FOOD FORESTS
Denver Urban Gardens | Denver, Colorado
Some neighborhoods throughout the Denver metropolitan area are facing outsized rates of food insecurity, poor physical and mental health among residents, lack of tree canopy, poor air quality, and vulnerability to extreme heat. With this Community Roots funding, Denver Urban Gardens will be working with residents to plant nine new food forests in urban communal gardens over the next three years — adding a source of fresh fruit, an important layer of biodiversity, much-needed shade, and a place for people to connect with nature.
Adopt-a-yard-tree program expansion
Friends of the Urban Forest | San Francisco, California
Residents in low-income, low-canopy areas of San Francisco will now have more opportunities to pick up a free tree, a bucket of mulch, and plenty of planting support. Friends of the Urban Forest plans to leverage this funding to grow its new Adopt-A-Yard-Tree program, targeting four neighborhoods where trees can do the most good. A total of 3,000 fruit trees and native trees will be distributed over three years to improve tree canopy, break up heat islands, and provide a source of fresh produce.
Community engagement and Neighborhood tree plantings
Speak for the Trees | Boston, Massachusetts
Many neighborhoods throughout Boston are facing a historic lack of investment and a lack of tree canopy. Speak for the Trees is already working to plant trees in public spaces and private properties in areas with the greatest need for trees, and this funding will allow them to boost their efforts. Over three years, they will establish a Tree Captains program that actively engages residents in the work while also planting an additional 175 trees in people’s yards — an important step in increasing overall canopy in these neighborhoods.
Cemetery and arboretum restoration
Friends of Bellefontaine Cemetery | St. Louis, Missouri
Bellefontaine Cemetery & Arboretum is an essential public green space located in the heart of the disadvantaged community of North St. Louis. While a nationally recognized arboretum, the tree canopy is in great need of largescale care. Community Roots funding will help the organization remove dead and hazardous trees and plant more trees in their place. This work will improve the ecological health of the arboretum and restore a lush urban forest canopy that is accessible to people in the surrounding neighborhoods and beyond.
