City Trees

Brooks, two young adult assistants, and six youth worked tirelessly for six weeks over the summer to plant, prune, mulch, water, and involve neighbor- hoods in the care of 50 new trees. The crew went door to door explaining to neighbors how to request tree plantings and adopt newly planted street trees. Assistant Xavier said, "I thought Schenectady wasn't as friendly as it was, but a lot of people wanted to help." Assistant Yaheem said, "Most people thought it was a great thing … when we explained to people the ben- efits of trees, it changed their mind." Both Xavier and Yaheem noted the program helped build their skills in teamwork, outreach, tree planting, and care. ReTree provided in-kind support including workshops on tree planting, maintenance, and soil ecology; selec- tion of trees; and coordination of tree deliveries from a local nursery. SCWCD provided in-kind support including a soil ecology workshop and delivery of several trees. Tree costs were primarily funded through the National Grid grants to the City and County of Schenectady, with a few funded by ReTree. Critically, ReTree also paid for several months of watering the newly planted trees after the planting program was over in August. One of the reasons these partnerships worked well was each partner had an area of expertise they specialized in. Partners respected each other's strengths, communi- cated with each other, and did not try to step in if there was a task they were unfamiliar with. Partnering and financial support for the already established Community Fathers and OIOI programs enabled the collaborative to streamline the program and make for a quicker impact. Brooks notes that some of the most important pro- grammatic outcomes were not just about planting and caring for trees. The summer program's work let com- munities see with their own eyes that people from their own background cared about Schenectady and actively worked to improve it. Assistant Xavier reported feeling surprised by the summer team's positive interactions and conversations with residents. Some neighbors offered their hoses to water trees or encouraged their chil- dren or young adults to join the tree crew for the day. All of these partners enthusiastically plan to continue this summer youth employment program in summer 2022 to support young professionals and neighbors in building new tree canopy together. The hope is that this kind of program will continue to grow, thrive, and support these vital community and institutional partnerships. "I thought Schenectady wasn't as friendly as it was, but a lot of people wanted to help." Newly planted tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) in Schenectady's Wallingford Park. 14 CityTREES

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