Over the course of the last three years, dedicated community leaders and volunteers in South Sacramento have worked tirelessly to bring trees to local neighborhoods and schools to ensure a greener future. Despite social distancing restrictions and unprecedented winter storms threatening their planting efforts, these residents continued to uplift their community by bringing the benefits of trees to the region. Their work, funded through the South Sacramento Neighborwoods Initiative, brought over 2,100 trees to South Sacramento over the past 3 years! 

A community-led effort

Through urban green projects, the Sacramento Tree Foundation connects community members with our network of resources and trains them to lead grassroots urban forestry projects in their own neighborhoods. Our work in South Sacramento was made possible through funding from CALFIRE and Proposition 68. Over $60,000 in mini-grants was awarded to South Sacramento small organizations and partners to increase tree planting and education. Some of these partners include: 

• Asian Resources, Inc., a non-profit community-based organization dedicated to providing multiple social services needed in our community, greened their headquarters parking lot and open space. 

• United Latinos Green Team, a community organization with a mission to develop and empower community leaders to achieve an informed and healthy community by promoting civic engagement through advocacy and education to improve the quality of life. The Green Team also stepped up to help Asian Resources, Inc. plant half of the trees at their headquarters when COVID-19 made a community volunteer planting impossible. 

• The South Sacramento Christian Center, a church that has provided a range of services needed in the community since 1988 installed water-efficient irrigation at their campus. They also helped plant new trees at the Simmons Community Center. 

Also made possible through the CalFire grant were several successful school plantings. With the help of parents and volunteers, students at Camelia Elementary School planted sixteen trees on their campus. Each class finished the day by “adopting” and naming a tree. Students at these schools will continue to learn about the importance of our urban forest through the Tree Foundation’s Seed to Seedling program – growing the next generation of tree stewards! 

What’s next for South Sacramento?

Our efforts are not over! The Tree Foundation is dedicated to growing our urban forest across the Sacramento region. We will continue to support our partners, provide educational opportunities and tree plantings where they are needed most.