NeighborWoods

Growing community leadership

Most of us can imagine a few things we'd like to change about our neighborhoods to make them better places to live. But when it comes to actually making those changes, it can be intimidating to know where to start.

Through urban greening projects, the Sacramento Tree Foundation connects community members with our network of resources and trains them to lead grassroots projects in their own neighborhoods.

Elementary school students circle around a tree planting demonstration by 2 of their peers in celebration of California Arbor Day at John Sloat Elementary.

Communities thrive when neighbors come together to work toward a shared vision and take ownership of positive change. Residents are the most qualified individuals to make sure their neighborhood's needs are met and any change serves their community.

Connected communities are resilient communities

The concerns we hear most often from community members revolve around finances, safety, health, and youth.

Trees are understandably not a priority for many neighborhoods, but by bringing neighbors together for urban greening projects, residents can grow connections and a resource network to advocate for other solutions in their communities.

And they can make their neighborhoods cooler, healthier, and more beautiful while also addressing some of their main priorities. If food access is a concern, why not plant fruit trees? If jobs are a concern, why not offer paid workforce development opportunities to expose youth to lucrative careers in urban forestry?

How can we work together toward solutions in your neighborhood?

Examples of previous community-led urban greening projects

Free stump removal

Workforce development

Community tree plantings

Water wise landscaping

Free fruit trees

Park clean-ups

Let's work together

Although we site and deliver free trees for any property in Sacramento County, we prioritize supporting community-led projects in areas with low tree canopy as a result of historical under-investment. Our focus areas include the River District, Rancho Cordova, Folsom, and large areas of North and South Sacramento. Contact us to find out what resources are available in your neighborhood or apply for a community planting.

Please enter your name.
Please enter a message.

We asked - what inspired you to lead an urban greening project?

Fatima Malik stands under an apricot tree loaded with ripe fruit

The Del Paso Heights Growers' Alliance leads a collaborative effort to promote equity and justice in disadvantaged communities. With a focus on urban greening, we believe trees play a vital role in improving the quality of life factors that significantly impact residents here. Trees became our focal point to meet the legacy and historical unmet need for more shade. We focus on increasing the number of fruit and shade trees in public parks, community gardens, and private spaces.

Fatima Malik
Del Paso Heights

Coach Crowley inspects one of the trees he helped plant a few years ago at Samuel Kennedy Elementary. It's already tall enough to provide shade.

I work at Samuel Kennedy Elementary School. 90% of our students live in apartments with no playgrounds. The students never go outside so when they come to school and get to play, it's a big deal. After construction on our campus, we lost so many trees that there was no shade. It was hot, our campus was an urban desert. Kids get jaded when they don't have green spaces. My goal was to be able to take kids outside for lessons and sit under trees, to have shade for the children at recess, and to beautify the campus.

Jim Crowley
South Sacramento

Angel Ball at a tree planting she helped coordinate in Rancho Cordova. Here she planted a tree in her front yard.
I found a street I wanted to live on in a different community and decided I would try to make my neighborhood look more like it. There, the homes were clean and neat, the streets were well kept, the landscape was taken care of, there were lots of trees with lots of shade, and the porches had a touch of decoration. I found a group of volunteers who shared these goals, and we completed 4 road clean-ups that led the city to commit resources to these efforts.

Angel Ball
Rancho Cordova

Cassandra Shahani smiles with neighbors at a 2018 tree planting she organized in Hollywood Park.
Following the 2016 presidential election, I watched my community splinter. I joined the board of my neighborhood association where I gained a sense of our residents' priorities - maintaining and increasing home values, improving walkability, and establishing a sense of community. I saw trees as a way to address the neighborhood's priorities and build community.

Cassandra Shahani
Hollywood Park

SMUD Director Gregg Fishman at a 2019 tree planting he helped organize in his neighborhood of Arden Park. He and his neighbors are planting a tree in a front yard.
When we moved to this neighborhood in 2000, I was looking for a way to connect with my new community and put down roots. Most of the homes here were built in the 1950s and had Modesto ash trees planted in front yards to line the streets. The worked really well for the first 50-60 years but now they were causing some problems as they reached the end of their lifespans. We've been able to prevent the collapse of our tree canopy by planting 2,000 trees of many different species.

Gregg Fishman
Arden Park

Kate Riley stands with a tree she just planted in her neighbor's front yard in River Park
I lost my own beautiful Modesto ash in the early 2000s, and so many trees that grew on my block when I moved in have gone. I began to realize that the tree canopy in River Park was endangered. When I retired, I knew that I had the time to make a difference.

Kate Riley
River Park

Heather Fargo enjoys the shade of mature trees at Gardenland Park in South Natomas
I want a better community and I want to be connected to my neighbors. Trees add beauty to my home and neighborhood and are even more important now to combat air pollution and climate change. It's something we can all do to make a difference.

Heather Fargo
South Natomas

We asked - what inspired you to lead an urban greening project?

Fatima Malik stands under an apricot tree loaded with ripe fruit

The Del Paso Heights Growers' Alliance leads a collaborative effort to promote equity and justice in disadvantaged communities. With a focus on urban greening, we believe trees play a vital role in improving the quality of life factors that significantly impact residents here. Trees became our focal point to meet the legacy and historical unmet need for more shade. We focus on increasing the number of fruit and shade trees in public parks, community gardens, and private spaces.

Fatima Malik
Del Paso Heights

Coach Crowley inspects one of the trees he helped plant a few years ago at Samuel Kennedy Elementary. It's already tall enough to provide shade.

I work at Samuel Kennedy Elementary School. 90% of our students live in apartments with no playgrounds. The students never go outside so when they come to school and get to play, it's a big deal. After construction on our campus, we lost so many trees that there was no shade. It was hot, our campus was an urban desert. Kids get jaded when they don't have green spaces. My goal was to be able to take kids outside for lessons and sit under trees, to have shade for the children at recess, and to beautify the campus.

Jim Crowley
South Sacramento

Angel Ball at a tree planting she helped coordinate in Rancho Cordova. Here she planted a tree in her front yard.
I found a street I wanted to live on in a different community and decided I would try to make my neighborhood look more like it. There, the homes were clean and neat, the streets were well kept, the landscape was taken care of, there were lots of trees with lots of shade, and the porches had a touch of decoration. I found a group of volunteers who shared these goals, and we completed 4 road clean-ups that led the city to commit resources to these efforts.

Angel Ball
Rancho Cordova

Cassandra Shahani smiles with neighbors at a 2018 tree planting she organized in Hollywood Park.
Following the 2016 presidential election, I watched my community splinter. I joined the board of my neighborhood association where I gained a sense of our residents' priorities - maintaining and increasing home values, improving walkability, and establishing a sense of community. I saw trees as a way to address the neighborhood's priorities and build community.

Cassandra Shahani
Hollywood Park

SMUD Director Gregg Fishman at a 2019 tree planting he helped organize in his neighborhood of Arden Park. He and his neighbors are planting a tree in a front yard.
When we moved to this neighborhood in 2000, I was looking for a way to connect with my new community and put down roots. Most of the homes here were built in the 1950s and had Modesto ash trees planted in front yards to line the streets. The worked really well for the first 50-60 years but now they were causing some problems as they reached the end of their lifespans. We've been able to prevent the collapse of our tree canopy by planting 2,000 trees of many different species.

Gregg Fishman
Arden Park

Kate Riley stands with a tree she just planted in her neighbor's front yard in River Park
I lost my own beautiful Modesto ash in the early 2000s, and so many trees that grew on my block when I moved in have gone. I began to realize that the tree canopy in River Park was endangered. When I retired, I knew that I had the time to make a difference.

Kate Riley
River Park

Heather Fargo enjoys the shade of mature trees at Gardenland Park in South Natomas
I want a better community and I want to be connected to my neighbors. Trees add beauty to my home and neighborhood and are even more important now to combat air pollution and climate change. It's something we can all do to make a difference.

Heather Fargo
South Natomas

We asked - what inspired you to lead an urban greening project?

Fatima Malik stands under an apricot tree loaded with ripe fruit

The Del Paso Heights Growers' Alliance leads a collaborative effort to promote equity and justice in disadvantaged communities. With a focus on urban greening, we believe trees play a vital role in improving the quality of life factors that significantly impact residents here. Trees became our focal point to meet the legacy and historical unmet need for more shade. We focus on increasing the number of fruit and shade trees in public parks, community gardens, and private spaces.

Fatima Malik
Del Paso Heights

Coach Crowley inspects one of the trees he helped plant a few years ago at Samuel Kennedy Elementary. It's already tall enough to provide shade.

I work at Samuel Kennedy Elementary School. 90% of our students live in apartments with no playgrounds. The students never go outside so when they come to school and get to play, it's a big deal. After construction on our campus, we lost so many trees that there was no shade. It was hot, our campus was an urban desert. Kids get jaded when they don't have green spaces. My goal was to be able to take kids outside for lessons and sit under trees, to have shade for the children at recess, and to beautify the campus.

Jim Crowley
South Sacramento

Angel Ball at a tree planting she helped coordinate in Rancho Cordova. Here she planted a tree in her front yard.
I found a street I wanted to live on in a different community and decided I would try to make my neighborhood look more like it. There, the homes were clean and neat, the streets were well kept, the landscape was taken care of, there were lots of trees with lots of shade, and the porches had a touch of decoration. I found a group of volunteers who shared these goals, and we completed 4 road clean-ups that led the city to commit resources to these efforts.

Angel Ball
Rancho Cordova

Cassandra Shahani smiles with neighbors at a 2018 tree planting she organized in Hollywood Park.
Following the 2016 presidential election, I watched my community splinter. I joined the board of my neighborhood association where I gained a sense of our residents' priorities - maintaining and increasing home values, improving walkability, and establishing a sense of community. I saw trees as a way to address the neighborhood's priorities and build community.

Cassandra Shahani
Hollywood Park

SMUD Director Gregg Fishman at a 2019 tree planting he helped organize in his neighborhood of Arden Park. He and his neighbors are planting a tree in a front yard.
When we moved to this neighborhood in 2000, I was looking for a way to connect with my new community and put down roots. Most of the homes here were built in the 1950s and had Modesto ash trees planted in front yards to line the streets. The worked really well for the first 50-60 years but now they were causing some problems as they reached the end of their lifespans. We've been able to prevent the collapse of our tree canopy by planting 2,000 trees of many different species.

Gregg Fishman
Arden Park

Kate Riley stands with a tree she just planted in her neighbor's front yard in River Park
I lost my own beautiful Modesto ash in the early 2000s, and so many trees that grew on my block when I moved in have gone. I began to realize that the tree canopy in River Park was endangered. When I retired, I knew that I had the time to make a difference.

Kate Riley
River Park

Heather Fargo enjoys the shade of mature trees at Gardenland Park in South Natomas
I want a better community and I want to be connected to my neighbors. Trees add beauty to my home and neighborhood and are even more important now to combat air pollution and climate change. It's something we can all do to make a difference.

Heather Fargo
South Natomas