Trees from Building Green Futures’ nursery on Valley Street are headed for new homes! More than 90 trees, planted and maintained by program participants, were picked up on April 7th by the Providence Neighborhood Planting Program, an organization dedicated to creating a more robust and equitable urban forest in the city.
Building Green Futures, a training program for youth aged 18-24, was launched in 2021 to help young people enter high-wage, high-reward careers that start with registered apprenticeship, while advancing environmental justice across the state.
Through their work, including nursery maintenance, tree planting, flood abatement, and other service-learning projects, BGF participants have helped to mitigate stormwater impacts in our community and expand the tree canopy in low-income neighborhoods. A healthy tree canopy can mean cleaner air, fewer respiratory illnesses, reduced flooding, and even lower energy costs for residents – on hot days, streets with a higher canopy can be up to 10 degrees cooler than those with fewer trees.
To replenish the nursery and ensure that this work can continue, more than 200 new trees were delivered on April 9th. Species include sycamores, hackberry, Kentucky coffee, and redbuds – bringing the total number of trees in the nursery to 302. Building Green Futures graduates and Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council stewards showed up ready to work, unloading, potting, and getting trees into the ground.
These new trees will continue to grow at the nursery before being planted in inner-city neighborhoods across Rhode Island. Thank you to everyone who came out and treated these new living neighbors with care.
