State shutdown affects Tree Trust

Youth Conservation Corps
More than 600 youth were scheduled to start their summer jobs with Tree Trust’s Youth Conservation Corps program in June. These youth expected to participate in a nine-week program that would provide them with job skills, wages, and an opportunity to earn high school credits.

However, this plan was interrupted when an agreement on the Minnesota state budget was not reached.

Funding from the state and federal government accounts for approximately 85 percent of what is needed to operate the Youth Conservation Corps program. The lack of an approved state budget, subsequent funding agreements, and the shutdown of several state offices forced Tree Trust to make some difficult decisions.

We have gone to great lengths to minimize expenses and stretch available funding in order to provide a valuable summer work experience for as many youth as possible, and to ensure the completion of critical projects for our partners.

The state government shutdown has negatively impacted 500 of our youth participants who reside in the City of Minneapolis and suburban Hennepin, Dakota and Washington Counties. Here is how youth from specific areas have been affected:

• In Hennepin County, 317 youth began working before June 29, but most of their jobs were suspended by July 8. An additional 38 youth were scheduled to begin in June, but their jobs were delayed. If a state budget and adequate funding is not approved by July 27, these positions will not resume this summer. (84 of the Hennepin County youth who began working will continue through the summer, unaffected by the shutdown.)
•  In Dakota County, 23 youth began working the week of June 20, but were suspended on June 27. An additional 108 jobs were scheduled to begin June 27, but were delayed. A state budget and adequate funding must be reached by July 20 for Dakota County youth to participate this summer.
• In Washington County, 48 youth began working the week of June 27, but will be suspended on July 15. If a state budget and adequate funding is not approved by July 27, these youth will not resume working for the duration of the summer.
• In Minneapolis, 48 youth began working the week of June 20. If a state budget and adequate funding is not approved by July 15, these positions will be discontinued on July 29 for the remainder of the summer.
• At this time, the jobs for 32 St. Paul youth who began working in June have not been affected.

Tree Trust is hopeful the state budget will be resolved soon, and we are communicating with key partners, funders and officials to stay abreast of the situation. Affected youth and their parents have been notified, and we will contact them if a budget is approved and funding becomes available in time to resume programming.

Additional Tree Trust Programs
Like many nonprofits, the state shutdown has temporarily suspended the operation of some of our critical partners, and interrupted access to some government funds that have already been committed to our organization.

Tree Trust has been developing plans to minimize the impact on our operations if the state fails to reach a budget agreement in the coming months.

We remain committed to the individuals and communities we serve, and will continue to creatively and strategically guide the organization through this difficult time.

We could not make this commitment without the dedicated volunteers and donors who help to support our work. We ask that you continue to support Tree Trust in any way you can.

Tree Trust's first commercial

This month Tree Trust shot its very first commercial -- well, really its a public service announcement (PSA), but calling it a commercial is a lot more fun! 

You can view our new PSA on YouTube and Vimeo. It will also air periodically on CTV15 and its sister stations. 

Thanks to the generosity of CTV15, who provided consultation and production as an in-kind donation to Tree Trust, we now have our 30 seconds of fame. 

Special thanks to Kevin Schmitz from CTV15, who worked patiently with us over the past few months to get it just right. And extra special thanks to our cast -- Felecia, Kyler, Sam, Giampaolo and Kristine -- for  lending us their time and talent on the set.

Let us know what you think. And feel free to share it with others!

Tree Trust teams up with St. Louis Park

Tree Trust has partnered with the City of St. Louis Park since our inception. But now we’re taking our relationship to a whole new level.

We’ve partnered with the City to add 2,000 well-established trees to St. Louis Park over the next four years. The St. Louis Park Reforest Project is part of an overall effort to reforest the city after the loss of trees to Dutch elm disease, and to pre-forest the city before emerald ash borer wipes out many more.

Our three-pronged approach involves:

1. Tree distributions. Each year Tree Trust will sell trees at a low cost to St. Louis Park residents. They’ll learn how to properly plant and maintain them in their own yards.

2. Community tree plantings. Tree Trust will facilitate an annual planting event in a city park. Residents will help plant trees and the city will take care of them. Trees will be paid for by donations from St. Louis Park citizens that are matched by the City of St. Louis Park!

3. Youth crew plantings. The City of St. Louis Park will hire our youth crews to plant trees in public spaces throughout the city. That sure beats busting buckthorn!

Kick-off Fundraiser

On September 19, from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM, the Park Tavern Bowling and Entertainment Center will host an event to celebrate 30 years in St. Louis Park. All proceeds from the event will be donated to Tree Trust in support of the Reforest Project.

You are invited! Have a good time and support a great cause. More details about the event will be available soon. Contact Tracie at tracieh@treetrust.org with questions.

UPDATE: The Park Tavern’s 30th Anniversary Celebration (and the City of St. Louis Park’s match) raised $3,850 for our St. Louis Park Reforest Project! What a great start for this special partnership!
Thanks to all who came out support the cause.

To Plant a Tree

This insightful poem was written by one of our wonderful volunteers, Jim Nelson. He shared this with a group of tree planting volunteers during our special “Plant a Wish” event along the Midtown Greenway on June 2, 2010.

Jim is a Master Gardener, Tree Care Advisor, Tree Inspector, and friend of Tree Trust. With Jim’s permission, we share this with the rest of you.

To Plant a Tree

To plant a tree is to begin a project
that may outlive me and my children.

To plant a tree is to make a small part of the earth
a new and better place.

To plant a tree whose crown may never shade me
is to care for neighbors and others.

To plant a tree is to give color and form
to dreams of a better world for all.

Twin Cities recognized for volunteerism

The Twin Cities has a lot to be proud of. We’re famous for our abundance of lakes. I’m pretty sure no other state makes as mean a hot dish as we do. We were recently named the Best Bike City by Bicycling magazine. And last month Minneapolis and St. Paul were ranked among the top five large cities in the U.S. for volunteering rates!

The most recent Volunteering in America report issued by the Corporation for National & Community Service shows that volunteering is on the rise throughout the nation. This is great news! In 2009 more than 63 million Americans volunteered – that’s an increase of almost 1.6 million over the previous year. Their volunteer service was valued at more than $169 billion, resulting in huge savings for nonprofits.

In 2009, over 500 volunteers joined Tree Trust to plant trees, maintain trails and make our community greener. This year, even more people are getting involved.

Want to join the millions of Americans who give back to their communities? Find out how you can make a difference by volunteering with Tree Trust!

Launching the 2010 Youth Conservation Corps

June 14, 2010 marked the official start of Tree Trust's Youth Conservation Corps, an employment training program that puts youth to work for nine weeks, June through August. We're proud to say that this summer we'll provide paid jobs and training to approximately 900 young people, many of whom may have otherwise spent the summer on the couch or at their computer desk (or worse).

First jobs can be a major challenge. When we asked you about your first job (through a survey in our last newsletter), the only aspects everyone reported liking or loving were location and co-workers. Less popular aspects? Pay (too low!), boss, and rules.  Rules can certainly be tricky, especially when you don't know what to expect.

Luckily, we've designed our Youth Conservation Corps program to provide a supportive but realistic work environment that allows for second chances and encourages growth.  By the end of the summer, the job trainees not only know what it means to be good workers, but they also know how to show their employer that they are good workers. Like by coming in on time, completing tasks in an efficient way, helping their co-workers, working well as a team, and showing initiative.

The youth aren't the only ones who benefit from the program; the entire community benefits. Our public spaces get sturdy new retaining walls. Our parks get safer access up and down hillsides in the form of well-made, attractive staircases. Our community-serving organizations, like schools and libraries, get an extra set of hands for data entry and filing. (Those are a just a couple of examples of the dozens and dozens of projects our job trainees will complete this summer.) And we community members get to enjoy all these great amenities and services.

Green Futures spring planting season a success!

On June 5, Tree Trust wrapped up a successful spring of Green Futures plantings. St. Paul received 60 new, properly planted trees in Cherokee Park, where a large percentage of the mature trees are ash and will likely succumb to emerald ash borer - a destructive, wood-boring beetle - in the not-too-distant future. And Minnetrista will reap the benefits of 120 new trees in the City's brand new and no-longer-barren Lisle Park.

This year, our spring Green Futures plantings were especially meaningful for Tree Trust. Our dear friend and CEO, Dave Hawes, passed away in February after a battle with cancer, and the majority of the trees we planted in Minnetrista and St. Paul were donated in his memory. Many of his family were there to help plant the trees; his daughter even shared some memories of her father's life-long commitment to forestry and to Tree Trust. We're proud to have been able to honor him in this special, meaningful way.

Our thanks to recent funders

Tree Trust thanks our most recent funders for their support:

Allina Health Systems
American Legion Post 424 - Inver Grove Heights
The Bloomington Community Foundation
Bloomington Lions Club
CenterPoint Energy
Connexus Energy
East Central Energy
Ecolab Foundation
Fiber Artisans Guild
Lillian Wright & C. Emil Berglund Foundation
The McKnight Foundation
OptumHealth
The Pentair Foundation
Quadion Foundation
RBC Foundation - USA
Rosemount Lions Club
City of Rosemount - SKB Environmental Trust Fund
Target Foundation
TruStone Financial

Thank you for supporting our programs!

Celebrate Earth Day's birthday with trees for the Twin Cities

April 22, 2010 will be the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, started in 1970 by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as a grassroots movement to raise awareness about the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been working on separate environmental issues - from pollution and oil spills to the extinction of wildlife - came together around a common cause and began the modern environmental movement.

In celebration of Earth Day's birthday, we hope you'll come together around our common environmental cause: trees for the Twin Cities. Whether you volunteer, donate, or spread the word, your support makes our community that much greener.

Here's what we're doing to help the environment this spring, along with tips for how you can help.

Dave Hawes

Thirty-two years ago Dave Hawes was a young forester excitedly starting his first day with Tree Trust. The work was harder than he thought it would be. The kids he was teaching to plant trees and build bridges sometimes seemed more interested in socializing than working. Many of his projects were deep in the woods and he and his crew would spend as much time swatting mosquitoes as they did busting buckthorn. Other times their project would be right on schedule and Mother Nature would throw a wrench in their plan.

But he was happy. He was doing two of the things he loved most – making the Twin Cities a little greener and helping people make their lives a little better. And for the next 32 years Dave dedicated himself to Tree Trust and continued to do just that.

In his time with us Dave moved from leading crews of young people to managing the agency’s expanding operations and creating our for-profit venture, Landscape Services, in order to help sustain Tree Trust in future years.

In 2007, Dave became our Chief Executive Officer. Blending his respect for the history of Tree Trust with his passion for new ideas, the agency’s programming continued to grow. And in 2008 he launched our Green Futures initiative and paved the way for Tree Trust to play an even bigger role in improving lives and landscapes throughout the Twin Cities.

Over the years Dave could have explored other career opportunities that might have provided him with a more consistent schedule, more notoriety and perhaps even more money. But, he was one of those rare people who actually loved going to work each day. Dave truly loved Tree Trust.

Earlier this year our dear friend passed away after a brave eight-month battle with cancer.

While Dave’s formal education was in forestry, we will remember him for his heart and passion for people. We are forever grateful for what he’s done for Tree Trust and the community, and we miss him dearly.

Thank you to our recent funders!

Tree Trust recently received grant funding for our 2010 programs from a number of corporations and foundations, including:

Baker Foundation
Cargill
CenterPoint Energy
East Central Energy
Nash Foundation
Private Bank of Minnesota
Smikis Foundation
Tennant Foundation

Thank you for your support!

What you can do for the Twin Cities

In the Twin Cities, thousands of trees are lost each year to storms, pests, and disease. Thousands of young people face barriers to success in work and in life. And thousands of youth grow up without ever experiencing a connection with the natural world.

Luckily for the Twin Cities, people like you take action and work with Tree Trust to solve these problems. In the process, we enrich our own lives.

In the October issue of Community Ties, we asked you to tell us how getting involved with Tree Trust has impacted your life. Here are just a few of the great responses we received:

A Great Volunteer

Giampaolo Malin connected with Tree Trust in April this year, and since then he has volunteered more hours than any other individual in 2009. He has an inspiring commitment to the environment and to an overall ethic of civic responsibility, and we at Tree Trust are so grateful for his hard work and dedication.

Winterizing our community trees

We encourage you to invest in the health of your own trees by following a few simple winterizing tips and to invest in the health of our community forest by donating to Tree Trust.

Our community forestry manager, Karen Zumach, prescribes this treatment for the trees we plant and maintain along the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority trail system (the Midtown Greenway and beyond) and suggests that you follow the same regimen in your own yard:

Trees aren’t a trend

There are over eight million hits on Google for the phrase “go green.” From the countless top-ten lists to the carbon footprint calculators to the articles on the dangers of nail polish, it’s safe to say that the world has green on the brain.

It seems like every company is trying to market its products as the latest and greatest green thing. Clearly, someone got the memo that green sells. But we at Tree Trust would like to reintroduce the ultimate green product, one that has been around since before the concept of going green was even a twinkle in someone’s eye. One that is not trendy, but timeless. Of course, it’s the mighty tree.

Building projects for a better outdoors

To find Tree Trust at work in your community, just step out of the house. Take a walk in the park to see a crew of eight youth constructing a much-needed staircase. Visit your local library to see one of our job trainees stocking shelves. Take a ride in Minneapolis to see a crew building a house for a low-income family.

Tree Trust’s employment training programs blend lives and landscapes together, and the concoction we create benefits the entire community in so many ways.

Young people overcome obstacles in their lives, experience success and develop pride in their abilities. Local businesses, nonprofits and community-serving agencies get to draw from an experienced workforce of young people who already know the basics, from the importance of getting to work on time to the value of a strong work ethic. And our parks and recreation areas get a facelift with real environmental benefits.

Jordan neighbors turn site of weeds, violence into community garden

"You couldn't even tell it was a garden," said crew leader Cortland Johnson as he and his crew loaded bag after bag into a truck bed. "Just looked like nothin' but weeds."

The Young Adult Conservation Corps crew spent three days on the corner of 26th and Knox Avenues North in Minneapolis whipping, pulling, raking and bagging weeds, tilling the densely compacted soil, laying down mulch and getting everything ready for the neighborhood to re-plant the Jordon Community Garden.

This corner lot has a history worse than weeds. On August 22, 2002, a riot broke out after police accidentally shot a boy during a botched drug raid at the adjacent property.

Community invests in Spring Park's green future

Over 60 volunteers planted 165 trees along the Dakota Trail on Saturday, May 16, 2009 to transform the area into a family-friendly green space and improve the environment.

Tree Trust organized the planting as part of our Green Futures initiative, which turns charitable donations into trees. With the help of a dollar-for-dollar match from a local foundation, Tree Trust launched Green Futures to plant 5,000 trees in parks and neighborhoods throughout the Twin Cities metro area over the next five years.