| Green Way L.A. At the dedication of the first “Green Street” in Los Angeles, Oros Street in Elysian Valley, North East Trees announced the launch of a new strategic initiative dubbed “Green Way L.A.”. More Info > Creating Community North East Trees has launched this new Initiative as an integration of its Urban Forestry, Youth Environmental Stewards and Community Stewards Programs. More Info > |
Creating Community One Tree at a Time
North East Trees has launched this new Initiative as an integration of its Urban Forestry, Youth Environmental Stewards and Community Stewards Programs. Its purpose is to develop Youth Stewards and Community Stewards within the various resource poor neighborhoods of Los Angeles who can plant and care for (steward) trees in their respective communities. This would especially apply to communities with higher percentages of At-Risk-Youth that have fewer trees and parks than other communities. The objectives are to:
- Provide meaningful vocational education, training and a path to full time employment within the “Green Industry” for 16-24 year old At-Risk-Youth;
- Provide education and training to develop Community Stewards in these same communities who can better assist with the development and management of neighborhood improvement projects
- Substantially increase the number of healthy trees in these communities; and
- Substantially increase the amount of urban park space in these communities
The youth stewards learn and employ skills in the disciplines of landscape design, arboriculture, watershed rehabilitation and urban forestry. These include such tasks as tree and shrub pruning, tree planting, mulching, exotic plant removal and water quality monitoring. This is a full time program – the students are expected to put in an eight (8) hour day, five (5) days per week over an eight (8) to 10 week period.
The youth stewards who matriculate through the demanding program are awarded a Certificate of Completion. In addition, NET provides job search skill training and assistance in their search for long term employment within the green industry. Recent graduates have signed up for employment with several other local, state and federal agencies.
Goals for 2008 – 2009:
- Deliver 18,000 hours of education and training to 48 Youth Stewards;
- Matriculate 80% of these Stewards into full time jobs;
- Distribute up to 15,000 – 5 gallon trees at Community Tree Adoption Events;
- Plant up to 15,000 – 15 gallon trees in parks, streets and other public spaces
