PHILADELPHIA – The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society as a recipient of Bank of America and the Arbor Day Foundation’s Community Resilience Grant will hold the organization’s first-ever Spanish language PHS Tree Tenders Workshop on October 20 in Norristown.
Participants in the free workshop will receive training and education on planting and caring for trees and will participate in a hands-on planting and tree care demonstration at the PHS Green Resource Center at Norristown Farm Park.
Local Norristown participants will receive a free container tree to kickstart their interest in planting and caring for trees as newly trained PHS Tree Tenders. The PHS Tree Tenders program is a nationally recognized volunteer-based tree advocacy program consisting of over 6,400 volunteers in 100 neighborhoods throughout the Philadelphia region.
Through this workshop, PHS hopes to engage Norristown’s Spanish-speaking community through tree care training and education. The intensive course will introduce the community to the PHS Tree Tenders program, working with community groups, and pruning trees. Presenters from both PHS and the Philadelphia Orchard Project will be in attendance.
To register for this free training, please email [email protected].
The Community Resilience Grant program enables the design and implementation of projects that utilize trees and other green infrastructure to build resilience in Norristown, which is one of PHS’s priority neighborhoods — an area where programming is systematically delivered to rectify environmental inequity.
PHS has created and implemented a comprehensive strategy of best practices in community engagement including authentically listening to and building relationships with leaders and stakeholders within Norristown’s Black, Latino, and other communities of color, and working systematically to target and develop tree canopy in these communities.
Studies have shown that there is a positive correlation between health and convenient access to natural elements — the more a person is surrounded by greenery, the better their health outcomes may be. Furthermore, a thriving canopy can help mitigate flooding, reduce temperatures to curb the urban heat island effect, improve water quality in critical watershed locations, and filter airborne pollutants in highly industrialized communities.
“At PHS, we believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to connect with nature and experience its benefits. By offering this Spanish-language PHS Tree Tenders workshop and tree giveaway, we’re taking a significant step towards making tree care accessible to all members of the Norristown community. Our goal is to empower residents with the knowledge and resources they need to create a greener, healthier neighborhood for themselves and future generations.This is at the heart of our community engagement work: meeting people where they are and providing the support they need to thrive,” said Matt Rader, president of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.
As of 2019, US Census data shows Norristown’s population is 37.2% Black or African American, 27.9% white (non-Hispanic), 27.1% Hispanic, and 6.4% two or more races. Almost 20% of Norristown’s population lives below the poverty line. According to American Forests’ data, Norristown encompasses many neighborhoods with low tree equity scores. PHS aims to rectify environmental inequity for residents in the Norristown community through empowering residents with the education, tools, and resources needed to plant and care for trees and develop their tree canopy.
“Expanding green spaces and increasing the number of trees in our region brings many benefits to our community,” said Jim Dever, president, Bank of America Greater Philadelphia. “It is critical that we support the work of increasing the natural infrastructure in disadvantaged communities that are impacted by the effects of a changing climate. The Arbor Day Foundation’s program and Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s continued work to expand access by training Spanish speaking tree tenders is important for creating more sustainable and climate-resilient cities.”
For more information on the PHS Tree Tenders program, please visit here.
