How We Started
TreesDurham started in 2016 with on the back porch of Cavett French, with a small group of people drinking iced tea and trying to figure out how to address what we saw as very terrible tree pruning and many trees being removed under powerlines. Multiple cities had unsuccessfully sued to stopped it, and we wanted to take a different approach, one of collaboration.
At the same time, at Duke University was publishing research showing that in Durham, trees were distributed along racial lines, with white communities living in the cool shade and communities of color hot and treeless. These inequities followed a distinct pattern, reflecting the racist redlining districts created in the 1930s, creating a racially inequitable tree distribution for Durham.
We believe everyone deserves healthy trees, and the best way to get there is through collaborative, community based problem solving. So we built partnerships. We worked with Keep Durham Beautiful, and Durham City to identify where trees needed to be planted. Then, Duke Energy then granted TreesDurham and Keep Durham Beautiful us with $200,000 to help plant trees in formally redlined areas, and take the first large step towards racial equity in tree canopy for Durham.
Since that beginning, TreesDurham has formed into a 501-C3 environmental justice non-profit, focused on community engagement and data based action. We work to create a green Durham, where everyone has access to trees and the health, wealth and happiness they bring.
Below is a brief listing of some of our many accomplishments over the past five years.
At the same time, at Duke University was publishing research showing that in Durham, trees were distributed along racial lines, with white communities living in the cool shade and communities of color hot and treeless. These inequities followed a distinct pattern, reflecting the racist redlining districts created in the 1930s, creating a racially inequitable tree distribution for Durham.
We believe everyone deserves healthy trees, and the best way to get there is through collaborative, community based problem solving. So we built partnerships. We worked with Keep Durham Beautiful, and Durham City to identify where trees needed to be planted. Then, Duke Energy then granted TreesDurham and Keep Durham Beautiful us with $200,000 to help plant trees in formally redlined areas, and take the first large step towards racial equity in tree canopy for Durham.
Since that beginning, TreesDurham has formed into a 501-C3 environmental justice non-profit, focused on community engagement and data based action. We work to create a green Durham, where everyone has access to trees and the health, wealth and happiness they bring.
Below is a brief listing of some of our many accomplishments over the past five years.