TreePeople
What comes to mind when you think of South LA? Endless stretches of treeless streets sealed in sizzling pavement? Imagine if we could convert concrete to canopy one block, one person, one tree at a time. Our climate reality has left frontline communities vulnerable to devastating impacts– like crippling heat and harmful floods. Inglewood and…
A sustainable future is in reach, but to get there we must plant the seeds of change in our youth today. This is why TreePeople has always invested in schools. LA is one of the most wasteful cities in the country. But we know we can be better– through empowering kids to take action on…
Yesterday, the LA County Board of Supervisors awarded TreePeople $1.2 million to pilot an innovative approach to home rainwater capture projects in unincorporated areas of LA County, with a focus on underserved communities. The project will help protect vulnerable communities from flooding, contribute toward our region’s water supply, improve water quality and offer water storage…
Nothing inspires me more than seeing people come together to make change. Over the past couple months, TreePeople has worked to restore the Pacoima Wash with the help of our volunteers and the City of San Fernando. When we started, the area was overgrown with weeds and littered with trash, but after just a couple…
Over the next 30 years, the City of Los Angeles plans to spend $1.4 billion dollars to make our sidewalks more accessible in response to a lawsuit brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Far too many Angelenos struggle just to move around our city. Our broken sidewalks present some of the biggest obstacles for…
The Friday after Election Day, I traveled to Standing Rock with my mom and TreePeople Board Chair, Ira Ziering, to join our water protector brothers and sisters in North Dakota in defense of water, people and planet. As soon as we arrived at the wintry camp, our spirits were lifted by the strength, peace and…
Fired up? Ready to go! Last weekend, I marched through the streets of Los Angeles with my mom, TreePeople Founder Andy Lipkis and 750,000 beautiful people ready to stand up for an inclusive society that cares for our communities and our planet as the precious resources that they are. I’ve spent my whole life…
Five years of drought has ravaged our urban forests and surrounding mountains. We’ve seen hundreds of millions of trees die in the Sierras and a massive hit delivered to our park and street trees– leaving our most vulnerable and differently-abled communities at the mercy of the sweltering heat. This year, TreePeople will move forward on…
The intense winter rains of 2016-2017 may mean relief from the drought for Northern California, but here in Southern California we’re not out of the woods yet. Our new climate reality promises one thing: weather extremes. Our water supplies are unpredictable for us and our trees. Years of drought that kill off our trees by…
Inauguration Day. First order of business. Delete the Climate Change page on the White House website and remove any mention of “global warming.” The new administration may want to stick its head in the sand, but we know the way forward is to invest in our future– in our kids. Engaging youth has a multiplier…
When was the last time you took a walk through nature to restore balance and reconnect with your purpose in life? TreePeople’s 45-acre Coldwater Canyon Park perched atop the Santa Monica Mountains offers trails and breathtaking panoramas the San Fernando Valley and beyond to the Verdugo Mountains that cradle it. Thousands of people walk our…
Incoming political leaders have shaken our nation and left many people in fear for their families, their livelihoods, and the environment. In recent weeks, we have seen a frightening trend in appointing climate deniers to cabinet positions. I’m choosing to take my fear and turn it into action. Los Angeles’ tree story is not a…