Madison Park

In April, we nominated Madison Park to the City for their NeighborWoods program, which is a citywide program to help restore the tree canopy in the City.  Around Memorial Day, we were notified that we have been selected by the City to be eligible for a Tree Store, the smaller of the two NeighborWoods programs.  We’ve made it to step 2 in the process, but we have several more steps to go.  Now we have to submit for a competitive grant with the city in just under a month.  If we’re selected, we will get roughly 50-100 trees to plant in the neighborhood to help fill in the tree canopy we have.

TreeStore events are smaller scale events held in single-family neighborhoods with limited volunteers, usually on Friday afternoons or Saturday mornings. Residents are able to choose from a variety of trees, and they receive instructions on where and how to plant, and how to care for trees.

TreesCharlotte delivers trees to a central location, and residents are asked to sign a stewardship pledge indicating their best efforts to maintain and care for the trees they receive. Through the TreeStore program, residents can take their tree home and plant with confidence!

1. * There is NO COST to participate, other than some brainpower to help us write the grant, some elbow grease to plant the trees, and a commitment to maintain them trees that are planted.

1. * We need support from 20% of the neighborhood.  With over 1500 houses in Madison Park, that’s going to be tough.  Please sign up.  Please email me at nggofers@bellsouth.netthe following if you are interested:
   1.   Your name
   2.   Your physical address
   3.   Your email address
   4.   Your phone number
   5.   One sentence that clearly indicates that you are interested in participating (in lieu of getting a signature)

1. * I need 3 people to volunteer to be “Tree Officers”.  I need 2 people to be Tree Stewards and 1 person to be the Community Correspondent.  The roles are as follows:

  Tree Steward: Creates a sense of ownership for the tree canopy amongst neighborhood

  participants and to provide for its continued maintenance. Responsibilities include:

•     Ensure that trees are being watered on a consistent basis,
•     Remind residents of how to properly care for their newly established trees,
•     One (1) Tree Steward is required for every 50 trees planted on individual lots,
•     One (1) additional Tree Steward is required for each common area that receives tree
•     plantings; these Tree Stewards will be responsible for watering tree plantings in the common
•     areas until they are established and in a position to survive on their own.

  Community Correspondent: Responsible for publicizing tree canopy initiatives and soliciting

  community support & participation. Efforts may include the following as needed:

•     Organizing door-to-door campaigns
•     Work with NeighborWoods Program Manager to hold community meetings
•     Utilize social, digital and/or print media to inform neighbors and solicit participation

1. * Types of trees:

We [Trees Charlotte] have developed, in partnership with our tree growers, a list of 40 tree species for NeighborWoods planting projects. The types of trees available for any given planting project varies depending on soil and drainage conditions, as well as availability from inventories. We usually have 3 to 6 different tree species available for NeighborWoods projects.

1. * From my notes in the pre-submittal meeting for this, trees come in a 7-gallon pot and are roughly 2” in diameter.  They aren’t twigs or saplings.

1. * No date for the TreeStore event has been set, but it would probably be in the mid- to late fall of this year.

1. For more info:

http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/nbs/communityengagement/Pages/Energy.aspx#NeighborWoods

http://treescharlotte.org/what-we-do/neighborwoods/

Thanks for your help and participation!

Bueller?  Bueller?  Bueller?

Update on where we are with NeighborWoods:

With 3 weeks left to submit for the grant, we're at 0.4% support, far short of the 20% the City requires.  We also still need volunteers for 2 Tree Stewards or 1 Community Correspondent, all 3 of whom are also required.  Please see my previous post from last week about what the job descriptions of Tree Stewards and the Community Correspondent are.

To give us adequate time to write the grant, please respond via email to me by June 30th at nggofers@bellsouth.net (not just a "like" or a reply here on facebook) that you're interested in participating, and your name, address, and phone number.