Program areas at Texas Trees Foundation
In partnership with government, individuals, businesses and other community organizations, the Foundation initiates actions to achieve the following goals:(i) to enhance the beauty and beneficial use of public lands and right-of-ways, primarily by planting Trees to expand, maintain and protect the permanence of the "urban forest." (ii) to teach people of all ages to be good stewards of one of our most important natural resources - our Trees - in order to enhance the quality of life in our community today and for generations to come. (iii) to revitalize our existing parks and create new, safe, well-maintained public parks and recreation areas.
The southwestern medical district (swmd) streetscape and park projects are a public-private partnership between the Texas Trees Foundation, swmd, city of dallas, north central Texas council of governments, dallas county, and numerous private foundations and individuals. The projects will restore the environment to leverage the human health benefits of nature in an urban environment. Additionally, the project will create a campus experience that improves the quality of life for the district's 45,000 staff and 5 million visitors/patients by increasing community safety and offering an accessible multi-modal network that accommodates connectivity.
The cool schools program connects students and teachers to nature by planting Trees and creating fun and engaging outdoor experimental learning and play areas, which cultivate children's knowledge and awareness of the natural environment as well as promoting hands-on, outdoor environmental activities with steam-based urban forestry curriculum, so no child is left inside! The program goals for each school include increasing tree canopy coverage to at least 30 percent to reduce the urban heat island effect, supplying teachers with resources to educate students on urban forestry and environmental issues, and providing outdoor classrooms and amenities to encourage outdoor learning and play.
The green jobs workforce program offers a paid work experience for disadvantaged young adults, approximately 18-24 years of age. Students of the program are introduced to urban forestry, arboriculture, landscape design, and other green careers through classroom and hands-on training. Hands-on training consists of tree-planting projects and tree maintenance projects ranging from mulching, pruning, staking, watering, and weeding. Enrollees of the green jobs workforce program, upon completion, receive an osha-10 certification, cpr + first-aid training, and a green jobs training certificate from Texas Trees Foundation.