A Message from Leadership
On behalf of the Tree Trust board of directors and staff, we proudly share our 2020 Annual Report. We hope this letter finds you and your loved ones healthy and safe.
We will remember the challenges of 2020 for generations to come: a global pandemic, school closures, working remotely, and the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. These events illuminated the importance of our mission and the need to create positive momentum in our community and environment.
To ensure each of our 274 participants could achieve their career and educational goals, Tree Trust quickly adapted our programs and services. We delivered new methods of support, teaching, and training, and addressed logistical hurdles by reducing crew sizes and increasing our number of transportation vehicles. Most importantly, we maintained safe social distancing and provided our participants with new technology tools to stay connected.
Our Landscape Services division developed contactless practices to estimate work and provide exemplary service to customers. Moreover, we continue to lead in the tree care industry by investing in career training through registered apprenticeship.
Together with staff and volunteers, our Community Forestry programs expanded their impact by planting over 4,000 trees. We held our first-ever tree distribution in St. Paul, safely welcomed volunteers back to community planting events with COVID-19 guidelines in place, and provided a positive and inspiring tree planting experience for over 150 volunteers.
Tree Trust developed new mission and vision statements in 2020 and defined core focus areas to guide our work to help us meet the changing needs of the community. New Career Pathways training programs, aligned with Tree Trust’s Community Forestry and Landscape Services, were launched to make skilled trade, green industry, and arboriculture careers accessible to young people who otherwise may not learn about these family-sustaining wage opportunities.
The 2020 Tree Trust Annual Report illustrates what can be achieved through resilience, generosity, shared vision, and commitment. We believe you will find encouragement and inspiration in the following pages.
Thank you to our donors, partners, volunteers, board, and staff for joining us in this life-changing work. As we look forward to 2021, we will build on the success of the past year and press on towards our goal of transforming lives and landscapes. Together, we will continue to make a difference.
Sincerely,
Jared Smith S. Michael Huntington
Executive Director | CEO Board Chair
For 45 years, Tree Trust has worked to solve two persistent problems: unemployment and the devastation of the urban tree canopy. To solve these pressing issues, we help promising young people build sustainable careers and plant trees for a resilient and healthy planet. We provide career training because we think people deserve the opportunity to build meaningful careers. We plant trees because we believe a vibrant urban tree canopy is essential to a healthy planet.
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