Job Corps Students Green it Up

On May 3rd, Job Corp students joined forces at the Green It Up event in the Central Neighborhood. Burten, Bell, Carr Development Inc. and the Western Reserve Land Conservancy teamed up to co-pilot a tree planting in one of the neighborhoods that Burten, Bell, Carr Development, Inc. has worked to develop. One of the pieces missing in the design aspect of the neighborhood were street trees. These trees not only help to beautify the area, but also help to deter crime and lower household energy bills. Keep Ohio Beautiful received a grant to plant the trees within the neighborhood to fix this issue, with the project moving forward through the approval of the Department of Agriculture Forest Service. The trees were obtained from Davey Tree Resource Group, who not only helped to plant the trees, but to also teach others the proper way to plant trees and how to care for them. To top off the newly planted trees and to beautify surrounding homes, Kurtz Bros., Inc. donated mulch and topsoil for the event. While it is great to plant trees and volunteer to do so, it is even better to know a bit about planting. Holden Arboretum spent part of the day educating the group about what trees are currently in the neighborhood and those that were just planted, as well as why different species of trees are planted instead of just one. Overall, it was a great day and we truly appreciate all of the work and partnerships that went into making the day a success. After the initial start of this project, the City of Cleveland determined that the Central neighborhood in which we worked has one of the lowest tree canopies throughout the entire city. They have committed to plant an additional 250 trees over the next few years. We are very excited that Job Corp could be a part of the event and look forward to many other partnerships in the future!