Residents Regreen Chicago

“The tree canopy was very, very low, especially along the commercial routes,” says Nubia Willman, chief programs officer for Latinos Progresando, a nonprofit serving the communities of Marshall Square. “You have all these diesel trucks generating additional pollution, but very little nature to mitigate that. That really propelled the need, especially in regard to air quality, to increase the tree canopy and green spaces in the area.”

As part of Latinos Progresando’s mission to support and empower the communities of Marshall Square, they partnered with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in 2018 on a variety of regreening and environmental projects, including air quality monitoring, tree planting and a schoolyard transformation project that provided a thriving greenspace for kids and neighbors. 

“A crucial part of TNC’s mission is helping communities like Marshall Square become more resilient to climate change impacts, and that work is made possible by partnerships with local groups like Latinos Progresando,” says Joel Zavala, director of community partnership and engagement for TNC in Illinois. “These communities are facing multiple environmental burdens, more so than others, so these locally led regreening efforts carry a lot of impact.”

Community rallies for more trees, better breathing

Wander through many neighborhoods in Chicago, and you’ll be surrounded by towering honey locusts, leafy swamp white oaks and dreamy Great Wall lilacs. But not in Marshall Square, where the tree canopy coverage only averaged 15 to 18 percent, far below the region’s average of 23 percent.  

The lack of trees isn’t merely an aesthetic issue—trees provide many important services to communities, such as intercepting stormwater, which can help mitigate flood risk. Their shade also helps alleviate the “heat island effect” where asphalt surfaces absorb and radiate more heat, which can negatively impact human health.

Most important for the residents of Marshall Square, trees can help improve air quality by capturing particulate matter, a pollution that arises from the burning of fossil fuels that can be densest in areas near highways and factories. This type of pollution is particularly harmful to people and can lead to respiratory illnesses and other health conditions. 

In addition, Latinos Progresando and TNC secured a Tree Ambassador Grant from the Chicago Region Tree Initiative, which will ensure that 100 more trees are planted in the community over the next two years. 

“It’s so important to amplify the voices of the small business owner and the local students and the residents and everyone else who is a part of the community, because they’re the ones experiencing the impact and effect of policies,” Nubia says. “Many residents had never engaged with elected officials in this way, so it was really rewarding to see them empowered and secure enough to say, 'We want this resource for our community,' and then have it be successful. What was literally a barren corridor is now full of trees that will be here for decades to come.”

Latinos Progresando also hosted a stewardship course through Openlands, where local community members learned how to prune and care for the trees. 

“For a lot of our tree keepers, it really adds this feeling of accountability and connection to the community,” Nubia says.  “You're living here, and you’re helping care for this shared space, this shared resource.”

Green spaces for community wellbeing 

Every spring, monarch butterflies leave their mountain forest homes in Mexico and travel thousands of miles to their summer habitats throughout the United States and Canada. For some with Mexican heritage, this remarkable migration is symbolically powerful. In a way, it can be a reminder of their own family’s journey, but for others, like Joel, it can represent a direct connection to their heritage. 

“I grew up in Little Village, not far from Marshall Square, and like other children of immigrants, when I go back to where my parents grew up in Mexico, I’m reminded of how much we were connected with our landscapes and our food,” Joel says. “Then, when I come back to my neighborhood in Chicago, the built environment can make it feel as if I'm a lot less connected to it. Increasing our access to nature by providing more greenspace helps restore some of that connection."

In partnership with TNC and the Marshall Square Resource Network, a coalition of more than 60 neighborhood and city-wide partners, Latinos Progresando led an effort to improve the walkability and safety of California Avenue, one of the largest streets in the area, by turning the blacktop of Hammond Elementary school into a shared, healthy greenspace. 

“At the time, the schoolyard was an empty concrete slab,” Nubia says. “There was no place to sit. There was no place for shade. There was maybe one basketball hoop.”

Plans for the schoolyard restoration project were developed through a robust community engagement process that included focus groups, neighborhood surveys and design workshops with the school’s staff and students. 

“We really want to empower the community to feel a lot of pride and accomplishment in contributing to their space,” Nubia says. “Nature is a huge part of social and emotional learning, but spaces like this are more important than just the services they provide. We want to support the dignity of the community by creating a really aesthetically pleasing environment for everyone to enjoy.”

Vibrant pollinator gardens full of native plants were installed throughout the yard, as well as natural seating areas, playgrounds and sports equipment, and a mural created by local artists, all of which support social and emotional benefits for students. After the school day is over, the yard is opened to the public and serves as a neighborhood park. What’s more, similar to the tree keeper program, Latinos Progresando works with TNC to train parents and other volunteers to help care for the gardens. 

“Helping the community re-connect with nature through these kinds of regreening projects is very meaningful to me,” Joel says. “This community very closely resembles my own, so it feels like I'm talking to my neighbors and my aunts and uncles and cousins, and it’s been really inspiring to see how they have embraced these initiatives.”

“Our partnership with TNC has been so valuable because we’re able to connect expertise with the community for the most benefit,” Nubia says. “It’s enabled so much progress, and I hope it inspires more groups to think about how they can bring their synergies together.”

Should you ever visit the Hammond Elementary School greenspace, you should check out the popular milkweed garden—you just might see a monarch butterfly, flitting about and thriving.  

More trees, please!

In cities throughout the Midwest, The Nature Conservancy supports efforts that use nature and natural infrastructure to improve climate resiliency and human health. We often partner with community-based organizations, such as Latinos Progresando, to improve access and reduce barriers to nature-based solutions.

Below are some frequently asked questions and tips on how to support a thriving tree canopy for healthier neighborhoods in Chicago and beyond.