Putting Down Roots

Affordable housing development receives trees with help from the Arbor Day Foundation

The neighborhood of Creekside, located in Greenville, South Carolina, is every bit the suburban dream. Beautiful new homes line the streets. Neighbors, ranging from seniors to young families, know each other by name.

“When I need somebody to watch the kids, Miss Sue watches the kids. When she needs help, we help her move furniture,” said Kelly Boyd, a Creekside resident of seven years.

“Whenever we need anything, they’re here. They kind of check on the house when we're away on vacation. When we delivered our youngest, they came over with gifts,” said Brittany LeGroon, who lives in the neighborhood with her husband and four children.

The only thing missing, as of last year, were trees.

As an affordable housing development, Creekside was built in 2008 with the help of federal and local grants. But that investment didn’t extend to green space. For nearly 15 years, many homeowners have had no trees at all, something that is particularly noticeable in South Carolina.

“My kids play outside a lot, and there’s no shade. It’s super hot in the summer,” Kelly said.

That all changed on October 15, 2022, when Kelly, Brittany, and hundreds of other Creekside residents and volunteers came together to plant 128 trees across their community.

More Than Just Trees

Creekside’s planting day was organized by the Greenville County Redevelopment Authority and TreesUpstate — a local nonprofit with a focus on bringing trees to low-to-moderate income areas. The nonprofit has been active in the Greenville community since 2005, and they’ve had big ambitions to grow their impact. But like many planting organizations, they’ve been held back by a lack of resources and staff.

Then, in 2021, TreesUpstate received a $100,000 environmental equity grant from the Arbor Day Foundation. Because of the grant, the nonprofit was able to hire a new outreach and engagement manager, Evangeline Costa. She’s been the driving force behind the Creekside event and others like it.

“Projects in neighborhoods — they take a lot of extra effort. You're having a lot more conversations. You're meeting with a lot more people. And you really want to take the time to make sure that you are understanding and meeting that community’s vision,” said Kylie Stackis, program director at TreesUpstate.

“Even though we’ve slowly grown our staff over the years, until Evangeline came on board with us in March through a grant from the Arbor Day Foundation, we really didn’t have the capacity to do this scale of project.”

The project took six months to plan. After hosting an initial community meeting, Evangeline went door to door to chat with residents about their questions and concerns. Residents who signed up for a tree then received a 30-minute site visit to go over their species options.

Maria Santiago was excited to pick out her favorite tree — a magnolia — for her front yard. “The smell of the flower — it’s great,” she said. After growing up in Puerto Rico, she’s missed the abundance of plants back home.

“Nature is very important for everyone. Trees give us new life, new oxygen. We can hear the birds singing … I think when they grow, we’re going to have a lot of kids playing around them,” Maria said.

Brittany and her husband, Marcal, planted four trees — one for each of their children.

“We never considered trees until the offer recently. And just learning more and doing all the research and knowing that trees may help with the shade and with the heating and air conditioning, it’s just amazing,” Brittany said.

And Kelly is excited for her yard to feel more whole.

“More than shade … I think it makes it look more like home. I’ve been here seven years and I haven’t really got to add any personal touches on the outside,” she said.

There were a lot of long nights spent in preparation for the event, as Evangeline tells it. But she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I knew we would deliver on installing trees, bringing a community together, and providing much-needed shade,” Evangeline said. “What I didn’t expect was the outpouring of love, energy, and level of excitement.”

In Creekside that day, the trees stood for something much greater than meets the eye. For homeowners, they symbolized community. Prosperity. And a new beginning.