YOU HELPED US ACCOMPLISH SO MUCH IN 2024, AND THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO COME!
Connecting everyone to the outdoors in Pennsylvania!
Together, we are not just dreaming of a healthier, more equitable, more climate-resilient future—we are actively building it. Thank you for partnering with us on this journey. Your visionary philanthropy and commitment to our mission are an inspiration.
TPL is addressing some of the most critical problems facing our country, and with your support, our momentum is strong and set to make an impact for decades to come.
Across Pennsylvania, from urban neighborhoods in Philadelphia, Camden, Scranton, and Pittsburgh, to undeveloped landscapes in the Poconos, we are protecting land and creating public spaces to strengthen communities. These parks, trails, schoolyards, and lands give neighbors places to connect and support each other. They empower towns with new assets for economic development, and they give us all critical spaces to be healthy, happy, and in fellowship with one another.
TPL is on a strong path, and we are thrilled to welcome our new President and CEO Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser. She brings a wealth of experience in public policy, philanthropy, the outdoor industry, and community
engagement, making her an ideal leader for TPL’s next chapter. Most recently, she served as President and CEO of Colorado Mountain College. She has served on numerous boards including the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission, Great Outdoors Colorado, and American Rivers. Carrie’s leadership will be instrumental as we amplify our efforts to expand outdoor access through equity, health, climate, and community commitments.
As TPL looks to the future, we remain committed to our vision of a world where every person can connect with the outdoors. We sincerely appreciate your steadfast support and look forward to the work ahead.
With gratitude, Owen Franklin , Vice President Great Lakes Region and Pennsylvania State Director
PHOTO BY ELYSE LEYENBERGER/TPL STAFF
We Grow Camden
At TPL, we believe everyone deserves access to high performing, nature-rich public spaces and pedestrian corridors. Increasingly, these spaces must perform across longer, more intense periods of extreme weather, from heat waves that bring poor air quality and high humidity to the increased risk of flooding.
Fortunately, planting trees is a common sense solution to many of these issues. Trees improve air quality, lower heat, and reduce flooding. Tree canopy enhancements also bring physical and mental health benefits to nearby residents, as well as improved social cohesion and increased safety.
That is why between 2024 and 2028, TPL and our partners will invest $6 million to support urban and community forestry in the City of Camden. That means:
• 1,250+ trees planted in 17 public spaces
• 500+ trees planted in affordable housing communities
• 300+ trees planted in pedestrian corridors
• 30 trees planted at a TPL Community Schoolyard
• 10,000+ trees maintained
• A next-generation, state-approved Community Forestry Management Plan
Over the next five years, we will engage more than 2,500 Camden residents in this process by hosting more than 25 planting and educational events, collecting survey responses, hosting listening sessions, and supporting maintenance workshops.
In addition, residents’ views will directly inform our efforts to develop a Community Forestry Management Plan. This state-approved plan will include best practices to ensure that the thousands of trees we plant, and those still to come, are well-maintained and well-loved by the community. Balancing community input with best-in-class data analysis, we will provide a roadmap for Camden to achieve its forestry goals for climate, health, community, and equity.
In total, TPL will plant more than 2,200 trees in spaces that are located within a 10-minute walk of 90 percent of Camden residents. This work will directly enhance more than 80 percent of Camden’s public space acreage . The transformational impact will be felt for generations to come.
Get involved in this climate-resiliency tree planting effort by donating, volunteering at a planting event, or attending a listening session.
PHOTO BY ELYSE LEYENBERGER/TPL STAFF
Philadelphia Community Schoolyards ®
PHOTO BY OLIN; EVAN MCNAUGHT
In densely developed, older cities like Philadelphia, finding new space to site parks can be difficult. Collectively, public school districts own tens of thousands of acres across the country. But as little as ten percent of America’s schoolyards are open to the public outside of school hours. By transforming schoolyards, we can increase close-to-home access to a quality park for multitudes of Philadelphians.
Since 1996, TPL—alongside countless partners across the country—has helped transform over 300 schoolyards into thriving parks and community spaces that foster learning and exercise, cool surrounding neighborhoods, reduce flooding, and connect people to the outdoors. This is especially important in cities like Philadelphia, where low-income residents have access to 45 percent less park space than high income residents, according to TPL’s 2024 ParkScore® Index.
We have spent the last decade working with students, teachers, and other stakeholders in Philadelphia to address park equity. We have transformed 15 barren
schoolyards into vibrant Community Schoolyards sites that help students thrive and are open to the public after school and on weekends. Typical features include:
• Updated play equipment
• Outdoor learning spaces
• Trees for shade and cooling
• Rain gardens for stormwater management
• Art that reflects the community’s cultural history
• Weather stations and vegetable gardens that enhance science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) learning needs—not to mention fun!
Once a schoolyard opens, TPL supports the school and surrounding community in making the most of their new space. We gather with teachers, students, and neighbors to decide what goals to pursue in their first year. We draw from our resources in areas of physical education and health, outdoor learning, art, and culture to provide workshops and ensure the space will remain well-maintained and loved for years to come.
GROWING THE MOVEMENT
Our work is just getting started. Many of Philadelphia’s public schools still lack inviting green places to play, learn, and connect. Over the next 10 years, we plan to transform another 20 Community Schoolyard sites across the city, expanding access to nature and safe places to gather and play for students and residents alike.
We have identified the first three sites that will be completed by the end of 2026:
• James Logan Elementary School, North Philadelphia
• Overbrook Elementary School, West Philadelphia
• John H. Webster Elementary School, Kensington
Much like our completed schoolyards projects, these locations are in historically disinvested, low-income neighborhoods. According to the School District of Philadelphia’s School Profiles data, the rate of economically disadvantaged schoolchildren is 100 percent for each of these schools. These spaces are vulnerable to heat and flooding and will benefit from design features that provide cooling shade and stormwater management.
Collectively, these new Community Schoolyards will serve more than 900 enrolled students. Residents of all ages and demographics will also use these park spaces outside of school hours; TPL’s ParkServe® data estimates more than 32,600 people will benefit from the additional public park space.
From heat to floods to social connection, schoolyards can make a community more resilient and make students more excited about being outdoors. We look forward to expanding schoolyard projects that will continue to serve families and neighbors across Philadelphia.
JOIN US
To reach our goal of completing three Community Schoolyards by the end of 2026, we must raise an additional $2 million in private funding to match a generous $1 million gift. These funds will support planning, construction, high-quality amenities, and bringing these three schoolyards to fruition.
Scranton Community Schoolyards
TPL’s newest Community Schoolyards program in Pennsylvania is underway in Scranton. Over the next few years, three Community Schoolyards will be created across the city thanks to a rich collaboration with students, residents, local partners, and community groups. In July 2024, TPL broke ground on our first Scranton site at the John F. Kennedy Elementary School.
LOCAL PARTNERS MAKE IT POSSIBLE
Based in the Lackawanna Valley of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Valley In Motion is an organization dedicated to making the region’s communities more vital, vibrant, and connected. Valley In Motion leads projects that increase access to local health and recreation opportunities.
TPL and Valley In Motion joined forces in 2022. Now, thanks to our partnership, the first Scranton Community Schoolyard site is underway, and our participatory design process is advancing at two more locations. We spoke with Valley In Motion President Gus Fahey about their vision for Scranton and partnership with TPL.
As a long-time resident of Scranton, what does community mean to you? What role does this have on your leadership of Valley In Motion?
Between the time I was born and graduated high school, Scranton lost one-fifth of its population, part of a generations-long decline. Many of us felt like we needed to leave to succeed.
It took moving back to Scranton 25 years later to realize we always have a choice to work for community good. It starts with the idea that your community is worth fighting for. We work to inculcate an “I Love Where
I Live” attitude so residents feel like their home is worth their time, energy, and ideas. Working for public good can be a powerful source of meaning in all our lives.
How does this partnership with TPL align with your values and vision for communities in Scranton?
TPL has terrific tools and insights that help us do our work better. For instance, TPL developed the cell phone app that Valley In Motion used for our sidewalk surveys. They took our results and displayed them on a map, adding layers with crash data, tree coverage, and resident income. Our surveys are now used as a policy tool for the City of Scranton to prioritize their sidewalk projects. This partnership greatly improved the effectiveness of what we could have ever done alone.
Why is Scranton an ideal place to create Community Schoolyards?
When I moved back to Scranton, I noticed my kids’ school playgrounds were exactly as I left them: vast swaths of asphalt with a couple basketball hoops. Why no play equipment? The answer was partially economic, a shrinking tax base. But it also felt like a failure of imagination: It was good enough for us, so it’s good enough for our kids. Hell no!
Because Scranton is a small city that still runs on relationships, you can meet all the decision-makers on an issue. People in key leadership positions quickly realized the value of the Community Schoolyards model. Because partners in local government and foundations were enthusiastic and collaborative, we have delivered on TPL’s mission quickly and effectively.
What impact are you most excited to see from a partnership with TPL?
TPL is a high-capacity organization, with kind, helpful, intelligent people. What makes me most excited about this partnership is the opportunity to learn and bring national best practices to our area. By bringing experts in recreation, equity, and climate change to our projects, TPL allows a small organization like Valley In Motion to have an outsized impact on the ideas that shape community action and quality of life.
Photo: Gus Fahey. BY VALLEY IN MOTION
Land Protection
Nestled in the Pocono Mountains, the Town of Weatherly has a big vision for a five-mile trail linking downtown Weatherly with the Delaware & Lehigh (D&L) Trail. The popular and well-loved D&L Trail spans 165-miles from the Lehigh River in the Poconos to the Delaware River in Bristol, Pennsylvania. The Weatherly Trail will connect at Penn Haven Junction, providing scenic views of the Lehigh River and skirting Black Creek, a gorgeous stream. TPL is purchasing 1,140 acres to facilitate trail development and enable public enjoyment of Penn Haven Mountain via foot, bike, or boat.
We are also looking to protect Campbell’s Ledge , just south of Scranton. This mountain offers a 30-mile panoramic view atop a dramatic 700-foot cliff face over the North Branch of the Susquehanna River. For generations, locals have hiked to the scenic overlook and picnicked at the 20-acre lake resting at the top of the mountain. Last year, access to this unique landscape was threatened when the property was listed for sale. The owners, who have generously allowed the public to
recreate on the property for years, signed an agreement of sale to a private investor. When that sale fell through, TPL quickly stepped in to secure an option to purchase the property.
Campbell’s Ledge is not just another pretty place. Its natural features—two streams, a cliff, lake and rare plant and animal species—earned it designation as one of Luzerne County’s Natural Heritage Areas. Years ago, Native Americans used Campbell’s Ledge as a signal rock. Early colonists called it Dial Rock because they could tell time by the shadows on the cliff face. Nearby, archeologists have found traces of Neolithic human habitation estimated to date back 9,000 years.
JOIN US
Donate today to help us raise the $974,000 needed to preserve this special place for generations to come.
Campbells Ledge. PHOTO BY RICH SALA
Mifflin Square Park
Located between 5th and 6th Streets and between Wolf to Ritner Streets in South Philadelphia, Mifflin Square serves as a treasured community hub for more than 13,500 residents. The local community is passionate about renovating Mifflin Square and has been instrumental in advocating for the space.
Recognizing strong local interest in renovating the space, TPL has been working with partners such as SEAMAAC, a local multi-service nonprofit that supports
and serves immigrants, refugees and other marginalized communities, to engage this diverse community in ensuring the park’s redesign is reflective of the residents it will serve.
The first phase of the park renovation, set to begin in late summer 2024, will include two new playgrounds, a splash pad, redesigned pathways, shady seating areas, and improved safety amenities. We can’t wait to cut the ribbon at Mifflin Square in 2025!
Help ensure everyone has access to the outdoors. Every park we create, schoolyard we transform, trail we extend, and landscape we protect is thanks to supporters like you.
tpl.org/donate/pa
Franklin Vice President, Great Lakes Region owen.franklin@tpl.org
Region
COVER PHOTOS BY: ELYSE LEYENBERGER/TPL STAFF, BACK COVER PHOTO BY: ADAIR RUTLEDGE