Partnerships

The GGCP is a wide-reaching collaboration, to plant trees and provide Environmental Justice. This effort, just like the trees we plant, starts from the ground up. The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) supplies grant funding to local non-profit partners, to support the GGCP through outreach, education and community engagement. Our partners encourage residents of the designated planting zones to participate in the program, and communicate the benefits of trees to a wide and diverse audience.

The competitive grant process occurs every fiscal year. The current partner organizations for the GGCP are:

Chicopee Partners:

Valley Opportunity Council

Valley Opportunity Council (VOC) is a non-profit Community Action Agency that serves the greater Hampden County area. We provide a number of supports including: Fuel Assistance, Child Care, Housing, Homeless and Supportive Housing and Services, WIC programming, Adult Education and Career Pathways, College and Career Readiness, Financial Literacy, Rental Assistance, and Senior Services. The communities that we live and work in- the businesses, our neighbors, our neighborhoods, are important to us. This has also led to a partnership with Greening the Gateway Cities and the Department of Conservation and Recreation. We are excited to be part of the positive growth and development of our community in every way. This includes planting trees to increase the livability, decrease utility costs, and increase the beauty of our community, to name a few of the benefits.

Fall River Partners:

Fall River Street Tree Planting Program FRSTPP

Incorporated as a non-profit in 2000, the FRSTPP is a citizen volunteer group which believes in the importance of an urban tree canopy in a city rich with natural resources. In the last twenty years, volunteer Tree Stewards have planted more than 2,000 trees and forged relationships with committed municipal leaders. As a result of the city’s inclusion in the Greening the Gateway Cities Program since 2015, neighborhoods in Fall River are reaping the benefits of additional tree plantings and educational programs. While awaiting the formation of a citywide Tree Commission for care and pruning, we continue to cultivate our own Tree Farm and new outreach initiatives, and to develop our vision of a sustainable program in collaboration with city and community partners. Please join us! www.frstpp.org

Fitchburg Partners:

Growing Places

Growing Places (GP) is a nonprofit serving North Central Massachusetts (NCMA) since 2001 that seeks to improve the health of our region through an equitable, just local food system and sustainable environment. Our volunteer-driven organization is rooted in our history of providing backyard vegetable gardens to empower residents to supply their own healthy food and improve their well-being, but we have expanded in response to community need. Today, we work to create long-term, sustainable changes in our community – changes focused on increasing fresh food access and environmental sustainability through programs such as our community gardens, mobile market, farmers markets, CSA program, HEAL Winchendon food system rebuilding initiative, and outreach for Greening the Gateway Cities tree canopy program.

Lawrence Partners:

Groundwork Lawrence

Groundwork Lawrence (GWL) has been making change happen since its beginnings in 1999. Through its environmental and open space improvements, healthy food access programs, youth education, employment initiatives, community programming and events, GWL creates the building blocks of a healthy community, and empowers residents to improve their quality of life. GWL is committed to “changing places, changing lives, and changing systems” through on-the-ground projects that help to transform local communities. To accomplish this, GWL leads and supports a variety of partnership-driven efforts that bring together the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to solve complex environmental and health problems and sustain a long-term vision for neighborhood change and renewal. In 2007, GWL launched its own Green Streets urban forestry program and, since 2016, has proudly partnered with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Greening the Gateway Cities to plant 2800 trees in Lawrence and support outreach efforts in the neighboring city of Haverhill. GWL houses all aspects of this urban forestry effort under one roof, providing outreach and engagement, tree selection and planning, and tree planting, all conducted by GWL staff, making Lawrence unique among Greening the Gateway Cities communities. You can learn more by visiting www.groundworklawrence.org.

         

Leominster Partners:

Growing Places

Growing Places (GP) is a nonprofit serving North Central Massachusetts (NCMA) since 2001 that seeks to improve the health of our region through an equitable, just local food system and sustainable environment. Our volunteer-driven organization is rooted in our history of providing backyard vegetable gardens to empower residents to supply their own healthy food and improve their well-being, but we have expanded in response to community need. Today, we work to create long-term, sustainable changes in our community – changes focused on increasing fresh food access and environmental sustainability through programs such as our community gardens, mobile market, farmers markets, CSA program, HEAL Winchendon food system rebuilding initiative, and outreach for Greening the Gateway Cities tree canopy program.

Lowell Partners:

Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust

LP&CT was founded in 1990 by residents with a vision to protect the natural resources upon which the city of Lowell was built. LP&CT provides conservation leadership and programs which focus on four major areas: land protection, stewardship, environmental education, and special places. Since 1995, we have planted thousands of trees throughout Lowell in partnership with the city and a variety of other agencies. We’re excited that GGCP will provide the resources we need to engage residents to help us dramatically increase our impact on Lowell’s urban canopy.

         

Salem Partners:

Salem Sound Coastwatch

Salem Sound Coastwatch is a coastal watershed non-profit that promotes environmental awareness and stewardship through partnerships with residents, municipalities, state and federal agencies, and other NGOs. Salem Sound Coastwatch is excited to be working the City of Salem, DCR and the Greening Gateway City Program. Leading the way to a healthier sea and shore for over 30 years, Salem Sound Coastwatch mobilizes volunteer efforts that engage people with their environment to make local change happen. Here are some of the ways this is accomplished: • Promoting environmentally friendly landscaping practices that reduce stormwater runoff while conserving water and reducing chemicals • Focusing efforts on greening urban spaces and increasing urban tree canopy by promoting more trees and better tree maintenance • Connecting youth, educators and community members to their local watershed, coastal and ocean ecosystems through hands-on, place-based learning to build greater engagement with nature and science • Working to increase community resilience to climate change through education, adaptive planning and local actions.

         

Springfield Partners:

ReGreen Springfield

Through our tree advocacy efforts, ReGreen Springfield has collaborated with businesses, community organizations, educational partners and government agencies to promote the reforestation of Springfield, improve growing conditions for trees and engage new allies in tree care and monitoring, education and citizen science. We realize that the strength of our city is found in the neighborhoods. The Greening the Gateway Program is one of our most important neighborhood engagement and greening programs. With this as the foundation for our work, we have embarked on an effort to ‘regreen’ the city… one tree at at time.