#treekeepers

Treekeepers: The Race for a Forested Future

I grew up in North Philadelphia, at the intersection of 23rd & Diamond, in what most would call the projects. Growing up, I was more excited about drug dealing, money, and cars than finding a positive path for my life to follow. Fighting, stealing, and illegal activity took over my life, and I quickly found myself in prison. After my release in 2009, I knew I had to make a change for the positive, not only for myself but also my family, and refocused my goals to that of success.

In 2013, a friend from the neighborhood asked if I would be interested in working in tree care services. I initially said “no” because I didn’t know anything about taking care of trees or the skills required to work in the field, but my friend encouraged me to take advantage of an open opportunity to gain steady employment while learning new skills at the same time. The next thing you know, I’m in a tool training class with the crew, and I’ve been here ever since.

As TreeKeepers, we just care. We meet different people, we learn different things, and we do our best to clean up Philadelphia parks and recreation centers so communities can enjoy them again. Our crew is able to enter neighborhoods throughout the city and work quickly to create clean, safe, and welcoming spaces for the surrounding community. It is a point of pride when people who had never used the space before due to overgrowth or negative activity can reclaim the space as their own and utilize it for good.

I’ve grown a lot since my first job at 52nd & Parkside at Parkside Evans Recreation Center. I have continued to invest in myself by taking new classes, learning new skills, and interacting not only with my crew but people throughout the different communities in which we work. For me, TreeKeepers opened a door to better communicate with people and created an opportunity for me to meet more forward-thinking individuals while advancing on my own journey to become a better person. I would love to see the TreeKeepers program grow, and I would love to grow with it.

TreeKeepers created an opportunity for me to help myself by helping others, and I now work to extend the same hand to those I see going down the same negative path I had before ending up in prison. I often hear people say, “I can’t do this. I can’t do that,” but you can. My work with TreeKeepers has taught me that when we work together, we struggle together, but we also grow together; a message that I think needs to be shared with youth throughout the city.

In my future with TreeKeepers, I would love to see the program connect with more youth, creating opportunities for them to establish working relationships, goals, and better communication skills. By creating these positive opportunities at a younger age, we can create a stronger community from the ground up. I was lucky to have been given an opportunity to learn new skills and succeed. Now I’m focused on heading to the top, and I want to take them with me!