Tree Potting at the Nursery : Vlog 1

This week marks the start of our weekly vlog series! Through these vlogs, we hope to provide a little glimpse into our work at Our City Forest. But first, a little bit about us: we are HEVI, a student-led nonprofit dedicated to addressing the housing crisis while promoting environmental sustainability.

The Bay Area is ranked among the worst in the United States for its lack of affordable housing. In areas like Santa Clara County, the homelessness rate has increased by 24% in the last two years. At HEVI, we believe that to tackle homelessness, we need to do more than just providing shelter. Instead, we are committed to helping people find long-lasting careers that will guide them on the path to stable housing. 

To do this, we offer individuals facing homelessness the opportunity to work at Our City Forest, where they are provided stipends. Through this experience, they gain job experience, a sense of purpose and dignity, and support with resume building. Their work at Our City Forest directly involves the environment, and is important in building greener communities.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been focused on potting bare-roots plants. These plants come without soil around their roots. While seemingly counterintuitive, this actually allows the plants to be transported efficiently and develop healthier root systems. Additionally, these trees are often grafted onto other plants, which combine the best characteristics of each. 

This week, we moved on to potting plants already in soil (also referred to as its root ball). The process of both are similar, but the latter also involved untangling roots and removing excess soil. These trees are eventually used to provide canopy cover, improve air quality, and reduce the effects of urban heat islands. Overall, we had a very productive weekend; stay tuned for more updates and thank you for reading!