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The Leadership team’s project, Take Root Chattanooga, is designed to help improve the streetscape downtown, combat air pollution and cool the urban core. Through the project—that could increase the downtown canopy by 50 percent—businesses and individuals purchase trees which are in turn planted and maintained by the city.
“Each year, the Leadership class is divided into five teams which are asked to design and implement a community project,” said Diane Parks, Chamber director of leadership and community development. “Team members develop leadership skills as they work together tackling local issues.”
Take Root Chattanooga is benefiting from partnerships with Mayor Ron Littlefield—who attended the planting ceremony for the willow oak—and a number of businesses and organizations in the community.
Chattz Coffeehouse, one of Take Root’s most active partners, is planning to get their customers involved by donating portions of sales from their organic coffee to the project. In fact, the owners of the popular Market Street coffee shop were the first to come up with the idea to plant trees in the city.
“We were coming out with a new line of organic coffee and we wanted to do something environmental in conjunction with its release,” said Eileen Mason, a Chattz co-owner. “We wanted to plant trees, so we took our idea to City Forester Gene Hyde and he set us up with the group from Leadership Chattanooga. Once we got together, they were able to take the project into their own hands and really see it through.”
Since its start, Take Root has raised more than $10,000 for the purchase of trees. Contributions have been made by First Tennessee Bank, The Urban Institute, the Community Foundation and the UTC graphic design class that designed promotional materials for the project.
The group is also partnering with Gene Hyde, who has already selected approximately 35 tree species that will populate nearly 1,400 planting sites. Once planted, these trees—ranging from red maples and yellow-poplars to sweetgums and lacebark elms—will grace the city’s sidewalks with a seasonal array of spring flowers and fall colors.
And with all the excitement Take Root Chattanooga is generating, the group’s vision for the project has begun growing on a much wider scale. According to Helen Davis Johnson, one of the team members, if the project is successful, it may become a national model for other cities.
“We’re already packaging the program for other cities, and we’ve done presentations on the campaign in neighboring counties,” she said. “We want to see it take root in cities all over the country.”
But turning the project into a national model will require a lot more time and effort—which is why the group’s next step is to work with the city to create a full-time coordinator position for their program.
“To turn this project into a national model, we need to see someone on task, we need to generate revenue and we need to see results,” Johnson said. “Hopefully, once the project takes off, the city will be able to hire even more employees to expand the project. There is so much potential for green initiatives in our city.”
To get involved with Take Root Chattanooga, visit www.takerootchattanooga.com for more information. |
