>>This is the 10th and Page neighborhood.

I've lived in this neighborhood for 64 years.

I remember more fruit trees, particularly pear trees and apple trees, which there aren't any now.

I think of the coolness of a shade tree.

I think of the health benefits of having more trees, in general, in this area.

Also, the mental and the emotional health benefits, the therapy that comes with the birds, singing in the mornings, and the squirrels playing in the trees.

So all of that is beneficial because we are living in a world where our planet is getting much more heat.

>>It started in 2021.

I was on the tree commission, which is a city body, and we'd been doing tree canopy studies since 2004 to look at the canopy all over the Charlottesville.

And then what we realized about then, in 2020, was the canopy was decreasing terribly.

It had gone from 50%, in 2004, to 38%.

We also looked at each neighborhood, and 10th and Page has one of the lowest tree covers in the city, it's only 18%.

>>Oh my, yes.

>>So the city plants trees, but only on public property.

So some of us on the Tree Commission decided, well, we needed to step in and plant trees on private property because that same study that did the tree canopy said that 75% of the land available in Charlottesville for new trees was on private property.

We looked around at other organizations in Virginia, what they were doing.

We looked at Southside ReLeaf in your city- >>[Peggy Singlemann] My dear Richmond.

>>And then we decided, okay, this is our mission.

We believe that trees save lives, and our mission was to improve the health in neighborhoods, such as 10th and Page, that don't have many trees.

>>Excellent mission.

>>From the rising heat.

>>Yes.

>>And how do we do that?

We have three things.

We plant trees, we preserve existing big trees, and we do a lot of education, particularly of teenagers and youth.

So the Green Team is a summer program for two weeks.

We teach them about trees and nature in the city.

We teach them how to canvas neighborhoods, knock on doors.

We had 70 homes.

We got 40 trees.

>>[Peggy Singlemann] You just answered my question.

How many said yes?

>>40 trees.

>>That changes things.

>>That changes things.

And then they help us plant the trees, in November.

>>[Peggy Singlemann] So you get permission to come to private property to plant the tree on their property?

>>Yeah.

>>[Peggy Singlemann] And the students, the youth are helping to plant the trees.

>>Right, right.

>>That's wonderful.

>>Yeah, so they knock on doors, they leave flyers, door hangers, if the people aren't home, so they can contact us.

We put up posters in the neighborhood, telling everyone to contact us for a free tree.

So it's been very successful.

>>I heard about ReLeaf Cville when I read a flyer that was left on my door.

I called and found out that they were in this neighborhood, particularly because it had been identified as a hotspot, which I wasn't really aware of.

And I'd looked at the data and I really could believe in the data that it was proving, 'cause I'm living here.

I could feel the heat.

They set up an opportunity for me to get a tree, gave me a selection to choose from, and they came with a crew of young people, which that was very good to see the young people out here planting the trees, and they were supervised by the ReLeaf staff, but they did all the work.

This tree is a London Planetree and this area is a very damp area, and I intentionally wanted this tree planted here, selected it out of numbers of other trees that they have because of the dampness in this area.

>>[Peggy Singlemann] When you approach a homeowner, asking them, we'd like to plant a tree, what do you offer them?

>>We offer about 10 different kinds of trees.

We try to do big trees, shade trees, because they're gonna be the most important.

So we have white oaks, willow oaks, London planes, American basswood, tulip poplar, those are just a few, because we want long-lived trees that don't require a lot of maintenance, and they're native to the area.

>>And grow a little quick.

>>And grow a little quick, yes.

>>Yes, yes.

Peggy, once ReLeaf plants a tree and they've explained to the homeowner the care of it, but do you really leave them hanging?

Do you just walk away?

>>No, no, no because we know that if you don't follow the trees, they may not live.

So we follow them very closely.

Like on Arbor Day, we get my own family's tree company, they come and they check on all the trees.

They put more mulch down if they have to, they do a little pruning, structural pruning.

And we also get the kids to come too and knock on doors, and say, "Have you watered your tree?"

(laughs) You know?

>>Yes.

>>So we do that for a couple years until the tree gets a really good start.

>>[Peggy Singlemann] Great.

ReLeaf is really making a difference in this community.

Are the neighbors involved?

>>Yes.

We do a lot of that.

For instance, when we first came to 10th and Page, we met with the Homeowners Association.

We got some leaders in the neighborhood, like Michelle and James Bryant, who's on our board, who have lived in this neighborhood forever to talk it up.

Because you know, if your neighbor's doing it, you might wanna do it too.

(laughs) >>[Peggy Singlemann] Exactly, exactly, and if your neighbor's involved, you might wanna get involved too.

It's a good thing.

>>Yeah.

We're really proud because just in two years, we planted 168 trees, both in this neighborhood and a neighborhood called Rose Hill, which borders this neighborhood.

This fall we're starting a really innovative program.

It's called a Tree Preservation Program.

We've modeled that over Arlington County and we're going to offer free tree care to selected homeowners.

>>That's excellent.

So many people are afraid of their tree, and they shouldn't be.

>>[Peggy Van Yahres] And we know that preserving big trees, mature trees is even more important than planting small trees 'cause they take 15 to 20 years to give you the same benefits.

>>Yes.

>>We did an experiment at a local school.

They have two playgrounds.

One is completely in the sun.

That's for little kids.

The other one is in the shade.

So we took a thermometer out on one hot day in September.

In the shade, it was 80 degrees.

In the hot sun, it was 102 degrees.

That's 22 degrees difference.

That's what trees can do.

>>[Peggy Singlemann] I do have to ask you, looking forward, what do you see in the future here with ReLeaf Cville?

>>Okay, well some of us are a little old, (chuckles) and we laugh, we say have four more years.

(laughs) So we are in the process right now, doing a strategic plan about how we can grow.

We're becoming our own 501-C3.

So we hope to be able to, right now we're all volunteer, but for it to continue and to expand, we know we've gotta have some paid staff.

So are you looking for a job, Peggy?

>>(laughs) No, I've got one, thank you.

I just applaud you.

I applaud everybody involved and I'm just so grateful that the people in these neighborhoods, who deserve to live just like any other neighborhood in the same community.

So I say thank you.

>>Well thank you.

And thank you for highlighting ReLeaf Cville.

>>[Peggy Singlemann] Oh, anytime.

Planting trees are so important, and they save lives.

>>[Peggy Van Yahres] Yes, they do.