Thank you to everyone who joined us at Brasil for National Night Out yesterday. It was a lovely evening with neighbors, and a fitting place to share a project we have been working on for months: restoring the tree canopy along Winlow Place streets.
Many of the trees that give our neighborhood its character are aging, and some stretches of sidewalk have little or no shade. Winlow Place has been home to tree-lined streets since 1923, and we want the next generation of neighbors to inherit the same. So the Civic Club is applying for a City of Houston Neighborhood Matching Grant to plant new street trees this winter.
The response has already been generous. Since last night, three neighbors have given a combined $1,000. With the City's dollar-for-dollar match, that is $2,000 for new trees, enough for 8 street trees, and 20% of the way to our $5,000 neighborhood goal. We are planting trees with a neighbor's commitment behind each one. We will prioritize trees where someone has agreed to water it through its first two summers, because the goal is not a planting day. It is shade that lasts for decades.
Trees for Winlow Place: $1,000 raised by neighbors, 8 trees funded with the City match
What happens next:
We are mapping candidate spots and matching them with neighbors who want to adopt a tree.
Please sign up by October 23 if you can. We submit our grant application on November 1, and early sign-ups let us include your spot in the plan we share with the City. Sign-ups stay open through the end of the year.
The City announces its decision in January, and planting begins in February.
If you have not yet joined in, you can sponsor a tree, adopt one by your home, or lend a hand. Every gift, whatever its size, is matched by the City. Thank you to Brasil for hosting us, and to every neighbor who stopped by, asked questions and signed up. Let's grow some shade.