The collaboration between Los Angeles and its nonprofit partner City Plants at the Commonwealth Nursery was awarded a $50,000 grant through the 2021 My LA2050 Grants Challenge, officials announced Thursday.
The funding is to help make Los Angeles “the best place to live” and support efforts at the Commonwealth Nursery, a public-private partnership on an 11-acre site in Griffith Park. The city partnered with City Plants to revive the historic nursery, which served as the city’s municipal nursery in the 1930s.
“Growing our tree canopy is a powerful tool in the work of protecting our planet — bringing cooler temperatures, helping clean our air and making our communities more beautiful,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti.
“Thank you Los Angeles and LA2050 for supporting the incredible work of City Plants and our departments to establish the Commonwealth Nursery, which will play an integral role in bringing trees to neighborhoods across Los Angeles.”
The LA2050 Grants Challenge by the Goldhirsh Foundation awarded $1 million in grants to 25 Los Angeles-area nonprofits and social enterprises. Once the 25 finalists were selected, the public voted on how the funding would be divided. In each of the five categories, the first-place winner will receive $100,000, second place to get $50,000, third place to get $25,000, fourth place to get $15,000 and fifth place to get $10,000.
The City Plants collaboration won the second-place prize for the “Live” category.
“Gaining the resources to reinvigorate the Commonwealth Nursery will not only be great for urban cooling in our city, but it will also allow us to use this unique site to further city goals for job development and equal access to job opportunities in a green growth industry like urban forestry,” said Rachel O’Leary, program director for City Plants.
The Commonwealth Nursery also serves as an urban ecological laboratory and training grounds that support the city’s tree canopy equity goals and creates a more livable and resilient Los Angeles, officials said. The partnership involves City Plants, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, the L.A. Parks Foundation, the Los Angeles Conservation Corps and the L.A. Department of Public Works.
“Trees not only improve air quality, they provide shade that can cool down our city and help our customers reduce their home energy costs,” said Nancy Sutley, LADWP’s Senior Assistant General Manager of External and Regulatory Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer. “This is why LADWP is thrilled with our continued partnership with City Plants to combat the heat island effect, one free tree giveaway at a time. Congratulations, City Plants!”
The Shower of Hope, a nonprofit that provides shower services to people experiencing homelessness, beat the Commonwealth Nursery collaboration for the $100,000 first-place prize in the “Live” category. Third place was awarded to Healing California, which provides free dental and vision care; fourth place was awarded to Western Center on Law and Poverty; and fifth place was awarded to the Westside Pacific Villages.
The winners for the other categories, from first to fifth, were:
— Children Now, Center for Restorative Justice Works, Los Angeles Center for Law & Justice, human-I-T and The Civics Center in the “Connect” category;
— On The Go LA, Las Fotos Project, People’s Potter Project, Fund for Guaranteed Income and Covenant House California in the “Create” category;
— DIY Girls, New Earth, The SEED School of Los Angeles County, Alliance in Mentorship/MiMentor and the Rivet School in the “Learn” category;
— Angel City Sports, Color the Water, CicLAvia, Sloane Stephens Foundation and East Side Riders Bike Club in the “Play” category.
The challenge received a record 320 submissions this year, which the foundation attributes to the pain, loss and trauma that Los Angeles has experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the seven previous years of the challenge, the foundation received more than 1,800 applications and distributed $10.5 million through the program, plus an additional $6.5 million given indirectly.
“To see so much hopefulness and healing represented by the finalists is humbling and inspiring,” said Tara Roth, president of the Goldhirsh Foundation and LA2050. “We honor and celebrate all of them, and it is our hope that the voting public use this as an opportunity to learn more about their work.”