Trees give us food and shade. Now, they can also heal

Trees do a lot for the world: clean the air, prevent erosion, provide shade, lower temperatures, raise property values and give wildlife a home.

But they can do even more than that, said Aimee Esposito, executive director of Trees Matter, a nonprofit organization focused on growing the Valley’s tree canopy and increasing awareness of the benefits of trees.

This is a difficult time, and Trees Matter has partnered with Tiger Mountain Foundation, another nonprofit group that manages community gardens in Phoenix, to honor those who risked their lives and remember people who died during the pandemic.

At first, Esposito intended to plant a tree for every person who died of COVID-19, never expecting the numbers to climb so high.

Now the goal of the Resiliency Project is to plant 100 trees at Spaces of Opportunity, a 20-acre community garden near 7th Avenue and Vineyard Road in south Phoenix where residents grow their own organic food.

The trees will be tagged with names of people who died, submitted by community members. Their pictures and stories will connect to an online map.

The first 10 citrus trees were planted in December. Esposito hopes to raise $25,000 to pay for the trees and another $10,000 to maintain them until they’re established. All 100 trees will be planted by the end of the year.

The area will be open to the public so people can mourn and celebrate.

“It’s a very healing place,” Esposito said.

Trees can do that, too.

The project has given the volunteers something positive to focus on. Something that will make a difference. Something alive.

“When you plant a tree, you create something new, a representation of growth and change and legacy,” Esposito said.

Trees remind us that life goes on.