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Since Denver voters created Denver Water in 1918, the state’s largest water provider has grown to serve 1.5 million people, about 25% of Colorado’s population, with safe, clean water every day.

Desde que los votantes de Denver crearon Denver Water en 1918, el proveedor de agua más grande del estado ha crecido para servir a 1.5 millones de personas, aproximadamente el 25 % de la población de Colorado, con agua segura y filtrada todos los días.

Just a few years ago, The Park People had a two person staff. Today, we are a robust dozen, and all good things come in 12s! Eggs, roses, donuts, days of Christmas, months in a year, and most importantly, your favorite nonprofit team! Since our last newsletter, we’ve added four incredible women to our staff who are ready to accomplish some good, green work in 2024. Let’s meet our newest Park People...

Fittingly, Hayley Kwasniewski interviewed to become The Park People’s first Development Manager while sitting under a Platt Park tree. They accepted The Park People’s offer and quickly introduced new approaches to donor communication while effectively employing time-tested methods to significantly increase grant and donation revenue.  Now, Hayley will be taking the next step on their career path by pursuing a PhD in Environmental Science and Policy at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Mackenzie Sanders has joined The Park People as its new Development Manager, succeeding Hayley. After growing up in Tucson and graduating from the University of Arizona, Mackenzie spent three years in New York, raising funds for non-profits and obtaining a master’s degree in creative writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Now, she says, she is glad to be closer to home, the mountains, and western landscapes. What attracted Mackenzie to The Park People? While interviewing, she noticed that “everyone finds joy in this work.” 

It's been nearly a year since The Park People launched its Workforce Development Program: TreeForce. Since launching, we have graduated two cohorts of pre-apprenticies, expanded our curriculum, and are currently preparing to grow our impact even further. Our first cohort enrolled 10 pre-apprentices, with five reaching graduation. Our second cohort enrolled 12 pre-apprentices, with 11 reaching graduation, and five already receiving jobs in forestry. Our dedicated staff and pre-apprentices are helping to improve Denver's urban forest, fill much needed gaps in the forestry industry, and provide pathways to employment for members of the Denver community. 

On Earth Day, Denver’s urban forest gained 1,400 trees as hundreds of new tree owners picked up their baby trees at Denver Digs Trees’ City Park and Sloan’s Lake Park distribution sites and​​​​​​​ hurried home to plant them. As they grow, these trees will give Denverites reason to remember and celebrate this year’s Earth Day for many years to come by making our city greener, cooler, and more beautiful while also saving $225,000 in energy costs, storing eight million pounds of carbon, and managing 52 million gallons of stormwater.   

Best of all, 63% of the new trees found homes in the low tree canopy neighborhoods where they are needed the most. Building up the tree canopy in those areas has long been The Park People’s primary focus. To encourage and enable tree planting, The Park People offers trees for only $10 to residents of 28 low tree canopy neighborhoods. Twelve percent of this year’s tree recipients qualified for “treeships,” which allowed them to receive free trees.