Neighborhood Coordinating: I Did & You Can Too!
By Ian Bonham
![NOPO NC team](https://friendsoftrees.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/NOPO-NC-team-600x358.jpg)
Do you want to see more tree-lined streets in your neighborhood? Need a good way to get connected with your community? Want to beef up that resume? Or maybe you just want to snag one of our coveted Tree Team t-shirts?
Sign up here to train to be a
FOT Neighborhood Coordinator!
I did – and now my neighborhood is 250 trees greener with the help of more than 200 volunteers on a single Saturday morning! And none of it would have happened without a fun team of five volunteer Neighborhood Coordinators and one FOT staff member.
As one of the NC’s for the Piedmont neighborhood in North Portland, I learned more about trees and built great relationships between my neighbors – from down the block to across the neighborhood.
![](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5481/14642330013_ac9420bb41_z.jpg)
I got to be the local neighborhood hub of information for my neighbors who wanted to plant trees and the volunteers who wanted to help plant them! I called and emailed my neighbors to help them find the best tree for their space and how they could help out for the big neighborhood planting day. And finally, I helped to organize and throw a huge neighborhood-wide planting party with breakfast, coffee, and lunch with FOT staff, volunteers and all of my neighbors.
Neighborhood Coordinating was a fun way to have an impact on what my neighborhood would look like the next spring – and 50 years down the road!
You can make a difference in your neighborhood! Friends of Trees has over 100 active NCs in Portland and Vancouver, but there are still neighborhoods that currently have no Neighborhood Coordinators (or could use a little support!):
Now recruiting Neighborhood Coordinators! | |
Portland Neighborhoods | Vancouver Neighborhoods |
North Portland – St. Johns – University Park – Cathedral Park
NE Portland SE Portland East Portland | West Vancouver – Arnada – Rose Village – Shumway
Central Vancouver NE Vancouver SE Vancouver |
See your neighborhood?Sign up here to help your neighborhood grow greener! *If you don’t see your neighborhood (and you live in N, NE, SE, or E Portland OR other Vancouver neighborhoods) we could still use your help by joining an already established Neighborhood Coordinator Team!* |
If you have any questions or would like more information about the NC role, please don’t hesitate to contact Jenny or Ian in the Volunteer & Outreach Program at [email protected] or 503-595-0213.
![This could be the result of your hard work in just a few years time!](https://friendsoftrees.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/tree-lined-street-in-Portland-300x225.jpg)
![FOT_2-1-14-012](https://friendsoftrees.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/FOT_2-1-14-012-300x200.jpg)
– Ian is the Volunteer & Outreach Program Specialist for Friends of Trees (…and a Neighborhood Coordinator for the Piedmont Neighborhood)