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| Reflections from our Founding President & CEO: A Year of Growth and Gratitude
Dear Friends,
As we come to the close of 2025, I’ve been thinking a lot about how much can grow from one small seed of an idea.
Thirty years ago, Our City Forest started with a simple belief: that every neighborhood in Silicon Valley deserves shade, clean air, and a healthy urban forest. This year, that belief was tested in new ways – from the sudden loss of federal funding to proposed cuts at the local level. And further evidence of the escalating impacts of extreme heat on our schools and communities. Yet, through it all, you showed up.
You showed up at Bruzzone Park on a chilly January morning to plant trees in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., turning a national day of service into real, living shade for a Berryessa neighborhood park. You showed up in the spring at Overfelt Gardens, Story Road, Hillview Park, and on streets and medians across San José, transforming asphalt and hot corridors into greener, cooler places to live and learn. You showed up at our Community Nursery & Training Center, at our Urban Forestry Education Center, and locations across the county.
And because you showed up, the impact was extraordinary. This year alone, we maintained more than 1,750 existing trees and delivered waterings to over 9,500 trees through our long-term stewardship program, achieving a 93% survival rate, well above national averages. Our community of more than 4,250 planting and tree-care volunteers showed up and helped green neighborhoods, convert water-thirsty lawns, and prepare over 4,000 trees and shrubs for planting in 2026. And in the face of unprecedented federal cuts, we continued to invest in the next generation of climate leaders, training 26 AmeriCorps and California Climate Action Corps members, while staying connected to a 650-person alumni network now serving in cities, utilities, nonprofits, and green industries across the region.
This has been a year of both challenge and deep affirmation. When federal cuts suddenly wiped out our largest source of workforce funding, we made the difficult decision to sustain our service members from reserves because we could not, in good conscience, abandon the young people who were dedicating a year of their lives to climate service. That choice was only possible because for three decades, this community has treated Our City Forest as a shared project – a “little green engine that could” – not just an organization, but one of the South Bay’s first grassroots environmental organizations, and an anchoring urban forestry institution.
What happened next reminded us why Our City Forest has endured for three decades: this community shows up! Because of OCF’s long record of impact, financial stewardship, and credibility, the State of California – and many of you! - stepped in to help stabilize our programs so we could continue planting, training, and caring for trees in and around San José - at least for this year. Your support has helped us address this gap created by the federal funding cut, affirming something we have always known to be true: Our City Forest is a shared project powered by each and everyone of you.
As we head into the holiday season, I want to say from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Thank you for trusting us, for planting alongside us, for donating, for calling your legislators, and for understanding that trees are an essential component of our urban infrastructure - as important as roads, water, sewage lines, and power grids.
However and wherever you celebrate this season, I hope you’ll take a moment to notice the trees in your life, including the ones outside your window, along your street, shading your child’s schoolyard, or waiting patiently in a 15-gallon pot at our nursery for their forever home. Each one represents a community that refuses to give up.
With gratitude and hope,
 Rhonda Berry
Founding President & CEO, Our City Forest |
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Wishing you a warm, safe, and connected Holiday season.🍂🌳 |
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| | Community Planting with SJ Councilmember Tordillos🍃
Nearly 50 volunteers joined Our City Forest and San José Councilmember Anthony Tordillos on December 6th to plant 21 new trees at Orchard Park! The day kicked off with welcoming remarks from the Councilmember, followed by hands-on planting led by our Urban Forestry team. Neighbors, families, and students worked side by side to green the park and improve shade in San José’s District 3.
We’re grateful to Councilmember Tordillos and his team for their partnership, and to every volunteer who showed up ready to dig, plant, and build a healthier urban forest for San José. Check out some wonderful photos from our planting, below.
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| | AmeriCorps Member of the Month |
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| This month, we are recognizing Ryan Trinidad as OCF’s AmeriCorps Member of the month. As a California Climate Action Corps (CCAC) fellow, he is a member of both the Planting Team and the Outreach Team. His enthusiasm radiates throughout his work. With his willingness to lend a helping hand and contagious sense of humor, Ryan’s presence at OCF never fails to bring out a smile in his coworkers. He graduated from the University of San Francisco with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and a minor in Philippine Studies.
As part of the Planting Team, Ryan helps plant trees around our community and teaches volunteers how to plant so they can leave their mark on the city. With the Outreach Team, he helps spread OCF’s mission and bring more people to our volunteer events. He engages in tasks such as digital outreach, such as social media posting, as well as in-person efforts through tabling and presentations at various community events. Working at OCF as a CCAC fellow has been a rewarding experience for Ryan.
“I’d like to focus on habitat restoration in the future and I thought Urban Forestry was a great start. I’ve been surrounded by trees my whole life in San Jose so it also fueled my curiosity to be more aware of what is around me! Being under the California Climate Action Corps has allowed me to holistically grow as an aspiring climate action leader. It creates a great balance of field work and outreach work that allows my workflow to be dynamic and enjoyable!” We cannot wait to continue seeing Ryan grow here at OCF and are grateful he’s decided to make OCF part of his climate leadership journey." - Ryan Trinidad |
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| Sounding the Alarm on School Shade🌿
California’s schoolchildren are facing a growing, dangerous heat exposure crisis, according to newly released statewide research and local findings that reveal widespread loss of tree canopy and extreme heat conditions across public school campuses.
A groundbreaking multi-year study by UCLA, UC Davis, and UC Berkeley - as just reported by the Los Angeles Times - found that 85% of California’s 7,262 urban public schools lost tree cover between 2018 and 2022, with net canopy levels falling an average of 1.8% statewide. Researchers found that California’s public K-12 schoolyards have a median tree cover of just 6.4%, most of which is confined to parking lots or perimeters rather than student play areas. Rising global temperatures, they warn, have made lack of shade a direct student health and learning issue, increasing risks of heat illness, reducing concentration, and decreasing test performance.
Recent local data from the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s (SCCOE) “Growing Gardens” report highlights the same crisis at the county level, confirming that too many Bay Area school campuses remain “heat islands,” with sparse plantings, aging infrastructure, and little shade to protect students during recess or outdoor learning. The SCCOE Growing Gardens Report showed that even in wealthy Santa Clara County, 31% of schools have no garden at all, and most gardens lack coordinators, curriculum integration, and long-term funding. It found that heat and poor outdoor conditions directly impact student health, academic performance, and attendance.
Most campuses lack designated shade zones or climate-resilient features, and many schoolyards remain dominated by heat-absorbing asphalt that limits both outdoor learning and safe play. Educators report growing concerns about heat-related illness, reduced outdoor time, and the widening inequities created by unshaded school environments. Teachers and principals consistently express strong demand for tree planting, gardens, and nature-based learning areas that would provide relief from extreme heat while supporting student wellness and outdoor instruction.
“This is now a public health mandate. We cannot send 5.8 million California children outside every day to bake on hot, paved schoolyards,” says Rhonda Berry, Founding President & CEO of Our City Forest
Our City Forest has financed, planted and cared for more than 10,000 trees on over 300 school campuses with a focus on underserved areas. Join us as we call for: A statewide school-shade standard requiring minimum canopy coverage targets on all public-school campuses. Dedicated state funding for schoolyard greening and outdoor learning. Integration of schoolyard shade into California climate-adaptation planning and emergency-preparedness frameworks.
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For nearly three decades, Our City Forest has partnered with local schools to grow greener, healthier campuses, including tree plantings at Santee Elementary in 1997, 2008, 2010, and again in 2023 as pictured above. |
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| | 🍃Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools Dr. David Toston said:
“Students cannot learn at their best when their campuses are exposed to extreme heat. Shade is a basic expectation for safety, equity, and academic success.”
OCF will continue our efforts to ensure that every child can learn on a safe, shaded campus.🍃 |
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| Save the Date for our Annual MLK Day Tree Planting!🍁
Every January, we honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by coming together as a community to plant trees in neighborhoods that need shade the most.
This year, we invite you, your family, your classmates, your coworkers, and your neighbors to join us again.
OCF Annual MLK Day Tree Planting DATE: Monday January 19, 2026 TIME: 9am - 12pm LOCATION: Rainbow Park (Rainbow Drive &, Donington Dr, San Jose, CA 95129)
RSVP: www.tinyurl.com/OCFMLK2026
We’ll provide tools, gloves, and training. Bring your friends, family, energy, curiosity, and willingness to serve. |
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| | | Bare Roots Season is Almost Here!
Every winter, our Community Nursery & Training Center transforms into a hive of activity as thousands of bare root trees arrive bundled tightly together. We gently pot them into 15-gallon containers so they can grow strong roots before being planted across Santa Clara County in the months and years to come.
Bare Roots Volunteer Days DATE: February, 2026 Days: Thursdays - Saturdays TIME: 9am-12pm and 12:45pm-3:15pm
LOCATION: Our City Forest Community Nursery & Training Center – 1000 Spring St., San José |
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| | Rent a Tree – Holiday Trees that Keep on Giving!
Our much-loved Holiday Rent-A-Tree program is here! Instead of buying a cut tree that’s thrown away after a few weeks, families can rent a living, potted tree from our nursery, decorate it for the holidays, and then return it in the new year so it can be planted in the community. You may have seen the program featured on the news in past years. Families love it for the sustainability, the beauty, and the chance to start a new tradition that kids remember.
This season: 5-gallon trees are available with a $40 tax-deductible donation 15-gallon trees (approximately 3–6 feet tall) are available with an $80 tax-deductible donation You can decorate with lights, small ornaments, and garland After the holidays, our team plants your tree in Santa Clara County to expand our urban forest
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LOCATIONCommunity Nursery & Training Center
1000 Spring St., San José, CA 95110
(408) 785-2302
TREE PICK UPDecember 4 – December 20
Thurs–Sat from 9am–12pm
TREE RETURNJanuary 8 – January 31
Thurs–Sat from 9am–12pm |
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| | FREE TREES! Did you know you may be eligible for a free street or yard tree thanks to our partnerships with VTA and CAL FIRE?
How to Get Started Visit our Free Tree page: ourcityforest.org/free-trees Enter your address in the map search bar If you’re eligible, select a tree from the approved species list Our team will follow up to confirm details, permits, and planting support
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| | | Volunteers Needed for Upcoming Plantings! |
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Join us for a hands-on morning of greening the community!
Volunteers will help plant new trees that will provide shade, cleaner air, and beauty for years to come. You’ll learn proper tree-planting techniques and work alongside our team on tasks such as:
Digging holes for new trees Planting and positioning trees for long-term growth Mulching to retain moisture and protect roots Staking and tying trees to support them as they establish Nursery stewardship tasks such as watering, weeding, potting, and general plant care
Nursery Workdays
Community Nursery & Training Center
1000 Spring St, San José, CA 95110
(408) 785-2302
December Nursery Workdays: Thursday, December 18th from 9am–12pm
Friday, December 19th from 9am–12pm
Saturday, December 20th from 9am–12pm
January Nursery Workdays:
Saturday, January 10th from 9am–12pm
Saturday, January 17th from 9am–12pm
Saturday, January 24th from 9am–12pm
Saturday, January 31st from 9am–12pm
Additional December Community Events
Community Planting on Senter RoadSaturday, December 20th from 9am–12pm
Senter Road, San José, CA
Tree Care at Saratoga Creek ParkSaturday, December 20th from 9am–12pm
Saratoga Creek Park, San José, CA
No experience needed! We’ll provide tools, gloves, and guidance!
Sign up on our Eventbrite, or reach out to volunteer@ourcityforest.org if you have any questions!
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| | 🍂 Help Us Sustain Our City Forest!
Our Goal: Raise $100,000 by December 31, 2025.
Your gift this month will help us: Keep climate service positions in Silicon Valley Maintain our planting, tree-care, and schoolyard greening commitments Protect the nursery and education center as community hubs Expand shade in neighborhoods most vulnerable to heat and pollution
If you believe, as we do, that trees are community infrastructure and that young people deserve pathways into green careers, please consider a tax-deductible gift today.
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| Jackson, a Pioneer High School sophomore, and his mother, Kiley, keep coming back to volunteer with Our City Forest because he wants to make a real impact on deforestation. Hear them share why planting trees in our community matters, and why this work inspires them to return again and again! |
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| | Photos from a recent watering route as well as a planting at Advent Lutheran Church |
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| | | | | | | Ways You Can Support Our Work: |
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| From all of us at Our City Forest, thank you for an incredible year. See you in 2026!
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