By Glore Ruiz
"We made history today."
At the end of the year, Forest ReLeaf’s Nursery had a surplus of serviceberries. Our team immediately thought of Ujima Farms. In early April we planted the 12 serviceberries, which now line the street surrounding the farm. These serviceberries will be stewarded by Nick Speed and Yong Soo Kim, the farm supervisor. They will grow to provide shade, beauty and improved air quality. Serviceberries also produce a small, deep purple, and delectably sweet berry, which gives the tree its name and provides a delicious snack for humans and urban wildlife alike!
Ujima Farms is a St. Louis non-profit that focuses on food justice, youth empowerment, and environmental stewardship. Led by Nick Speed and located in the Fairground Park neighborhood of North Saint Louis, Ujima Farms aims to fight food insecurity and empower the community through farming. Produce grown at Ujima farm is donated to nearby families that are in need of food aid. Ujima also hosts teen mental health first aid training and outdoor education experiences for local youth.
Both Ujima Farms and Forest ReLeaf aim to strengthen the St. Louis community through the power of nature and stewardship. Recent partnerships between the two organizations resulted in 38 native trees being planted at Ujima, where they will provide environmental benefits and become tools for outdoor education. We both recognize that the trees that we choose to plant, and steward can change the history of a landscape, and a community.
When we plant a tree, we are hoping to change the future. Every tree that you’ve sat under has had a long history, for it to survive that included some human stewardship. At Forest ReLeaf, our stewardship team changes the future of the city landscape every week as they plant, water, prune and generally steward trees across St. Louis. Similarly, Ujima’s transformation of the future George Washington Carver Farms from vacant lot to urban agriculture rewrites the blocks history from vacancy to fresh food, healing, and justice.
A month later we were back at Ujima Farms planting more trees, but this time through our Treesilience program. Ujima resides in the heart of our focus area for Treesilience, and has plenty of land to plant more trees. Through Treesilience 26 more trees have been planted on the farm, including hazelnut, elderberry and plum, which will be stewarded by the Ujima team.
“Imagine the kids in your congregation growing up learning all the native plants in your area and how to take care of them, and being able to experience the divine in nature,” says Christopher Grundy.
Since 1999, the Ferguson Volunteer Flower Department has been caring for two gardens in downtown Ferguson.
With Forest ReLeaf’s help, Park Commissioner Peg Crockett is adding more trees to Hunter Park, giving the local community more opportunities for play and leisure.
I am Elijah Belz, the Field Operations Coordinator for Forest ReLeaf. I am a certified arborist and the primary person in the field for Forest ReLeaf, maintaining roughly 1000 trees planted in the St. Louis City, and maintaining our equipment our equipment used to maintain our trees! This job is a catch-all position that carries different responsibilities during the different seasons. Fall and spring are our planting, tree delivery, and inventory season; winter is our pruning, mulching, and planning season; summer is our watering season where we lead a crew of interns getting into the green industry.
My background is bicycle repair! I was in that industry for almost a decade, including running a bicycle repair shop, before taking a job with a tree planting organization in Atlanta. From there I moved to an edible landscape company. I became certified as an arborist while working at Forest ReLeaf this February! Trees rock, bikes are cool too.
De’Nonna Jones graduated from Knox College in 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies, driven by a commitment to environmental justice and community-based conservation. Since then, she has gained hands-on experience working across a range of green spaces throughout the St. Louis region, focusing on the care, restoration, and accessibility of urban natural areas. She began her journey at Tower Grove Park, where she developed a deep appreciation for public green spaces as vital community resources, before moving into a stewardship role with the Missouri Botanical Garden in partnership with Great Rivers Greenway. She now serves as the Stewardship Crew Coordinator at Forest ReLeaf. De’Nonna is passionate about creating inclusive pathways into environmental work and empowering tree lovers and emerging conservationists to see themselves as stewards of their communities. Through her work, she strives to strengthen connections between people, trees, and places in urban environments.
After 17 years in the non-profit and public sector, Jess remains committed to mission-driven work that tackles the challenges facing our communities. Their career began with a year of service as an Americorps St. Louis Emergency Response team member, responding to natural disasters and performing conservation projects. That foundation of service led to roles supporting the arts, affordable housing, mental health, and grassroots housing advocacy in St. Louis. During this journey Jess has worked to center the value “nothing about us, without us.” They do their best to ensure that the voices of people who have been marginalized guide the strategy and execution of work that honors their lived experiences. When they aren’t working, Jess is out paddling, hiking, working in their garden, or building something.
