About the Free Tree Project
The Free Tree Project is rooted in environmental and public health justice. We serve one of Stamford’s largest, most urban neighborhoods challenged by a lack of trees. The East side is over-paved and under-planted. We aspire to address these literal gaps in the East side’s urban canopy and simultaneously; our health.
The most urban section of the East side is nestled beneath the i-95 and several busy, main roads. Scientific Research has shown that residents of urban areas with less trees are at higher risk for physical and mental illness. Without trees and greenery, urban residents are exposed to:
Air Pollution (CO2, NO2, SO2, O3, PM, VOCs…AKA: bad stuff!) Higher rates of asthma, skin conditions, cancers, chronic disease
Lack of Shade → Higher Temperatures Exacerbated ground level ozone (smog) and lower air quality; Adverse health risks: heat strokes, fainting, asthma, lung cancers
Lack of Beauty Contributes to poor mental hygiene, lessens overall gratitude for one’s home, lowers property value
By nurturing the growth of urban forestry, we can connect our community via the mutual support provided by greenery.
We believe clean air, shade, and overall beauty are the natural rights of all of us, regardless of socioeconomic background.That is why these trees are free; donated and planted for our neighbors by our neighbors.
Nobody stands true to this sentiment quite like a Tree---whose benefits know no borders, whose benefits branch out to all.
The Free Tree Project has 2 planting seasons: Spring and Fall
Meet the Founder
This mission is carried forward by Diana Kolaj, a longtime East Side resident whose personal story reflects the urgency and heart behind the Free Tree Project:
Greetings! My name is Diana Kolaj. I am, admittedly, a tree hugger. I am also a long time resident of the East side, who has witnessed firsthand the diminishing health of this neighborhood's environment with the removal of trees.
As a pre-teen on the East side, I think I heard chainsaws go off at least every weekend. It became haunting, so much so that to this day, I am extremely alert to the sharp sound of a saw splicing into some distant trunk destined for death. I have yet to listen for the soft and soothing sound of soil shifting to allow space for a newly planted tree.
A few years later, at 14, I volunteered tenaciously for 4 years at Scalzi Riverwalk, Stamford’s downtown urban riparian forest. While my efforts there were fulfilling, trees were still being cut down right outside my home---summers were becoming more unbearable without the sanctuary of silver maple shade, and my environment was becoming both unhealthy and unattractive. I no longer wanted to be a resident here, to inhabit a space that was sterile, polluted, and lacking in beauty. All I thought of the outside of my parents’ property was how much better it could all be. My garden was my stubborn solace in its contrast of vibrant plant life amongst many lifeless blocks where grey replaced green.
In Fall of 2024, I soft launched the Free Tree Project under the long time organization the East Side Partnership. At the root of this initiative is an endeavor of environmental justice. The most disadvantaged areas of the East side are working class neighborhoods. While it will take many years, more mature trees will allow my neighbors to not have to compete for the only remaining old silver maple left that provides shaded parking.
The best time to plant a tree, as the saying goes, was 20 years ago, indeed---teenage me could never experience the beauty nor benefits of the small trees I plant today. So, for those of tomorrow; the dog walkers, car parkers, baby-stroller pushers, and Stamford High School students on their daily walk home in the 2pm heat- (to name a few…) the next best time to plant is now.
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