AFC+A’s Tree Keepers | Guardianes de Árboles initiative is committed to the care of trees as a source of health, protecting the tree canopy as vital public health infrastructure to strengthen the connection between nature, well-being, and social justice.
trees planted in Aurora and Denver, 2021–2024
trees for Adams and Weld counties, 2026–2027
already in the ground as of October 2026
Miyawaki school forests funded through Bosques Escolares
The program represents a paradigm shift from traditional tree planting initiatives to community-driven environmental justice action. Unlike conventional programs that treat residents as passive recipients of environmental improvements, Tree Keepers transforms Latino community members into empowered environmental leaders and stewards.
At AFC+A, we conduct culturally relevant outreach and community education activities and engage Hispanic/Latino and lower-income residents in planting trees in neighborhoods with low canopy coverage. We envision communities that see themselves reflected in and are an integral part of the conservation activities taking place; where individuals and families are connected to the health services of nature and the arts; and where building community is the fabric of climate action.
Our peer-led community engagement model in tree planting initiatives leads to higher tree survival rates, increased participant knowledge, long-term stewardship of trees, and improved environmental outcomes such as mitigating the heat island effect and improving air quality.
Sister organizations AFC+A and CREA Results have planted more than 1,500 trees across Aurora and Denver between 2021 and 2024, and are currently engaged in the deployment of 600 trees across Adams and Weld counties in Commerce City, Aurora, and Dacono/Frederick, CO in 2026–2027, roughly 100 of them already planted.
Tree Keepers launched in Weld County in 2026 with free trees for homes, parks and schools in Dacono and Frederick, and a Miyawaki school forest planned at Thunder Valley K-8.
Residents choose up to three shade, fruit or ornamental trees per property and receive hands-on training in planting and care.
In partnership with Adams 14 School District, 300 trees for Commerce City: 200 for school forests at four Adams 14 sites and 100 for neighborhood homes, with continued plantings in Aurora.
Latino and lower income neighborhoods in Adams and Weld County face intersecting environmental injustices: significantly lower tree canopy coverage compared to predominantly white and higher-income communities, paired with lower levels of outdoor air quality for reasons that include proximity to industrial emissions. Tree canopy coverage inequities create a cascade of environmental and public health disparities that disproportionately burdens Latino and lower income families and children.
In Colorado, many Latino neighborhoods have 20–25% less tree canopy coverage than affluent areas, resulting in disparities such as: temperatures that are up to 15°F hotter during summer months (urban heat island effect); higher rates of asthma and respiratory illness among Latino children; increased stormwater flooding during heavy rainfall events; and elevated energy costs due to lack of natural cooling.
less tree canopy in many Latino neighborhoods than in affluent areas
hotter summer temperatures from the urban heat island effect
higher rates of respiratory illness among Latino children
more stormwater flooding and higher cooling costs without shade
The Bosques Escolares Fund installs Miyawaki school forests, dense native plantings designed to establish in years rather than decades, at Adams City High School, Central Elementary, Dupont Elementary and the HOPE Center in Commerce City, and at Thunder Valley K-8 in Frederick, CO.
The three Commerce City schools together enroll roughly 2,400 students, at schools where more than 85 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
Tax-deductible sponsorships and donations support educational engagement, tree health and maintenance, and carry:
Adams City High School
Commerce City
Central Elementary
Commerce City
Dupont Elementary
Commerce City
HOPE Center
Commerce City
Thunder Valley K-8
Frederick
Plantings tentatively scheduled across Spring and Fall 2027.
Free Community Tree Equity and Health Workshops at the HOPE Family Resource Center, 6500 E. 72nd Ave., Commerce City. Download, print and share.
Shade, fruit and ornamental species selected for Adams and Weld counties, with size, water needs and best uses.
[Replace this link with the new Tree Menu PDF.]
Join a Tree Workshop, sign up for a Promotores Verdes planting brigade, or adopt a tree already planted in your neighborhood.
Connect with a certified arborist for established trees, and explore public lands with our bilingual Colorado la Bella passport.
Bilingual education cards from our Promotores Verdes curriculum on environmental racism, canopy inequity, heat, children’s air and mental health. Share them with your neighbors.
Through AFC+A’s Cultural Artivist Program, graphic humorists and illustrators from across the Americas and Europe lend their work to the Tree Keepers campaign. Each piece travels with the program to workshops, schools and the Americas Latino Eco Festival. Tap an artist’s name for their biography.
© Andrea Arroyo. Biography coming soon.
Trees are one part of the clean-air story. RESPIRA trains families and Promotores in asthma care, home air quality and community advocacy, in the same neighborhoods where Tree Keepers plants.
2022–2024 City of Denver AFC+A Tree Keepers
With the City and County of Denver’s Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency (CASR), Promotores Verdes canvassed thousands of homes in Denver neighborhoods with the lowest canopy, planted trees with residents and trained every recipient as a Tree Keeper.
trees, Denver and Aurora combined
homes canvassed
tree survival rate
Supported by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the program extended to Aurora neighborhoods in Adams County with free trees, bilingual workshops and community planting days.
City & County of Denver
Office of Climate Action, Sustainability & Resiliency (CASR)
Join Promotores Verdes on a Spring or Fall planting day in Commerce City, Aurora, Dacono or Frederick.
Your donation funds trees, training and school forests in the neighborhoods that need shade most.
AFC+A’s current tree equity work is being undertaken in connection with the settlement of an enforcement action taken by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for violations of environmental laws and regulations.
