Please support our local parks and urban trees - essential to the health, vibrancy, and sustainability of our community. You can help ensure that ALL residents have access to these important resources and have an impact locally and globally!
What We Do
Working with communities to plant trees and improve parks for a healthy, resilient future through impactful programming:
Denver Digs Trees: provides thousands of free and affordable trees to residents throughout Denver, ensuring everyone has access to the environmental, social, and economic benefits trees provide.
TreeForce: helps Denver's people, economic, and environment through high-quality, equitable career pipeline training in urban forestry.
Mile High Tree Champions: supports corporate social responsibility through tree plantings in public parks and affordable housing communities.
Community Forester: cultivates knowledgeable, skilled volunteer city forest stewards that are equipped to lead community-led greening projects.
Park Legacy: celebrates and commemorates the events, milestones, and people in the lives of Denver residents.
Testimonials
"The Park People is the leading nonprofit partner for Denver's Department of Parks and Recreation. For more than 49 years, DPR has worked closely with The Park People on a variety of public/private partnerships that have dramatically enhanced Denver's parks and recreation resources. Denver could not be more fortunate to have The Park People hard at work in their dedication to city's the parks and recreation system and urban tree canopy." - Scott Robson, Former Manager of Denver Parks and Recreation, The City and County of Denver
"I'm very happy with the 2 gorgeous maples I got. I'm 89 years old and have been in this home for 60 years. It seems like old people don't have a lot to be happy about these days. My trees are the only young things around me, and I love seeing those hopeful little trees. So, I'm very happy with them." - Jenny R, Denver Digs Trees recipient
The Park People works with communities to plant trees and improve parks for a healthy, resilient future.
Here at The Park People, we are passionate about our neighborhood parks and trees. We know that communities thrive in areas with easy access to parks. Our community forest not only makes our neighborhoods beautiful places to live, but provides critical functions to the health, well-being, and sustainability of urban life. We believe that all Denver residents should have access to these critical urban resources. We also believe in the power of community action and of 'Thinking Globally and Acting Locally.'
The Park People was created in 1967 by a small group of park enthusiasts interested in raising private funds to support Denver's extensive parks and recreation system. Since its founding, we have infused millions of dollars into Denver's parks through the restoration of existing park infrastructure, such as fountains, historical park buildings, and through new construction, such as playgrounds and recreation facilities.
The Park People manages the Gates Tennis Center, an award-winning public facility that welcomes players of all ages and skill levels, hosts major tennis events and a rich array of adult and youth programming, and reaches out to nontraditional and under-served communities.
Our organization is also home to several beloved urban forestry programs. Nearly 30 years ago, a group of neighbors joined together to bring low-cost trees to their neighborhood to enhance the tree canopy. This small grassroots tree distribution, held out of the garages of several neighbors, was adopted by The Park People roughly 20 years ago and expanded to become a city-wide low-cost tree distribution serving all neighborhoods in Denver. Today, the revolutionary Denver Digs Trees program provides free and low-cost trees to hundreds of Denver residents each year, significantly enhancing the urban forest and improving quality of life. Over more than 2 decades, Denver Digs Trees has provided more than 50,000 trees to our neighborhoods.
The Park People also trains skilled volunteers to steward the urban forest (Community Forester program), facilitates the planting of memorial and celebration trees in Denver parks (Park Legacy program), and engages businesses in sponsoring and staffing planting projects at local parks, affordable housing communities, and nonprofit sites (Mile High Tree Champions program).
Organization name
The Park People
other names
TPP, Denver Parks and Recreation Foundation
1967
Tax id (EIN)
84-6045624
Category
Environment
Organization Size
Large Organization
Address
1510 S. Grant StreetDenver County, CO, US