Our History
The Providence Neighborhood Planting Program has deep roots that nourish us as our organization continues to grow. Read on to learn more about the story of PNPP: how we got started, how far we’ve come, and where we’re going next…
The first seeds of PNPP were sown in the 1950s and 1960s, when Mary Elizabeth Sharpe—a lifelong environmentalist, self-taught landscape architect, and advocate for countless greening projects across Providence—got involved with planting, watering, and advocating for street trees in the city. She set up an annual fund to support street tree planting and secured a commitment from City Council to match it ongoingly.
Between 1976 and 1985, Mary Elizabeth, joined by her daughter-in-law Peggy Sharpe, lobbied for the Providence Parks Department to begin to carve out a position—and ultimately a division—responsible for managing Providence’s public urban forest. They also helped develop and advocate for the adoption of the City’s first Tree Ordinance, pushing the city to recognize the value of our urban trees and proactively plan for their long-term health.
Mary Elizabeth Sharpe in 1958, riding with the Fire Brigade as they helped water new tree plantings!
1986: PNPP is formally established
Mary Elizabeth Sharpe passed away in 1985. To honor her decades of tireless work towards a greener Providence, her family established the Mary Elizabeth Sharpe Street Tree Endowment (MESSTE, now renamed the MESPNPP donor advised fund) at the Rhode Island Foundation. The Providence Neighborhood Planting Program (PNPP) was established in 1989 as a partnership between the Mary Elizabeth Sharpe Street Tree Endowment, the City of Providence, and city residents, in order to ensure steady and consistent private and public funding for ongoing community-driven planting of street trees in Providence. That September, we held our first neighborhood tree planting!
2013: we plant our 10,000th tree!
Since 1989, we’ve planted more than 16,000 street trees with hundreds of neighborhood groups and thousands of residents. In 2013, PNPP incorporated as an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit…and also planted its 10,000th tree! Three years later, PNPP and the Forestry Division launched the Providence Community Tree Keepers program to train and certify community members to conduct young tree structural pruning and maintenance.
2020: celebrating 30 years of PNPP
In 2020, the same year that we gathered to celebrate 30 years of street tree planting, PNPP joined forces with community groups, frontline residents, and City departments to create a long-term, community-driven urban forest plan. Guided by a steering committee of community representatives from Providence’s lowest-canopy neighborhoods and urban forestry practitioners (including some of our staff!), we embarked on multiple years of deep community outreach to identify and outline the key tree-related needs, challenges, and priorities of our neighborhoods most impacted by environmental justice and tree inequity. Together, we developed a collaborative vision and road map for a healthy, resilient, and equitable urban forest in Providence and released the PVD Tree Plan in 2023. Since then, we’ve been hard at work with our partners across the city as we bring its vision to life!
We can’t wait to keep planting and stewarding Providence’s urban forest alongside our community for the next 30 years and beyond… join us!
