Openlands hosted Opentalks in May 2026 at The Driehaus Museum in downtown Chicago. The event aimed to deepen our supporters’ connection to our local environmental efforts through behind-the-scenes stories shared by our dedicated team of conservation experts. The following is one of those stories.
“Good morning, everybody! My name is Tom Ebeling, and I am the Director of Forestry with Openlands. In a few weeks, I will have been with Openlands for 7 years. In my role, I have the privilege of leading a team of Arborists and foresters who deliver our community forestry programs, namely our Tree Planting efforts and the TreeKeepers network.
Today, I would like to tell you a story about trees as a tool for restoring community pride and what it looks like to support a community vision from the ground up.
First, I would like to ask you all a question: by show of hands, how many of you are proud of your home? How many of you want the freedom to make decisions about the way that your home looks and feels?
I also want you to think how it would feel to watch a home that you are proud of fall into disrepair and move further and further away from your vision of the space and have no power to change that trajectory. This was the unfortunate case at the Lake Parc Place Apartments. But before we talk any more about Lake Parc, I want to back up and discuss our relationship with the Chicago Housing Authority.
The Chicago Housing Authority, or CHA, is the municipal not-for-profit corporation responsible for managing and delivering the public housing program in Chicago. CHA manages over 1,900 properties and is home to more than 63,000 households, making them one of the largest land managers in the region.
Our relationship with the CHA began when our forestry office moved in across the street from the Dearborn Homes, one of their historic properties.
Walking around that property made me realize that CHA and Openlands shared a magical mismatch of resources: Openlands has money for trees, maintenance, while the CHA has tons of planting space but no budget for trees and no ability to take care of them.
Openlands and CHA also share a desire to engage with residents while improving and activating green spaces. Another thing that we share is a commitment to respecting community desires and making sure that residents are the ones who are making the decisions about what trees are planted where.
“I also want you to think how it would feel to watch a home that you are proud of fall into disrepair and move further and further away from your vision of the space and have no power to change that trajectory.”
This means that every CHA project involves walking the site with residents to find out where they want trees, listening to what they want from their trees and then pitching that mutual design to the whole Resident Advisory Council.
Over the course of 3 separate planting projects, I am happy to say that we have successfully planted every available space on the Dearborn Homes property, as well as funded the ongoing maintenance of those trees.
But more importantly, we have proven ourselves as a reliable and effective partner who can make a plan rooted in the desires of their residents, and bring that plan to life.
Once we had proven ourselves to CHA, they put out the call to all of their resident advisory councils: “Who wants to plant trees in your community?”
”Trees are what we do, people AND PLACES are why we do it.”
The folks at Lake Parc Place were the first to raise their hands. Specifically, Ms. Betty. Between the two buildings on this property, there is a large park area built in the early 90s, and it was a beloved and well used space. There is a playground, BBQ pits, basketball courts, a splash pad, seating areas and vegetable gardens. This space was the heart of the property and a common ground for all of the residents to gather together and be proud of. Ms. Betty described it as “a Garden of Eden…we absolutely loved this space”.
“But more importantly, we have proven ourselves as a reliable and effective partner who can make a plan rooted in the desires of their residents, and bring that plan to life.”
But over the next 30 years, that space fell into disrepair. Unfortunately, the part that most apparently declined were the trees. Almost all of the ornamental trees died completely, and many of the large shade trees began to fall apart. By the time Openlands was invited to Lake Parc, there were over 30 standing dead trees and many others in dire condition.
As I walked the property with Ms. Betty and the rest of the advisory council, they told me about how beautiful the place was. They told me of parties that they used to have there, the family reunions and even weddings. “We don’t do that anymore, though,” they said. “People are afraid of these dead trees, and its ugly now”.
So we made our plans. They wanted to restore the beauty of the place and make it welcoming again.
“This space was the heart of the property and a common ground for all of the residents to gather together and be proud of Ms. Betty described it as ‘a Garden of Eden…we absolutely loved this space.”
“We need color out here!” they said, so we decided on Black gum, Linden and Musclewood for a blazing orange and yellow fall display.
“We need some flowers!” they said, so we removed the dead trees lining the entrances and replaced them with Eastern Red Bud. We planted Ohio buckeye around the picnic tables for flowers on Mothers Day and Catalpa that would tower over the BBQ pits with a copy of flowers in June and shade for the rest of the summer.
“We want to see some birds back here again!” So we put Serviceberry and Hackberry in view of the clubhouse windows.
On the day of the planting, Ms. Betty pulled me aside, took both of my hands and said “You know, nobody has listened to us like this in a long time. You gave this place back to us and it feels like home again”.
There is a phrase that we use on the Forestry Team; “Trees are what we do, but people are why we do it”. After the planting at Lake Parc, though, I have amended that phrase; Trees are what we do, people AND PLACES are why we do it.
“On the day of the planting, Ms. Betty pulled me aside, took both of my hands and said ‘You know, nobody has listened to us like this in a long time. You gave this place back to us and it feels like home again.“
Sometimes trees are just trees. But sometimes, they are a tool for rebuilding home. Sometimes they are a tool restoring agency, pride, and self determination, especially when the plans for those trees start from the ground up.
You can contact Tom at tebeling@openlands.org