Chicago says it’s on track to plant 15,000 trees in first step to fix city's tree disparities. But ‘real work’ starts now, advocates say

CHICAGO — About four days a week, Dulce Garduno picks a few blocks in the Little Village neighborhood and knocks on doors. If there’s no response, she flags it as a house to revisit. If someone answers, she makes her pitch by posing a simple question: Do you want a tree?

Garduno is one of several volunteers who are tree ambassadors, part of the city’s $46 million initiative, Our Roots Chicago, to plant 75,000 trees in five years.

“It was something I had to do,” Garduno said. “Trees are something that you have to love, you have to care for, and now we have 250 new ones around here.”