PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A change in federal funding is now being felt in local neighborhoods.
This week, the Environmental Protection Agency axed funding for a million-dollar tree project in the Glades in Palm Beach County.
It was called the Resilient Glades Tree Campaign for South Bay, Belle Glade, Pahokee and Canal Point communities.
WATCH: Funding for tree-planting project axed by EPA
The goal of the project is to revitalize the tree canopy via volunteers, who would plant thousands of trees at six county parks, and host eight giveaways.
They barely got a quarter of the way through their mission when about $1 million in funds were chopped by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The email read, in part: "The objectives of the award are no longer consistent with EPA funding priorities."
WPTV’s Joel Lopez is looking into the numbers and diving into the impacts, as organizers and community members share their concerns.
“We don’t really have any sort of political message, our goal is to plant as many trees as we possibly can" said Josh Weiner with Community Greening in Boca Raton.
The group was supposed to bring 2,000 native and fruit trees to plant and give away at Tanner Park in South Bay on Saturday, but had to cancel because of the loss of funding.
"Devastating to be honest, we worked really hard," said Weiner "And now that’s all going away."
He said the Glades are an area identified to have the least amount of trees in all of Palm Beach County.
The project was set to provide Glades residents with a community orchard, and hire local teens to care for the trees.
"We worked really hard, we were awarded this grant in late 2023, have been successfully executing plantings and giveaways already," said Weiner, as he's searching for alternative avenues of funding. "We're talking to lots of funders and different partners that we have but it's going to be really, really difficult to fill that gap."
WPTV reached out to the EPA for comment and are working to get a response.
Lopez went into South Bay to see how residents felt about the situation and found one mother of three named Michelle Jones.
“I’m just sitting here in the heat while they’re running around having fun," said Jones.
She said there's not only a lack of shade but the equipment in the playground has been too hot for her kids to play on at times.
"How would you describe the shade situation out here?" asked Lopez.
"It’s bad. There’s hardly any tree, you see selective spots that have trees but not where it really matters," answered Jones.
Another resident named Jabari Harris said he grew up in South Bay, and recounts life in the lack of shade.
"You come here you'll see a lot of people outside playing in the heat, and when they leave here you see them sweating and tiresome," said Harris. "It’s terribly hot. Build up around this area, get some trees, get some shade and let the people enjoy a different scenery."
The nonprofit also had a grant that was canceled, which was set to create outdoor classrooms for area schools.
Their Community Greening Youth Tree Team has also been suspended.
They said they plan to continue city-funded tree giveaways and are working to see if cities in the Glades areas are willing to take the cost into their budget.
