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Why We Do It
Our Vision
To help eradicate introduced vines that threaten Georgia’s trees through projects that empower, protect and educate. We aim to build an army of informed citizens who understand the threat of invasive vines and who spread the word to neighbors, officials and nurseries.
Atlanta, GA is known as the City in the Forest but in the 20+ years that our founder has lived in the city she has seen its precious tree canopy shrink significantly, losing hundreds of thousands of trees to development and invasive plants. Starting as a volunteer, she donated countless hours to parks on Atlanta’s Westside, then finally started Devine GA as a way to save trees being choked by vines.
Many people don’t know that native vines often produce berries crucial for migratory birds, and so our crew does its utmost to leave these in place, removing only the noxious types. Inexperienced workers may cut all vines, regardless of the origins, killing crucial vines that are often as old as the tree, thereby robbing birds of food.
The choice to use returning citizens was a driving force for starting Devine as everyone deserves a second chance. Our formerly incarcerated crew members have all had background checks and are genuinely working to build back their lives. Our founder works side by side with them and is proud to call them her family.
Team building is crucial to our success, and you will often find us at environmental conferences and volunteer days. And once a month we take a day to regroup and have some fun.
Our Mission
To save as many trees as possible from invasive vines while empowering returning citizens through rewarding employment, thereby preserving nature and culture for future generations.