Five years ago, we participated in the Richmond 300 master planning process as working group members — one of us focused on economic development, while the other focused on environmental issues. To help us prepare for our work, we were given an Insights Report filled with data related to each of the city’s nine districts covering many categories like housing, economic security, and educational attainment. As we went through the report, we were disheartened and frankly outraged to see how the Southside fell behind in every category.
As Southside residents, it really affected us to see the areas of town where we lived suffered the most across the board.
What stood out the most is that the life expectancy is up to 20 years shorter in the Southside. Not everyone lives within a 10-minute walk to a park or playground, and it’s attributed to decades of disinvestment, racist policies, and a lack of equitable funding in budget planning.
This is what led us to create Southside ReLeaf, an environmental justice organization focused on improving the quality of life in South Richmond through greening, education, and advocacy.
Since our inception in 2019, we’ve grown in many ways — from the size of our team and scale of projects to becoming a well-known nonprofit across the state. Without you, our many supporters and partners, none of this would be possible.
We’re so proud of our journey and happy to share our many accomplishments from 2019 to 2023 in our first impact report.
Join us as we celebrate our 5-year anniversary in 2024!
Amy Wentz & Sheri Shannon Co-founders, Southside ReLeaf
It’s been an honor and privilege collaborating with Amy and Sheri on Southside ReLeaf’s first Board of Directors. As a resident of Southside Richmond, I share many of their concerns regarding the historic impacts of institutional racism and the systemic racism Southside Richmonders face today. While I am still relatively new to the Southside ReLeaf team, I hope that my professional background in reforestation and green infrastructure will facilitate the mission of Southside ReLeaf as we continue to see exceptional growth in the organization and improvements in our community.
The addition of new greenspaces to Southside Richmond is long overdue and I’m delighted to see Southside ReLeaf is making it happen in conjunction with building connections with our neighbors to increase canopy coverage in residential areas through tree giveaways.
This is truly an incredible organization that is getting attention across the state as many communities see the accomplishments of Southside ReLeaf and hope to replicate Southside ReLeaf’s advocacy for more tree canopy and greenspaces in their own localities.
The future looks bright for Southside ReLeaf, so please join me in celebration of the achievements of this wonderful organization as we continue to grow greenspace in our community. I’m excited to see what Southside ReLeaf can accomplish in the years to come!
We hosted our first tree planting at Blackwell Elementary School. More than 30 volunteers, Blackwell residents and school administrators — including the principal — joined us in planting 10 native trees provided by the Richmond Tree Stewards.
The city announced the creation of five new green spaces, the first since the 1970s, in communities of color in South Richmond thanks in part to our advocacy.
Southside ReLeaf is the environmental justice representative for the Virginia Tree Conservation Workgroup commissioned by the General Assembly, providing recommendations to the Secretariats of Agriculture and Forestry and Natural Resources.
After receiving fiscal sponsorship under the Enrichmond Foundation, Southside ReLeaf becomes an official 501(c)(3) organization.
The organization is featured in PBS’ Virginia Home Grown highlighting our efforts to plant trees and empower the community through volunteerism, education, and advocacy.
Southside ReLeaf is invited to present its work at the Choose Clean Water Coalition alongside the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, one of a dozen presentations and panel discussions for the organization in 2022.
We planted 60 street trees in the Davee Gardens neighborhood, the first planting event focused on reducing flooding to generate more long-term green infrastructure improvements.
We hired our first paid staff members to provide support for programs and community reach.
In partnership with the City of Richmond, Southside ReLeaf is one of the awardees of a $6 million grant for the city.
In our original proposal for partnership with organizations across the city, we set the following goal for what we wanted to accomplish at Southside ReLeaf:
Southside ReLeaf will start changing the physical landscape of South Richmond within the next 3 to 5 years. Whether it’s with watering bags and street trees or new community gardens and park benches, our work will provide a healthier, cleaner, and safer environment for residents in the Southside.
Beyond the physical landscape, we will advocate for environmental policies and ordinances that keep Southside beautiful. This may include participating in working groups or advisory councils, supporting legislation that align with our objectives, and speaking publicly on behalf of residents. We hope to be a recognizable organization in Richmond.
Greening projects are a key component of Southside ReLeaf’s programming. Tree plantings, maintenance days for tree care, and tree giveaways are not just one-off acts of environmental stewardship — they are critical steps towards a sustainable, green future for Southside.
Parks, playgrounds, and green spaces are community assets in the city, offering numerous benefits that improve the health and overall wellbeing of residents. Trees enhance the beauty of our urban landscapes, cool temperatures to reduce the urban heat island effect, lower energy costs, minimize flooding, and improve air quality by sequestering carbon dioxide and other pollutants.
Through volunteer tree plantings and work days for tree care, we reinforce the connection between people and their local green spaces to encourage long-term, healthy tree canopy growth. Our tree giveaways encourage individuals to become active participants in greening areas with the least amount
of canopy cover, becoming environmental stewards and ambassadors for South Richmond.
Additionally, our advocacy has led more organizations to plant trees and develop community gardens in the Southside because of the growing community buy-in to green and maintain these spaces.
From 2019 to 2023, Southside ReLeaf hosted and volunteered for a variety of greening projects, with a focus on mitigating heat in South Richmond. We’ve planted more than 500 trees, given away more than 450 trees to Southside residents, and partnered with numerous organizations — such as Groundwork RVA, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Richmond Tree Stewards, and the City of Richmond — to plant, monitor, and care for hundreds of trees across South Richmond. In 2020 alone, Southside ReLeaf partnered with Reforest Richmond to help distribute 10,000 eastern redbuds across the city, including the Southside.
We’ve hosted numerous work days, prioritizing weeding, mulching, and watering the trees we’ve planted in prior years so they grow to be useful and beautiful features in Southside. In 2023, our greening projects focused on maintaining previous planting projects in South Richmond. We hosted and co-hosted five community workdays and provided critical maintenance to 57 trees. These on-the-ground and in-the-dirt projects are the perfect opportunity to plant the seeds of environmental justice and stewardship, and since 2019, our greening projects have engaged 250-plus volunteers.
The impact of Southside ReLeaf is far greater than the numbers we are reporting. We are inspiring others to invest in the Southside.
Reforesting School Campuses: Blackwell Elementary
Greening Southside Richmond Project: Swansboro Playground
Greening Southside Richmond Project:
Hickory Hill
Tree Giveaway:
Hickory Hill
Earth Day Cleanup: Broad Rock corridor
Community Work Day: Hickory Hill
Community Work Days:
Davee Gardens
Reforesting School Campuses: J.L. Francis Elementary, G.H. Reid, and Swansboro Elementary
Community Work Day: Swansboro Playground
Southside Tree Giveaway: Southside Community Center
Residential Tree Planting: Davee Gardens
Showing up for the community wholeheartedly and being a champion for the Southside — its people, culture, and future — is at the heart of everything that we do.
We know that our efforts must close the life expectancy gap for South Richmond residents. The climate crisis is disproportionately causing harm to impacted communities because of existing social inequities. For greater participation, we focus on building the brain trust of our neighbors around environmental issues so they are civically engaged and can enact the change they want to see.
In 2021 and 2022, Southside ReLeaf co-hosted listening sessions with Virginia Community Voice to hear the concerns and ideas Southside residents had for green spaces. Because of the overwhelming interest, we created the Greening Working Group (GWG), a cohort of 18 Southside residents to act as ambassadors for green spaces that prioritizes the community’s vision for greening. Members are majority Black and Latino, multigenerational, and represent various interests and professions.
The GWG spent one year learning about environmental topics like climate change, urban heat islands, green infrastructure, urban agriculture, and urban forests in English, Spanish, and ASL. We centered the history of Richmond and its racial inequities into curriculum so community members will advocate for systemic changes as well. Through the GWG, Southside ReLeaf developed a model to educate, mobilize, and compensate neighbors for their time and expertise to design Broad Rock Creek Park and onboard other new parks for the City of Richmond.
Community education is a lifelong endeavor that inspires innovative solutions and leads to positive change. We’re in the business of educating our neighbors about environmental justice, greening solutions, and how to be a proactive climate champion.
I continue to learn, grow and get involved with projects thanks to the information and education that Southside ReLeaf continues to provide me.
Denise Payne
From 2019 to 2023, Southside ReLeaf engaged with Southside residents through presentations, classroom learning, tree plantings, hands-on activities, civic association meetings, and community events — even during the height of COVID-19. While our programming shifted because of the pandemic, our work didn’t stop.
Southside ReLeaf’s focus on trees and green spaces in the Southside of Richmond has been an outstanding resource for our civic association. Swansboro West is a neighborhood in the Southside between Hull Street and Midlothian Turnpike. While there are a few remaining old growth trees, most have been lost and not replaced. As a result, our community is a heat island with many of the ill effects that causes. We also do not have any parks or open green space in our neighborhood of about 1,000 dwelling units.
We have been working with Southside ReLeaf staff on how to begin to address this. They have partnered with us and the Richmond Tree Stewards on a project to bring 100 new street trees to our community using a grant from the City. That is almost one-third more trees than exist today.
They have also sponsored training for us on the use of the Tree Equity Score Analyzer (TESA) application, which allows us to show the impact not only of the planting of these 100 trees, but also to help justify future plantings. We have 1,992
planting sites identified in the City’s tree database and only about 375 actually have trees in them. We have a long way to go, but with help from organizations like Southside ReLeaf, we have hope we can get there. How can we not with the enthusiasm and dedication of Southside ReLeaf as partners?
WORDS FROM A VOLUNTEER
Living in the Southside and being a big supporter of the environment, I was thrilled to learn there was an organization focused on tree and green spaces in our part of Richmond.
I had never heard of “heat islands” and their impact on the health and well-being of our communities. Only when we understand what they are and, as importantly, how they came to be can we work toward environmental justice and equity. This caused my wife and I to get more active in our civic association to work at the local, grassroots level to effect change that our community so desperately needs.
The work is rewarding both in the sense of having an impact and as an investment for the future of our city.
Steve Marzolf
Greening neighborhoods provides a direct benefit to improve the quality of life for Southside residents. But the long-term health and wellbeing of our neighbors depends on systemic change. Our approach to environmental justice empowers people to advocate for themselves and ensure the needs of people are met through policies and investments.
Since 2019, Southside ReLeaf has represented the interests of Southside residents by serving on several city and statewide workgroups, including the Richmond 300: A Guide for Growth Master Plan, RVAgreen 2050 Climate Equity Action Plan, and Chesapeake Bay policy roundtable. Additionally, our coalition efforts led to Richmond City Council declaring
a climate emergency and establishing a new urban forester position for the city.
Since the establishment of Southside ReLeaf, there has been a greater effort to secure additional funding, build new parks, and prioritize greening projects in South Richmond. More importantly, we amplify the concerns and interests of Southside residents so decisionmakers, the local media, organizations, and other city residents pay attention to what’s happening on the ground in our communities.
We advocate for sound policies that preserve our natural environment, strengthen climate resiliency, and provide opportunities for communities to thrive.
In 2020, the city announced the creation of five new park spaces in Southside Richmond. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney attributed the work of Southside ReLeaf in the city’s initiative to create those new spaces. Mayor Stoney said, “With the help of outstanding community experts, we’ve made an intentional effort to designate the first new parks space since the 1970s in communities of color. And we’re asking the community what they want to see in those spaces thanks to organizations like Southside ReLeaf.”
In 2021, Richmond City Council passed a Climate and Ecological Emergency Resolution recognizing the disproportionate impact climate change will have on Southside residents and the consequences inaction will have on frontline communities. The objectives in the resolution are now used as a roadmap to building a climate resilient city.
Broad Rock Creek Park, one of five new parks coming to the Southside
Richmond’s Climate and Ecological Emergency Resolution calls for the creation of a new urban forester to lead the creation of an urban forestry master plan. Southside ReLeaf played a key role in Richmond City Council allocating funding in the FY2023 budget to hire the city’s first-ever urban forester to maintain and enhance tree populations.
Working with coalition partners, Southside ReLeaf successfully advocated for passage of legislation (SB 537) at the 2022 General Assembly to authorize localities to enact tree canopy programs to protect tree populations. We also served as the environmental justice representative in the Tree Conservation Workgroup for a legislative study that provided recommendations to state lawmakers for the preservation of trees during cluster development.
In 2021, Southside ReLeaf planted 100 trees along with partners at Hickory Hill Community Center, a historically significant community center and local park in a predominantly Black and Latino neighborhood. Just a year later, the city of Richmond proposed to pave over two acres of green space at the community center to build a burn tower for a fire training facility — bringing fires, smoke, and more concrete to a renewed community park in a formerly redlined neighborhood.
We worked alongside community members to reverse the city’s decision to build a burn tower at Hickory Hill Community Center. Our advocacy included public comments, action alerts, and leveraging the news media to persuade the city to protect green space. By summer 2023, the city reversed its decision to pave over the park thanks to activism and advocacy by neighbors and community groups. Sheri attends climate policy roundtable at the Science Museum of Virginia hosted by Rep. Jennifer McClellan and NASA
There are more than 105 media hits with syndicated stories featuring Southside ReLeaf, including international news outlets.
Here are some of our favorite headlines:
Can U.S. cities use climate plans to ‘undo’ racistlegacies?
We’re only successful in this work because of the many organizations who have worked with us to improve health outcomes and the quality of life for Southside residents through greening and people-centered policy. This list is not all-encompassing, but rather a glimpse into the many supporters we have in this work. We appreciate you.
Alliance for Chesapeake Bay
Arbor Day Foundation
Biggs Road Community Garden
Capital Region Land Conservancy
Capital Trees
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Friends of Swansboro Playground
Groundwork RVA
Happily Natural Day
James River Association
Richmond Tree Stewards
Richmond ToolBank
RVA Thrives
Seeds of Change Organization
Sierra Club Falls of James Group
Virginia Clinicians for Climate Change
Virginia Community Voice (VACV)
We R Me
RideFinders
Second Baptist Church Southside
Southside Joint Civic Association
Swansboro West Civic Association
Coalitions and Campaigns
Choose Clean Water Coalition (CWC)
Reforest Richmond
Virginia Conservation Network (VCN)
Academic and Cultural Institutions
Science Museum of Virginia (SMVA)
University of Richmond
Virginia Commonwealth University
Local and State Government
City of Richmond
• Department of Public Utilities
• Department of Public Works
• Office of Sustainability
• Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities
• Richmond Grows Gardens
• Urban Forestry Division
Richmond Public Schools
Virginia Department of Forestry
Since 2019, Southside ReLeaf has experienced steady financial growth, enabling the organization to grow in capacity and in impact with each year. For the first three years of Southside ReLeaf’s existence, our fiscal agent was the Enrichmond Foundation. We transitioned to independent financial management when we were granted 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in 2021.
Southside ReLeaf had one organizational donor and 14 individual donors for a total contribution of $7,530.
Southside ReLeaf had four organizational donors and 20 individual donors for a total contribution of $9,164.44.
$250– $749
Tuckahoe Garden Club of Westhampton Cybergrants SPV, LLC
$750–$1,999
Tom DiLiberto
$2,000–$4,999
Richmond Jewish Foundation
$5,000+
Benevity
We continued to grow in 2023 with six organizations and 31 individual donors - including our first recurring monthly individual donors! We are very thankful for the $21,523.54 we received from our community.
$250 - $749
Veil Norfolk, LLC
Tuckahoe Garden Club of Westhampton Community Foundation
$750 - $1999
1st Unitarian Universalist Church
$5,000+
Good Shepherd Fund
Arts & Letters
More than 40 volunteers planted trees at Davee Gardens thanks to funding from Arbor Day Foundation and Capital One
Funder: Richmond Tree Stewards
Project: Richmond Public Schools
Tree Planting
Our first grant came from the Richmond Tree Stewards, and provided 20 trees that we used in our first-ever tree planting at Blackwell Elementary School on October 19, 2019.
Funder: Partners for Places, Virginia Outdoors Foundation, ConseRVAtion Fund
Project: Community-Rooted Greening Southside Plan
Funder: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
Project: Greening Southside Richmond Project
In 2021, Southside ReLeaf partnered with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to complete work on the Greening Southside Richmond Project awarded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. We conducted community outreach and engagement in the Swansboro and Hickory Hill neighborhoods, supported site planning, and recruited volunteers to support a residential tree giveaway and planting effort benefitting members of the South Richmond community.
We have participated in two Partner for Places (P4P) grants, the first funded by P4P and The Funders Network and the second funded by P4P, Virginia Outdoor Foundation, and the ConseRVAtion Fund. The grants supported work between December 2020 and March 2023, and focused on building a collaborative partnership with the City of Richmond to create and implement a CommunityRooted Greening Southside Plan that centers and is led by neighbors directly impacted by climate change. Southside ReLeaf conducted significant community engagement work through this grant, including the formation and management of the South Richmond Greening Collaborative.
Grants from generous community partners, foundations, and government sources have been an essential part of Southside ReLeaf’s impact since 2019. This highlight recognizes some of the most impactful grants we’ve been a part of between 2019–2023.
Funder: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association
Project: Climate Resilience and Community-Driven Action
In 2021, work began on a grant awarded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) in partnership with the Science Museum of Virginia, with work continuing into 2023. The grant was part of NOAA’s Environmental Literacy Program with the goal of giving voice to Southside residents while building collective resilience to extreme heat and flooding through urban greening projects that are informed by community vision and are in alignment with the City’s master plan and climate action plan. Southside ReLeaf supported this work by coordinating with community residents to engage them on the subject of climate resilience, and helped facilitate community forums as the grant work continued in 2023.
Funder: Arbor Day Foundation, Capital One, Virginia Department of Forestry
Project: Davee Gardens Tree Planting
Davee Gardens is one of many neighborhoods in Richmond’s Southside that experiences severe flooding due to outdated stormwater systems, a lack of green spaces, and wetter seasons due to climate change. This neighborhood is located in a district that receives little funding for infrastructure and maintenance. Thanks to a grant received from the Arbor Day Foundation and Capital One, with additional funding from the Virginia Department of Forestry, we planted 60 native trees in Davee Gardens. The trees planted not only provide environmental benefits but demonstrate to residents they are not forgotten. Now, there is a commitment to this neighborhood by the City of Richmond and additional dollars will be invested to address other needs in the community.
Funder: US Forest Service • Urban & Community Forestry (U&CF) Grant Program
Project: Outreach Support & Website Upgrade
For years, Southside ReLeaf functioned at the capacity of a full-time organization with only four volunteers who also have demanding full-time careers and family lives. All operational, strategic, policy, and community outreach activities — including administrative and financial accounting, social media management, community outreach, and event coordination — was done with this core group of volunteers. In 2022, funding from the Virginia Department of Forestry allowed us to hire a part-time program manager and outreach coordinator to keep pace with the organization’s rapid growth. With additional paid staff support, our team is able to commit more hours for program work, increase the efficiency of how we work, and connect with more neighbors.
Funder: USDA • Urban and Community Forestry Inflation Reduction Act Grants
Black-
Southside ReLeaf is part of the joint $6 million grant that was announced in September 2023. Over the course of five years, we will engage thousands of local residents with various education and outreach programs, tree plantings, giveaways, and work days while running a multimedia Cool the City Campaign “to educate Richmond city residents about the importance of planting trees, creating and maintaining green spaces, establishing and supporting community gardens, and advocating for green infrastructure and safe public access to new and improved park spaces.”
We’re also appreciative of grant funding received from:
Anonymous funders
Arbor Day Foundation
Community Foundation
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Richmond Memorial Health Foundation
Robins Foundation
Southside ReLeaf is a community-based organization committed to environmental justice in South Richmond. Our goal is to improve the life expectancy and quality of life for Southside residents by increasing green spaces, reducing pollution and improving infrastructure. We believe in uplifting voices that are often unheard and people-powered advocacy to build climate resilient neighborhoods.
Get involved at southsidereleaf.org.
