Member Highlight: Southside ReLeaf
For this Member Highlight, the Coalition’s Virginia State Lead, Pat Calvert, interviews Amy Wentz and Sheri Shannon, cofounders of Southside ReLeaf. Their edited conversation follows.
What city and state is your organization based in? What area (local, regional, statewide) do you serve?
We work locally in the Southside of Richmond, Virginia.
Tell us about your organization and your mission.
Southside ReLeaf is a community organization committed to building a healthy, equitable, and sustainable environment for all residents in South Richmond.
Through decades of historic redlining and subsequently urban renewal, Richmond has created distinct socio-economic disparities in many of its neighborhoods. Such disparities have led to the neglect of many neighborhoods and exposure to hazardous materials from solid waste treatment plants, point source discharges, generators, and unsafe buildings. Too many of our communities continue to be part of a system that creates and reinforces health disparities based on their proximity to toxic waste and pollution, and limited access to healthy foods, recreational resources, and preventative health care.
Our aim is to tackle environmental disparities by building green spaces, reducing pollution, and increasing infrastructure assets to positively adapt to a changing climate. We are committed to improving the quality of life and wellness for communities in the Southside.
“This has been an incredible experience and journey for us. We are celebrating five years in 2024 and we have only made it this far because of a deep and compassionate commitment from volunteers, staff, board members, and stakeholders. From tree plantings to garden installations and their continued maintenance, we engage with real people to institute change both through on-the-ground projects but also through meaningful policy change to undo decades of unjust policies that have been wrought upon these communities.”
What is one of your current projects you are the most excited about?
Excessive heat is recognized as the greatest weather-related cause of death in the United States. Our “Cool the City” campaign is a multimedia PSA focused on climate solutions that will reduce extreme heat and save lives. From planting trees and lowering energy bills to advocating for more investments in our community, we are empowering neighbors to take action. We need to to mobilize elected officials, businesses, community groups, students, and others to prioritize local climate action solutions as identified in the city’s RVAgreen 2050 and this intentional campaign helps us get there by increasing the brain trust of our neighbors.
What issue area do you hope to focus on in the future? How is it relevant for clean water restoration?
The first is “Urbanized Flooding”…there is a clear need for neighborhood-level data. What we have been thinking about is “what does community science look like in capturing this information”? We are reaching out to partners – especially those in Hampton Roads such as Wetlands Watch – to learn best practices and tools to crowdsource and to communicate flooding data.
Also, when we have heavy rain events, waste from roads as well as Richmond’s combined sewer overflow (CSO) system goes into the James River and feeder streams. Neighbors are able to talk about it from their own anecdotal experiences but leaders aren’t necessarily able to mobilize to do anything to mitigate and reduce these impacts.
Finally, we want to get the data to make the case and develop the arguments that reduce the negative impacts of stormwater runoff and CSO discharges.
“We will continue to center our neighbors’ voices and goals in this important work.”
Photo credits: Southside ReLeaf
