Neighborhood Climate Resilience Grant Program
The Neighborhood Climate Resilience Grant (“NCRG”) Program supports the implementation of equity-centered, neighborhood-based planning and climate resilience projects within the City of Richmond.
2025 NCRG Recipients
As the Office of Sustainability and the City of Richmond continues to implement RVAgreen 2050, we are excited to announce the second cohort of the Neighborhood Climate Resilience Grant Program! This program supports organizations and their projects that build climate resilience in frontline communities throughout Richmond.
Total Awarded: $250,000
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Renewable energy is a rapidly growing sector with high demand for skilled workers. However, vulnerable and underserved populations often face barriers to accessing training and employment opportunities in this field. Our approach aims to diversify the clean energy workforce by providing training and support to underrepresented groups, ensuring a more inclusive and equitable future for renewable energy.
Organization: FLIPP Inc.
Amount Awarded: $49,999 -
As a community-based arts organization, we prioritize climate equity through three key strategies:
Providing accessible studio spaces and financial support to artists, regardless of their economic background;
Offering free community space for educational programs, cultural events, and resource sharing; and
Creating a public green space that promotes sustainability, accessibility, and community well-being.
Organization: Studio Two Three
Amount Awarded: $49,999 -
This project will utilize RVA Goats to graze a section of invasive plants and then provide follow-up remediation and monitoring of the site to ensure healthy native habitats remain at Crooked Branch Ravine Park.
Organization: Reedy Creek Coalition
Amount Awarded: $1,500 -
Future Habitats seeks to restore the former hospital campus to a resilient native forest and prairie habitat. By the development of the Art Loop, native meadows, and invasive species management, we will create numerous opportunities of outdoor education, unique learning experiences, and wellness for our community.
Organization: Future Habitats
Amount Awarded: $25,500 -
This Urban Gardening Initiative will train 100 individuals in small-scale aquaponics, focusing on adults with autism. Participants will learn to build IBC-based aquaponics systems and cultivate vegetables and seafood, promoting community farming in low-income urban areas.
Organization: ProFarms Gateway
Amount Awarded: $48,500 -
This project aims to enhance Richmond's parks by providing a diverse range of accessible outdoor furniture. By collaborating with PRCF, ToolBank will address the current lack of standardized park amenities and create more inclusive outdoor spaces.
Organization: Richmond Community ToolBank
Amount Awarded: $25,00 -
This Soil Rehabilitation Project aims to sustainably elevate soil health, enhance natural habitat biodiversity, to help capture atmospheric carbon, and reduce the threat of climate impacts in census block 709; the most cumulatively impacted district in the state.
Organization: Renewal of Life Land Trust
Amount Awarded: $49,999
2024 NCRG Recipients
The Office of Sustainability officially announced the Neighborhood Climate Resilience Grant Program on Tuesday, June 6, 2023 with an application due date of August 4, 2023. In total, the OOS received 20 applications which were reviewed and scored by a diverse panel of city staff members spanning the Office of Sustainability, Department of Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities, Department of Public Works, and the Department of Public Utilities.
Total Awarded: $865,000
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This project will provide solar panels, rainwater catchments, and electric water pumps to enhance the respective community gardens’ irrigation systems leading to more effective food systems. These enhancements would produce and harvest more food production and sustainability to subsidize food in the respective communities.
Organization: Bridging the Gap in Virginia
Amount Awarded: $77,400
Status: Planning -
These funds will go to supporting the Greening Richmond Public Libraries initiative, specifically the implementation of the green infrastructure site plan underway at East End Branch Library Funds will be used to purchase 234 herbaceous plants, a combination of native switchgrasses and river oats, and mulch to help conserve soil moisture and limit the growth of weeds."
Organization: James River Association
Amount Awarded: $4,375
Status: Planning -
These funds will be used to plant trees along public streets, restore tree wells along public streets, and educate and engage residents. A particular goal is helping the people of our neighborhood who are the most socially vulnerable.
Organization: The Church Hill Association of RVA
Amount Awarded: $10,000
Status: Planning -
Together with Swansboro West Civic Association (SWCA), Southside ReLeaf, Groundwork RVA, and Colesville Nursery, Richmond Tree Stewards plan to focus on planting young street trees. SWCA has inventoried most of the streets in the Swansboro West area and has identified planting spots for 100 street trees.
Organization: Richmond Tree Stewards
Amount Awarded: $63,000
Status: Planning -
The Chimborazo Native Food Project is using our grant funds to expand the native community orchard with native fruit tree and shrub plantings, and the construction of a grapevine trellis. We’re also now expanding our invasive plant removal with goat grazing and targeted treatment so that we can install a large native grassland on a hillside.
Organization: Chimborazo Native Food Project
Amount Awarded: $11,673
Status: In Process -
Southside ReLeaf is seeking funding to improve Blackwell/Charlie Sydnor Playground (Blackwell Playground) in the Blackwell neighborhood on Richmond’s Southside. Partners, alongside community members, will convert an underused open, grass-lawn park that lacks adequate amenities into a thoughtfully planned, beautiful community asset featuring urban green infrastructure stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs).
Organization: Southside ReLeaf
Amount Awarded: $61,079
Status: Planning -
This project will specifically focus on analyzing neighborhood-level energy consumption data in the City of Richmond, creating a heat map to identify energy disparities, and formulating targeted solutions to improve the quality of life for residents.
Organization: Community Climate Collaborative
Amount Awarded: $27,000
Status: Planning -
These funds will help them to continue making meals utilizing locally grown, sustainable produce for those in need and to partner with more community organizations. Their goal is to reach more kids of low-income families and provide meals after school or on the weekends when they may not have steady access to food.
Organization: SevaTruck Richmond Foundation
Amount Awarded: $7,500
Status: Planning -
Happily Natural will leverage these funds to train community members in urban farming and enhance the Sankofa Community Orchards infrastructure as a sustainable urban farm demonstration. HND’s training programs work in synergy with our 6 urban farms and gardens located in both Northside and Southside.
Organization: Happily Natural
Amount Awarded: $125,000
Status: Planning -
Tech for Troops would use the funds to promote electronics drives across RVA to lessen the amount of e-waste landfill, promote recycling, and support general waste reduction and sustainability efforts.
Organization: Tech for Troops
Amount Awarded: $60,000
Status: Planning -
This project would support both staffing costs but importantly the costs associated with transferring properties to the City of Richmond for future parks that have been coordinated with the Department of Parks and Recreation.
Organization: Capital Region Land Conservancy
Amount Awarded: $100,000
Status: Planning -
This funding will primarily support the walking for fresh fruits and veggies plus supplies and promotion. Taken-A-Lap exercise and nutrition incentive program to increase purchasing power for fresh fruits and vegetables and to encourage healthy eating and exercise, and promoting a healthier, more sustainable community.
Organization: Second Baptist Church
Amount Awarded: $58,450
Status: Planning -
Storefront aims to leverage these funds to bring the two programs (Design Session and City Builders Design Workshop) together to continue working with the partner and guide this project into the next phase through additional educational opportunities, design development, and multi-level resources (i.e. connections to professional contacts, similar case studies, cost estimates, and material sourcing) Storefront will convene community members to envision a garden plan with climate resilience at its center.
Organization: Storefront for Community Design
Amount Awarded: $98,820
Status: Planning -
Girls For A Change would like to leverage these funds for a school-based food sustainability and justice program. Through our program, they will partner with organizations that produce locally sourced, sustainble food products for schools and the community, like Eat Smart, Sankofa Farms, The Kitchen Magician, 1115 Mobile Kitchen and two RPS schools (preferably an elementary school and/or a small population high school to start) to provide sustainable lunches once a week.
Organization: Girls for a Change
Amount Awarded: $50,000
Status: Planning -
Living Waters Community Center will leverage these funds is to increase the number of native trees in the Southside of Richmond, particularly along streets and medians.
Organization: Living Water Community Center
Amount Awarded: $40,000
Status: Planning -
Capital Trees aims to use these funds to support their work to transform the Hotchkiss Field and Community Center’s 1.88 underused acres of turf into an inviting urban landscape that includes walking trails, seating areas, shade trees, a pollinator garden, and native shrubs and perennials. The green space is designed to meet the needs of the humans who call the surrounding neighborhoods home, and the wildlife and pollinators who need an oasis amidst a largely urban area.
Organization: Capital Trees
Amount Awarded: $36,000
Status: Planning -
Kinfolk Community’s conservation/urban agriculture workforce development program will offer youth paid training and work experience on a variety of conservation projects as well as the chance to build valuable life skills and personal resilience in a supportive environment. Some of those projects include:
Training – urban agriculture and life skills (3 teams of 10 = 30 youth)
Building and maintenance of community gardens at MLK Middle School and Gilpin Court
Planting trees at Gilpin and MLK Middle School (50 fruit bearing trees, 50 other)
Beautification and cleaning – Gilpin Court
Organization: Kinfolk Community
Amount Awarded: $35,000
Status: Planning