“The cemetery was the only green space we had.” — Greening Southside Richmond

September 17, 2026, Imagine5

For Sheri Shannon, environmental justice isn’t just a concept; it’s a lived reality. Growing up in Richmond, Virginia, the only public green space nearby was the local cemetery. She lived in treeless streets, and the city dump was down the road. “I did not realize that was environmental racism until I got older, because everyone’s neighborhood did not look like that,” she says, adding that Richmond ranks third in the country for asthma-related deaths.

“This is preventable,” she says. And she set out to prove it, co-founding Southside ReLeaf in 2019 to green local communities and improve not just quality of life, but also life expectancy. 

She teamed up with a group of volunteers, and since its inception, Southside ReLeaf has already planted and given away over 3,000 trees and is creating five new parks, all in communities of color. These are the first new parks created in the area in 50 years. In addition to restoring green spaces, the organization also advances policy change and environmental education, working with residents and local leaders.

“It’s very inspirational what can happen over the course of just one generation,” Shannon says.

She shares her story here.