In Lynchburg, Virginia, flood occurrences, water contamination, and extreme temperature have been identified as current hazards which, due to climate change, will likely be exacerbated. In 2022 and 2023, the Lynchburg Rising project, funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency Office of Environmental Justice , engaged historically disinvested neighborhoods in the City, which are disproportionately impacted by these hazards, to better understand their risks and to develop community capacity to address them.
Lynchburg Rising was a collaborative effort between Resilient Virginia, Sobis Inc, Leslie King Consulting, the City of Lynchburg, the Central Virginia Planning District Commission, the University of Lynchburg, Randolph College, and the Jubilee Center. The project set out to advance the work currently taking place in Lynchburg with a focus on four vulnerable neighborhoods.
This report includes details about the data used in selecting neighborhoods for the project as well as information from the neighborhood meetings and community outreach events.