Project Updates
Project Overview
The Richmond region is developing a shared plan for Resilience Hubs—trusted community spaces that support residents before, during, and after emergencies. These hubs can provide information, supplies, services, and connection during crises like extreme heat, hurricanes, or power outages, especially for those most at risk.
With funding from the FEMA Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program, PlanRVA is leading a multi-year effort to understand local needs, identify opportunities, and create a regional implementation roadmap.
In Spring 2025, we kicked off the project with a workshop attended by local government staff from across the region. Now, we’re entering a listening and learning phase—gathering input from localities to ensure that any resilience hub strategies reflect real needs, local context, and existing strengths.
This site will be updated regularly throughout the process. Explore this page to learn more, and Follow the project up top to stay involved.
FAQ
A Resilience Hub is a trusted, community-serving facility designed to support residents before, during, and after emergencies. Hubs can provide resources like charging stations, cooling or warming centers, food and water, health services, or just a place to get reliable information. They are tailored to the specific needs of the community they serve and are especially important for supporting vulnerable populations during times of crisis.
The Richmond region faces increasing risks from extreme weather, power outages, flooding, and other disruptions. Many local governments already have emergency plans in place, but Resilience Hubs offer a way to fill key gaps, especially for residents who are harder to reach during emergencies. This project provides a chance to coordinate regionally, learn from each other, and develop a roadmap that reflects local context and shared goals.
The goal is to develop a Regional Resilience Hub Implementation Plan that:
- Identifies local needs and opportunities for hub development;
- Recommends strategies for coordination across emergency management, social services, and planning;
- Proposes potential hub types, functions, and partnership models;
- Builds a stronger, more connected safety net for residents across the region.
This planning effort is not about building new facilities right now. It’s about creating a framework to guide future investment, decision-making, and implementation at both the local and regional levels.
This planning effort covers the entire Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which includes 17 jurisdictions: the Cities of Richmond, Petersburg, Colonial Heights, and Hopewell; the Town of Ashland; the Counties of Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent, Powhatan, Prince George, and Sussex; and the sovereign Tribal Nations of the Upper Mattaponi Indian Tribe and the Chickahominy Indian Tribe–Eastern Division.
This regional approach ensures that Resilience Hub strategies reflect the unique needs of urban, suburban, rural, and Tribal communities across the entire Richmond area.
