New to Lynchburg, VA? Find Out How to Get Connected
Relocatees share how they got involved and made friends in LYH.
Moving to a new city can be a bit daunting, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the area and don’t have relatives or friends nearby. Thankfully, for those who relocate to Lynchburg, VA, it doesn’t take long for the city to feel like home.
With a population just below 80,000, LYH is small enough that it’s easy for newcomers to meet people. Plus, they can attend community events, volunteer for nonprofits, and join area organizations, like the Young Professionals of Central Virginia (YPCV). We spoke with three people who relocated to Lynchburg to learn how they got connected to their new community. Here’s what they had to say.
Names: Connor Kenaston and Maria Niechwiadowicz
Ages: 31
What brought you to Lynchburg?
We moved to Lynchburg from Charlottesville, VA, (during the summer of 2022) after Connor graduated from the University of Virginia with his Ph.D. in history and began working as a professor at Randolph College. Maria quickly found a job as the head pastry chef and general manager of The Flour District, a European-style bakery.
What do you love about Lynchburg?
We have loved exploring the hiking trails around Lynchburg. Some of our favorites from this past year are Cole Mountain and Little Rocky Row. The Blackwater Creek Trail and Riverside Park are lovely for shorter walks.
We have also really enjoyed going to the theater. Endstation Theatre Company’s Treasure Island and Wolfbane Productions’ musical rendition of A Midsummer Night’s Dream were both fabulous this summer, and The Academy Center of the Arts is always great.
How did you begin to make friends and get to know your community?
We tried to be intentional about connecting with colleagues, friends of friends and neighbors. For us that often meant inviting folks over to our place or meeting somewhere tasty like Rivermont Pizza.
What area nonprofits or organizations were you able to connect with?
We’ve really enjoyed connecting with Lynchburg Grows, Great Day Gardens, Hill City Pride, the Legacy Museum of African American History, Pierce Street Gateway, Lynchburg Public Library, Lynchburg Parks & Recreation and the Randolph College community.
What community events would give new arrivals a sense of the community?
We love going to Lynchburg Hillcats baseball games, the LOVELYH Market, and sports and cultural events at Randolph College. Though Maria usually has to work at The Flour District most Saturdays, we’ve also enjoyed going to the Lynchburg Community Market. As far as getting to know the community, we’ve also found it super helpful to read the Lynchburg News & Advance.
What advice do you have for newcomers?
Throw yourself out there and keep at it! Developing meaningful relationships takes time, but if you keep at it, you’ll find your people.
Name: Megan Huffman
Age: 42
Megan is the director of SHARE Greater Lynchburg, a community engagement conduit offering simple ways for neighbors, nonprofits and businesses to come together to strengthen the local community.
What brought you to Lynchburg?
I moved to Lynchburg 10 years ago for my husband’s job, which is at the hospital here. We moved here from Charleston, SC, where we lived for three years while we were there for his schooling. We wanted to relocate back to Virginia because we’re both from here – not Lynchburg, specifically, but the Virginia area. We wanted to be closer to family.
Tell us about SHARE Greater Lynchburg.
SHARE was an outgrowth of COVID-19. A group of community and civic leaders came together to talk about ways to help nonprofits – and just generally the economic crisis that was upon us – and how to help them survive and thrive.
They looked into different platforms, and there was a connection to SHARE Charlotte, SHARE Detroit, SHARE Omaha, and some other bigger cities. We demoed it and launched it in July 2020, which is when I came on board. It’s a platform managed by the Greater Lynchburg Community Foundation, where neighbors can find ways to donate, volunteer and give back through Amazon wish lists and different things like that for all the organizations in our community.
We have 162 nonprofit organizations represented, and it’s a great way for our community members to get involved.
Can people be matched by their skills or interests when searching SHARE’s website?
The site uses keyword technology, and those keywords are programmed into it when the nonprofit sets it up, so it has a lot of search functionality. If you put in ‘food,’ for example, 22 organizations pop up that have to do with food insecurity. It also has filtering technology, where people can look for group work if they’re part of a civic organization like a Rotary club or a faith community and want to volunteer. There are also options for different ages, so you can select an age range, say 5-12 or 13-17 for kids who want to volunteer with their families or are doing community service for high school credit. A number of nonprofits have found people who have become regular volunteers.
What has your success rate been like in matching volunteers to nonprofits in Lynchburg?
We’ve filtered several hundred volunteer applications through the site over the last few years, then it’s up to the nonprofit to coordinate with them. We’ve also had a number of wonderful collaboration stories that have come out of SHARE because we do quarterly mixers and monthly lunch and learns where the nonprofits can mingle and learn from each other.
For example, the Lynchburg Humane Society and Meals on Wheels now work together because they realized that if someone is food insecure that their pet is also food insecure, so they will bring bags of pet food with the Meals on Wheels.
What advice do you have for newcomers?
That really depends on the stage of life you’re in. If you’re a young professional, the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance’s young professional program, YPCV, is really robust, and they have a lot of gatherings and do social service together.
The Vector Space is an awesome maker space here, where you can join monthly. It’s a wonderful group of people from all over who come in and work on your projects or take classes. There are a lot of outdoor activities here, like canoeing, kayaking, hiking and mountain climbing, that have groups. If you’re into the outdoors, that’s a great way to connect.
I moved here with an eight-week-old, and I used organizations like The Motherhood Collective, the Lynchburg Public Library and Amazement Square, as I went to every story time and made friends with people who had children around the same age – some have become lifelong friends. And, of course, SHARE Greater Lynchburg is an awesome way to find volunteer opportunities and meet people, as well.
This article is sponsored by the City of Lynchburg offices of Economic Development & Tourism and Communications & Public Engagement.