For the first time, the City of Richmond Finance Department will pick up application materials for those interested in applying for the city’s Tax Relief for the Elderly and Disabled Program.
 
“Due to the ongoing pandemic, we know some seniors are uncomfortable visiting public spaces like a post office or City Hall,” said Finance Director John Wack. “We want everyone eligible for this program to participate, but transportation and public health concerns are very real barriers to participation. With curbside document pickup, we can remove that barrier.”
 
If applicants request curbside service, Department of Finance staff will visit the provided address to retrieve application materials from residents. Pickup will be contactless to comply with public health best practices.
 
At the Monday, September 28 meeting of Richmond City Council, the council approved the Stoney administration’s request to extend the deadline for the Tax Relief for the Elderly and Disabled Program to October 30.
 
Participants interested in curbside pickup should call 804-646-6015 to request the service. The service can be requested through October 28.
 
This service is available to first time applicants and residents applying for recertification.
 
To learn more about the program, visit the Finance Department’s Announcements page here.

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The City of Richmond has received a grant from Capital One through the company’s recently launched Impact Initiative, a program that seeks to close gaps in equity and promote social and economic opportunity in the Richmond region.
 
The support from Capital One will help the city fund an equity study, equity and inclusivity training for city staff, and the development of action plans to operationalize solutions throughout city policies, practices and procedures.
 
“Our goal is to normalize racial equity and justice within city conversations, work and culture and operationalize them so that equity and justice are visible in everything our city does,” said Mayor Stoney. “We are truly grateful for the support of partners like Capital One helping to expand our capacity to do this critical work.”
 
“Richmond was once the second largest epicenter of the domestic trading of enslaved Africans, served as the former capital of the confederacy and was a stalwart of Massive Resistance, so it is unequivocally clear that racism has been intentionally built into systems and structures within this city that have harmed Black, brown and Indigenous people for generations,” said Osita Iroegbu, Senior Policy Advisor for Community Engagement, Inclusion and Equity. “It is now our obligation to be just as intentional about creating new systems that work for, and no longer against, those communities.”

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Today, Mayor Stoney announced that the administration’s Biennial Real Estate Strategies Plan places an emphasis on using city land to promote affordable housing development and affordable homeownership.
 
The City of Richmond administration will present the 2020 Biennial Real Estate Strategies Plan to Richmond City Council at the body’s September 28 meeting. This year, the plan’s focus is using city real estate as a means to equitably increase affordable housing accessibility and homeownership opportunities throughout the city.
 
“A fervent sense of restorative justice should impact everything coming out of City Hall,” said Mayor Stoney. “The issuance of this plan might be standard, but the contents are uniquely dedicated to using the city’s assets to promote affordable housing and help our city recover from the setbacks of the pandemic.”
 
The plan lists 66 parcels of city-owned real estate throughout the city. Each parcel is categorized for one of three proposed uses.
 
The plan proposes the plurality of parcels be conveyed to the Maggie Walker Community Land Trust (MWCLT) for the development of affordable homes.

According to Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Economic and Community Development Sharon Ebert, who was hired by Mayor Stoney in 2019, the city should use available real estate holdings to promote equitable affordable housing development.
 
“To make housing affordable, we have to make the price of developing that housing affordable,” said DCAO Ebert. “If non-profit affordable housing developers have to pay market rate, that adds to the costs and makes it more challenging to serve lower-income residents. We can make city-owned land available at below-market rates for developers who share our commitment to affordable housing.”
 
The third group of parcels are proposed to host future large-scale mixed-use and mixed-income development. As such, some of these high-value parcels will be sold through a competitive RFP process to provide immediate cash proceeds to address CIP needs and result in important community benefits.
 
“We intentionally designed this plan for the conveyance of city-owned lands to increase affordable housing development, facilitate Black and brown homeownership through the MWCLT and provide a much-needed stimulus kick for the city’s CIP funds,” said Mayor Stoney of the plan.
 
City Code §8-56(c) requires that the Chief Administrative Officer provide a biennial real estate strategies plan consisting of recommendations for the sale and disposition of city-owned parcels of real estate to Richmond City Council every even year.
 
Once the plan is presented, the administration will introduce legislation to move forward with elements of the plan. Any conveyances of city-owned land do require approval by ordinance of City Council.
 
Below is a timeline of eviction diversion and affordable housing action items in since Mayor Stoney hosted the Affordable Housing and Community Development Summit.
 
November 2017 – Affordable Housing and Community Development Summit
January 2019 – Founding of the first of its kind in the Commonwealth Eviction Diversion Program
March 2019 – City hires in a permanent capacity Sharon Ebert, DCAO of Economic and Community Development
August 2019 – City team began work on the Equitable and Affordable Housing Plan
August – December 2019 – City team meets with stakeholders to develop plan
January 2020 – Mayor Stoney notes that the city is on track to meet its goal of 1500 affordable units by the end of 2020 and mentions Equitable Affordable Housing Plan (delayed due to pressing needs brought on by the pandemic)
Spring 2020 – City dedicates roughly 14M to rent relief, eviction diversion and emergency shelter beds to manage the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic
September 2020 – Stoney administration introduced ordinance to earmark funds for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, presents Equitable Affordable Housing Plan to City Council

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On Wednesday, Mayor Stoney announced that he will recommend part of the city’s projected surplus balance fund a pilot program dedicated to addressing mental health and substance abuse disorder challenges in underserved communities.
 
The city will work alongside the Richmond City Health District (RCHD) and Richmond Behavioral Health Authority (RBHA) in designing and implementing this pilot.
 
“Richmond residents who live with mental and behavioral health challenges are experiencing compounded harms during the pandemic,” said Mayor Stoney. “But this program should not be limited to short-term relief. We need a permanent culture shift to destigmatize seeking help.”
 
The year-long pilot aims to increase the accessibility of mental and behavioral health support in communities that suffer from disparities in care and outcomes. Director of RCHD Dr. Danny Avula asserts this begins with listening.
 
“Our intention with this program is to listen to the community and use that input to define the scope of long-term services,” said Dr. Avula. “Does the community need a psychiatrist who can write prescriptions, or would a licensed clinical social worker who can provide ongoing therapy do the most good?”
 
“A very real stigma still exists around seeking mental and behavioral health treatment,” said Director of RBHA Dr. John Lindstrom. “With this pilot program, we have the opportunity to bring quality, reliable treatment to communities that have historically been underserved in this arena.”
 
RBHA treats patients referred to the organization, but the onus traditionally is on the patient to seek out services and follow through on referrals. This pilot program, by establishing a mental health presence in RCHD’s community resource centers, will increase accessibility and destigmatize seeking out support.
 
The mayor announced on September 16 that he will be allocating $500,000 in surplus Special Purpose funds to address health disparities in Richmond. Part of this allocation will go toward funding the pilot program.

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Mayor Stoney and LGBTQ advocates raised a Pride flag at city hall to recognize the city’s annual PrideFest weekend.
 
“LGBTQ Richmonders should know that this city stands behind them,” said Mayor Stoney. “No matter who you love or how you identify, you are a valued member of our community deserving of love, support and justice.”
 
This is the first time in the city’s history a Pride flag has been raised at City Hall. The flag flies on the Broad Street side of the complex in recognition of the city’s annual PrideFest weekend. 
 
The city chose to raise the Progress Pride flag. The flag incorporates black and brown stripes and the colors of the Transgender Pride flag to represent the necessity for champions of the LGBTQ community to bring a racial justice, inclusive lens to the work.
 
“We chose the Progress Pride flag both for this moment and to represent our ongoing work,” said Mayor Stoney. “To build an equitable, inclusive city, we must move forward with intentional intersectionality. Nobody should be left behind.”
 
City officials were joined by James Millner, Interim Executive Director of Virginia Pride, Lacette Cross and Louise “Cheezi” Farmer, founders of Black Pride RVA, Zakia McKensey, founder of Nationz Foundation, and various other representatives of LGBTQ groups in Richmond.
 
At the event, James Millner presented Virginia Pride’s annual Firework Award, given individuals and organizations that are catalysts for change for the LGBTQ community. Past recipients include former Governor Terry McAuliffe, transgender activists Gavin Grimm and Zakia McKensey, Bill Harrison and Ted Lewis. This year’s recipient was Black Pride RVA.
 
“Richmond’s LGBTQ community is tremendously grateful to the mayor, the City Council and the City of Richmond for taking this historic step of raising a Pride flag at City Hall in recognition of RVA’s PrideFest weekend,” said James Millner, Interim Executive Director of Virginia Pride. “This gesture of inclusivity sends a powerful message that this city’s LGBTQ residents and visitors are not only welcome here but are celebrated as strong and vibrant threads of the fabric of Richmond.”
 
The mayor also issued a proclamation recognizing Virginia PrideFest weekend. You can read the proclamation here.
 
The flag will fly over City Hall through PrideFest weekend and the end of September to close out Virginia Pride Month.
 
Video of the flag raising will be available on the city’s YouTube channel.

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