This Is Compassion?; More Jailhouse Silence; Launch Point for Public Housing?; Tackling Poverty; Housing with the Kitchen Sink.

RVA 5x5 - April 1, 2023

No algorithms. No content filters. Honest and insightful analysis from Richmond, VA.

In today’s edition of news you need about RVA, we have stories on:

• The disturbing lack of interest addressing the problems at the city’s Department of Social Services. Not only does the Virginia Department of Social Services show that the city is failing far below many state benchmarks, but most employees are still under Covid protocols and only coming in to the main office one day per week.

• With an influx of federal dollars this week and new leadership, dedication, and strategy, it might finally be the launch point for a true transformation to transform the city’s public housing communities and neighborhoods.

• Rents are going up, out-of-state buyers are buying one of every five houses in Richmond, zoning changes need to be debated, and collaborative solutions are needed to what is now officially an affordable housing “crisis” and what the city is saying about the coming strategy to address it.

• The city’s Office of Community Wealth Building (OCWB) reported to City Council this week that the city’s poverty rate declined and that its targeted programs are having an effect as are some demographic and economic changes.

• The city jail saw another inmate death this week — the fifth in the past year. Once again, there is not much being said by the Sheriff, the state board which oversees the corrections facilities, or city officials who pay a chunk of their budget. Everyone seems content to remain silent and content to refrain from referring to it as a “crisis.”