RICHMOND, Va. — From Gilpin Court to Forest Hill Park, volunteers came out in droves for Richmond's inaugural Day of Service Saturday, part of Mayor Danny Avula's push to get residents to connect and improve the city in small ways.
"It's about meeting new people, serving alongside fellow Richmonders, building bridges through shared experience, and a shared love of our city," Mayor Avula said as he addressed a crowd of volunteers at the Southside Community Center Saturday morning. "It's rolling up our sleeves and really being part of the heart and the soul, the story, of the next chapter of this city."
Avula shared his top priorities for the city, including creating an Office of Gun Violence Prevention within the Mayor's Office and a council to tackle aging infrastructure.
He also addressed what residents tell him is their biggest problem: finding affordable housing.
"I think the challenges of the economy right now, the fact that housing costs have gone up and up and up has kept that really central to our administration," Avula said. "We have done some good things already and inherited some good directions, but we’ll need to continue investing in affordable housing and housing production across the board to be able to keep housing costs down.”
Though his first days in office were marked by Richmond's nearly week-long water crisis, Mayor Avula said his biggest challenge so far has been navigating changes at the federal level that impact the city, including losing $12 million in federal grant money meant to improve the city's water system.
"We are having to find other ways to fund that, so we are adjusting our capital improvement budget to make sure that we’re prioritizing investment in the water distribution system, but then there’s a lot of anticipation and understanding of all the federal funds that are coming into our city. And it's significant, over $200 million of federal funding support for our local budget," Avula said. "So we’ve got to keep an eye on it and stay in close touch with our federal representatives and let them know how the decisions that the administration is making is impacting folks on the ground.”
In the meantime, he's charging Richmond residents to share their concerns with his office and serve where they can.
Jennifer Greene, who works with Sentara, took that charge, volunteering with the hospital's mobile clinic to help give free health screenings.
"We invite you to come and ask us questions, and we invite you to participate," Greene said. "It's not just saying that 'Oh, we think that there's a need for this.' But it's really going out to the people, and asking them, 'Is this being helpful?' And if it is, how? How can we continue it and make it better?"
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