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City Hall to remain closed until April 13 Richmond City Hall, which has been shuttered to the public since mid-March, will remain closed to non-essential employees until at least Monday, April 13, it has been announced.
Expectations are that the city’s municipal center will remain closed as long as Gov. Ralph S. Northam’s emergency order on coronavirus remains in place.
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One bright spot for residents is that parking at meters and other spaces with time limits will remain free during the time that City Hall is closed.
However, illegal parking, such as blocking a driveway or parking in front of a fire hydrant, is still subject to ticketing, officials said. That apparently also includes parking on the street in spaces marked by a “No Parking” sign.
Councilwoman Kim B. Gray, 2nd District, noted that police officers wrote tickets last weekend for vehicles parked on streets in Byrd Park. Parking on certain streets in the park has been banned on weekend afternoons and evenings for more than two decades.
Richmond Public Schools offers range of food pickup sites Richmond Public Schools has updated its system of food distribution for students and families to access meals.
“Grab and Go” meals are being delivered by school bus to 43 locations around the city on a schedule from Monday through Friday, according to RPS Superintendent Jason Kamras. The buses will be at each location for 30 minutes, with volunteers helping to hand out the meals. Spanish-speaking staff will be on hand for routes in South Side.
RPS also has 10 school-based distribution sites open from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday for families to pick up food. For updates and additional information: www. rvaschools.net/covid-19 The distribution locations:
Corrections
A lawsuit filed by former Manhattan prosecutor Linda Fairstein against Netflix and film director Ava DuVernay over her portrayal in the streaming service’s series about the Central Park Five case is still active.
An article published in the March 26-28 edition of the Free Press incorrectly stated that the case had been dismissed.
A separate defamation suit filed against Netflix and Ms. DuVernay last fall over the miniseries was dismissed on March 23. That suit, brought by John E. Reid and Associates, a police training firm, alleged the series falsely portrayed the “Reid Technique,” its widely used method for conducting interrogations. In that suit, federal Judge Manish S. Shah found the series’ depiction was protected under the First Amendment.
Additionally, a photograph supplied by the Associated Press and published with the article contained misinformation. The photograph showed actress Vera Farmiga, who portrayed prosecutor Elizabeth Lederer in the series. Ms. Fairstein was portrayed in the series by actress Felicity Huffman. • Case Western Reserve University is located in Cleveland, Ohio. An article in the March 26-28 edition of the Free Press about state Health Commissioner M. Norman Oliver misidentified the location of the school where he obtained his medical degree.
Cityscape Slices of life and scenes in Richmond
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press Improvements to Abner Clay Park continue to take shape. New trees have been planted and old concrete has been replaced in the park at Leigh Street and Brook Road in Jackson Ward. Richmond is investing $1.27 million in renovating the park. Centennial Contractor Enterprises began the work in October, with completion expected within 60 to 90 days, including installation of a multipurpose field for football and other sports. An anonymous donation of $200,000 enabled installation of a new children’s playground, according to a city official. The only question is whether the pandemic will have cleared up so children and families can start using the park when the work is finished.
Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club becomes temporary shelter for homeless
By Jeremy M. Lazarus
The Salvation Army this week turned its recently renovated Boys and Girls Club in Church Hill into a temporary 75-bed shelter for homeless people.
The club has been closed in recent weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic. The move came as city and nonprofit officials scrambled to find additional space for unsheltered people, including 100 mostly African-American men and women who recently were moved into area hotels and motels for two weeks that are coming to an end.
Many of them came from Cathy’s Camp, a tent encampment in Shockoe Valley that the city recently razed.
Despite the relocation of up to 80 people, the encampment site continues to attract those who have no roof over their heads. Between seven and 12 people continue to sleep on the concrete sidewalks and driveway of the adjacent Annie Giles Community Resource Center on Oliver Hill Way.
The center, which serves as the city’s winter overflow shelter, stays closed except when the temperature is forecast to drop to 40 degrees, as was the case Tuesday night. The shelter then was open from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. for those who needed a place to stay that night.
The conversion of the Boys and Girls Club at 3701 R St. into a temporary home for those in need is providing relief for other crowded, nonprofit shelters, allowing people considered at higher risk for catching coronavirus to be moved from other sites and freeing up some of their beds for newcomers.
The Salvation Army, which operates a shelter in Downtown for 55 men, women and families, stated in its announcement that people relocated to the Church Hill club would find clean bedding, showers, health care screenings and three daily meals.
While that will help provide more room, more is needed, officials said.
“We are still working to bring on more shelter capacity and to connect people to housing when possible,” wrote Kelly King Horne, executive director of Homeward, the regional coordinating and planning group for the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care for homeless services.
Among other options, Richmond Public Schools has offered two vacant buildings, Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club at 3701 R St.
the Albert V. Norrell Annex in North Side and Clark Springs Elementary School in the near West End, as potential sites to house homeless people for 90 days, it has been learned.
“I don’t think that would be an appropriate use of those buildings,” 2nd District City Councilwoman Kim B. Gray said Tuesday. “Not when we have plenty of other spaces, such as the Richmond Coliseum and the Richmond Convention Center, that are much closer to VCU’s medical facilities and are not in residential areas.”
In a series of text messages, Ms. Horne stated, “We are hoping to reduce” the number of people temporarily housed in motels and hotels “as additional options come online.”
Among the options is permanent housing that is allowing five people to move from a shelter into a home. But there is no expectation that will happen for large numbers of people in shelters given the cost.
Despite the temporary shelter in Church Hill, the space available is being outstripped by demand “from people still sleeping outside and folks calling the homeless crisis line,” as well as those still in hotels, Ms. Horne said.
She stated that the goal is to provide up to 90 days of temporary housing at this point, though she noted “we cannot guarantee the resources. We are working night and day to put resources in place.”
There are hopes, she stated, that the $2.2 trillion federal stimulus bill might provide more resources for the homeless.
City Hall has stepped up as well. “The city provided the funding that allowed the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care to place the 100 people in hotels and help with meals,” according to Reginald M. Gordon, the city’s deputy chief administrative officer for human services.
Mayor Levar M. Stoney created a $2.1 million fund that led to Cathy’s Camp residents being relocated and the camp demolished.
“Now the work has pivoted to a housing plan for each resident. Each resident will be placed in a shelter space or other appropriate housing as soon as possible,” Mr. Gordon stated.
“Some of the residents have already been placed in housing or have gone back home to family,” he continued.
When it comes to the 100 people in hotels and motels and what happens when most are scheduled to check out on Friday, April 3, Mr. Gordon offered assurances they would be taken care of. He stated that the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care would either extend the hotel stays as they work out a housing plan or move them to another location.
Dr. Arlene Simmons, a volunteer who has been tasked by the Continuum of Care to provide meals for 75 people who were relocated to the Rodeway Inn in Henrico County, said she hopes that will be the case. She said hotel stays were extended through Thursday for most, but she has not been advised on what will happen after that for those who remain.
“I am hopeful it will all work out,” she said.
Monthly food stamp benefit amounts increased
More money for groceries is being rushed to families hardpressed by job losses and other challenges.
The Virginia Department of Social Services has announced that extra food stamp benefits are being rushed to recipients to help keep food on the table for people in need.
On March 25, the department raised the average per person payment from $119 a month to $146 a month, the maximum allowed under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the announcement stated.
Recipients had extra money loaded to their SNAP Electronic Benefit Transfer or EBT debit cards last Wednesday to reflect the higher amounts, the department stated. In April, recipients will receive their regular amounts and have the additional amount added on the 16th. In Richmond, 18,206 households with 34,511 people received $4.4 million to pay for food, the department’s February report showed. Across the state, 333,669 households with 679,702 people shared in $80 million in February.
The department is projecting a surge in applications for food benefits help given the massive layoffs the pandemic is causing.
The new benefit levels are $194 per month for a single person; $355 a month for a household of two; $509 a month for a household of three people; $646 a month for a household of four people; $768 a month for a household of five people; $921 a month for a household of six people; $1,018 a month for a household of seven people; $1,164 for a household of eight people; and $146 a month additional for each person in a larger household.
As the COVID-19 shutdown continues, there may be unintended consequences of domestic violence.
Richmond area mental health counselors are prepared for a possible uptick in cases. ChildSavers, a trauma-informed mental health and child development services nonprofit, reminds Richmond residents that its “24/7 Immediate Response Hotline” is available for mental health and trauma crises involving children.
Anyone experiencing or witnessing abuse, trauma or a mental health crisis can call and talk with a clinician for free and immediate over-the-phone support at (804) 305-2420.
“We know there is increased anxiety and stress among families now that schools are closed for the academic year,” said Kristin Lennox, supervisor of ChildSavers’ Immediate Response Team.
“We want everyone to know our 24/7 hotline is available to anyone in the community and hope families will take advantage of this free resource.”
Clinicians also can refer a child to ongoing mental health services through ChildSavers or community partners, if needed.
The Church Hill-based organization has added telephone-based therapy sessions to its in-person mental health therapy services for children to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. Next week, it will begin offering video conferencing via Zoom.
