Category Archives: community

Article: Finding the Balance Between VCU Student Renter and Oregon Hill Resident

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Last year multimedia journalism graduate student Jaclyn O’Laughlin created an article on neighborhood tensions between VCU students and longtime Oregon Hill residents. I have purposely waited to post it here until the semester started.

Here’s an excerpt:

“For many students that are here, they are away from home for the first time and they can go hog wild. It all comes down to the kids being young, which is not a problem, but they don’t have a lot of experience and some of this stuff hasn’t occurred to them,” said Jennifer Hancock, interim president of the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association. “The point of view for some of them is that they are only going to be here for four years and they don’t care.”

The residents of Oregon Hill are not trying to pick on or “dog pile” the students, Hancock said. She believes that students have a different perspective than the long-term residents that live in Oregon Hill, because most students know they will only live in the neighborhood for a few years and eventually move away.

Read the entire article and see online video by clicking here.

WBCH Offers Artery Tour This Tuesday

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There is an atherosclerosis simulator that is touring our area from August 19th – 31st; it will be located at the Byrd House Market (Linden Street) on August 31, from 12 -6 pm. It shows a journey through the arteries with plaque build-up and blockages. It only takes about 5 minutes each session and can accommodate 10 people at a time. This is free. See flyer below for more information.

2010 UAA William Byrd Comm. House Flyer

St. Andrew’s Church to host a Ugandan photo exhibition

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You may have already seen the flyers in the neighborhood or maybe the Style magazine article or the newspaper article, but here’s information about an event happening this Friday:

Joanita Senoga, a single mother of two who fled her village in Uganda in 1996, came to America with virtually nothing, and is now an alumna and employee of University of Richmond. In 1994, two years before fleeing home, she started Circle of Peace School in Uganda for children who could not afford an education there (as education is not free there). The school is now 250 students strong.

St. Andrew’s Church will host a photo exhibition, “Images of Hope: What Would You Buy With $50?” on August 27 at 6:30 p.m. Proceeds benefit the Circle of Peace School development efforts – specifically, funding will go to a final payment to secure land for building classrooms and dormitories.

Students of the school in the village of Makindye, Uganda were asked what they would buy with $50, and these children responded by drawing what they would buy. None of these children have ever had $50 in their whole life.

The campaign needs help – it is trying to raise $18,000 by September 1 to make a final payment on land the school will be able to use to expand the campus to build classrooms and dormitories.

Here are a few photos:

Byrd Market tomorrow and Cameroon cooking Saturday

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Byrd House Market presents

the fabulicious
Susan Greenbaum
locally grown corporate babe turned singer/songwriter
Tuesday August 24
5:30 – 7:30 pm
AND
4th Tuesday Wine Down
featuring the fine fermentations of

and

Grayhaven Wines on sale from 3:30 – 8:00 pm / Tastings begin at 6:00 pm

(Market Hours Extended to 8pm on 4th Tuesdays)

Vendors returning from breaks include:
A Wise Gardener
Manakintowne Specialty Growers
Simply Delicious
Jill Parker Designs
and

Saturday 28 Aug. 9:30 am -12 noon
Cooking as a 2nd Language #6
Cuisine from Camaroon with Yvette Zintseme
(pronounced Zeen-chem)
Registration Necessary & Re-Confirmations Due Wednesday 8/25!

Earth Aid and Richmond

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First the info:

The City of Richmond has partnered with Earth Aid as part of its Green Richmond Initiative to help promote energy conservation and efficiency in our community, and to enable Richmond residents, our partners, and the community as a whole to track their energy and water usage online!

EarthAid.net/richmond is a free service that enables your household to track all of your actual electric, gas, and water utility usage in one place online, compare your usage to friends and neighbors, and find easy ways to save money. In addition, you earn Earth Aid Rewards Points based on how much energy and water you save at home—points you can redeem for discounts and offers at over 200 local, regional, and national participating businesses, including dozens right here in Richmond!

Second, the ask:

If you are an Oregon Hill resident, I invite you to join the Richmond Oregon Hill group by clicking here. Hopefully, more on this aspect later…

Third, the follow-up:

The local Sierra Club group is starting off its fall season on with meeting program entitled: Richmond Sustainability and Reducing your Utilities Usage! The meeting is on Wednesday, Sept. 8 at 7 pm at the Science Museum of Virginia. As with all of its general meetings, attendance is free and the public is invited to attend.

It will feature at least two speakers:

Alicia Zatcoff is the first Sustainability Manager for the City of Richmond. In this role, she provides strategic direction, development and daily oversight of a complex, city-wide Sustainability and Energy Management Program. Zatcoff has over twelve years of local government experience in areas including municipal law, governmental process, complex real estate transactions, community development, public safety and sustainability.

Tabitha Daniel is a Marketing and Public Relations Specialist for the City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities, and is excited to promote the city’s partnership with Earth Aid, a union she describes as a “win-win for everyone, especially the environment.”

VCU Move In Days this weekend

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Email from VCU:

MPC move in map.2010

Friends of VCU,

It is time for all new and returning VCU students to begin moving in. This process may impact all of us in different ways. In an effort to better manage, I am attaching our move in maps for both the Monroe Park Campus and the MCV campus. We will begin blocking off surrounding streets at approximately 6:00 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday and will end the process at 7pm on Saturday and 6pm on Sunday. I am also attaching the informational letter we send to students about how the process works.

Ron Brown

Mayor’s Youth Academy Show At Landmark This Friday

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From City announcement:

Richmond, VA – Teens from the Mayor’s Youth Academy will present the Lifestages Showcase at 7 p.m. on Friday, August 20, 2010, at the Landmark Theatre, 6 North Laurel Street. The showcase will feature Mayor’s Youth Academy participants ages 14 through 15 in a variety of artistic performances to include song, dance, theatre, fashion and more. The public is strongly encouraged to attend this free event.

“It has been an exciting summer and I am pleased with all that the young people involved with the Mayor’s Youth Academy have accomplished over the past few months. I have a real vision for our youth in Richmond and I pledge the city’s continued investment in their future,” said Mayor Dwight C. Jones. “I would like to thank the public, private and non-profit entities who have partnered with us in providing this tremendous service to our city’s youth.”

During recent months, more than 442 city youth participated in the Mayor’s Youth Academy program. Approximately 172 youth between the ages of 14 and 15 participated in the Life Stages program which consisted of leadership training and life skills enrichment opportunities, while 67 youth within the same age range participated in the Youth Urban Conservation Corps. This summer, 203 city youth between the ages of 16 through 19 were employed in public, private and non-profit organizations.

Mayor Jones launched the Mayor’s Youth Academy earlier this year to reduce teen crime, social deviant behavior and create a future emerging workforce. The program is constructed to provide development opportunities designed to promote leadership, career awareness, workforce skill development, community engagement, improve school attendance, heighten understanding of career and educational pathways, and increase the number of high school students graduating with post-secondary aspirations. The Mayor’s Youth Academy program has had a 98 percent retention rate with several youth being offered both full and part-time employment.