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Meet The Savviest, Shadiest Pundits In The City: RVA Dirt

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The combination of a failed run for school board, a casual post on the Nextdoor app, and an NAACP meeting may seem like the add up to an unlikely origin story for Richmond’s most talked about new radio show. However, taking the mundane machinations of city government and injecting them with personality and civic spirit could practically be the mission statement of RVA Dirt’s Municipal Mania.

Two years ago, Melissa Vaughn — the volunteer coordinator for WRIR 97.3 — posted on the Nextdoor app hoping to start a community conversation about the 2016 elections in the River City. Northside resident and, at that time, School Board hopeful Jessee Perry immediately responded. By the time they were engaged in a mutually passionate diatribe against political signs on abandoned houses, the two ladies knew they were onto something; if the lack of municipal engagement in Richmond could get them both so worked up, then there must be other Richmonders passionate about improving local politics.

That’s when Francesca Leigh-Davis, floral designer and Twitter neophyte, found Melissa and Jessee. Fran launched her Twitter presence shortly after the ascension of the Black Lives Matter movement into popular parlance, and began weighing in on Richmond’s long legacy of racial injustice. When the three finally met in person at an NAACP meeting on local government, the chemistry was irresistible, and RVA Dirt was born.

The ladies of RVA Dirt don’t see themselves as revolutionaries. “Most of the stuff we say on our show, Municipal Mania, is already said behind closed doors. It just never makes it to the public,” explains Perry.

“Our goal is to vocalize non-mainstream opinions to make space for other people to take new and interesting positions on local issues, because there’s not enough of that in Richmond right now,” elaborates Vaughn.

A lot of the “dirt” they dish out would be easily available on the website of any other American capital city. In fact, the members of RVA Dirt frequently find themselves inundated with private messages from people — even sometimes city officials themselves — in search of official documents and plans. Richmondgov.com’s many broken links are a perennial source of frustration; all three cackle as they recount the numerous pages on the city’s website which still have former Mayor Dwight Jones’ name on them.

“I would’ve expected elected officials to be a lot more scared to meet with us, because a misstep while talking with us could theoretically hurt them,” explains Vaughn. “But the attacks we get are actually from members of the community, mostly white men.”

The solidarity of RVA Dirt’s triumvirate serves as a model for other community members looking to overcome Richmond’s deepest social cleavage: race. “As a black woman I find my voice has to be magnified to be heard,” explains Leigh-Davis. “I need the allyship of Jessee and Melissa, because I’m only allowed to be angry when it’s funny. Many things come off differently from her as a white woman than from me as a black woman.”

The three ladies’ diverse perspectives and backgrounds not only allow them to cover the city’s shenanigans from a wide range of angles, they have arguably made RVA Dirt into the epicenter of local political discussion. Since beginning to live-tweet city council sessions, they’ve noticed attendance and community participation climbing. Even those unable to or uninterested in going to the council meeting in person are able to follow all the drama of the week’s session via the group’s lively twitter thread. This week, they covered drier policy changes like the new scooter ordinance, the long-awaited approval of the Brook Road bike lane, and the expansion of VCU Police’s jurisdiction with as much gusto as the controversial comments by Councilwoman Trammel referencing “Hispanic-speaking” people and disparaging renters.

“We enjoy local politics — because it’s emotional for a lot of people, and they get turned off when we say something negative about people they’re supporting, but we just wanna talk about the facts,” explains Perry. Despite the criticism, “there’s a constant reaffirmation that this is needed in the city,” added Vaughn. “People are so starved for this information and don’t have time to pursue it themselves.”

Their dedication to encouraging civic activism and service as a new watchdog of local government earned them a spot last year on Style Weekly’s Top 40 Under 40 list of youthful Richmonders shaking up the city. In 2017, Melissa wrote on Jessee’s calendar under her own (38th) birthday: “just two years to make 40 under 40,” but when what had been nothing more than a long-running inside joke became reality, all three were taken by surprise.

The ladies of RVA Dirt hope to build off this momentum in 2019 and convert their brand into full-time paid positions. With Vaughn’s skills in administrative work and audio production, Perry’s expertise in messaging and communications, and Leigh-Davis’s experience in event planning, they hope to figure out a way to get paid to gather and share the critical civic information they currently do for free. In the meantime, those who would like to support their work are encouraged to contribute to the RVA Dirt Patreon, where different levels of support earn sponsors varying levels of access, ranging from blooper reels to extended original content and in-person, snack-fueled meet and greets.

For now the ladies of RVA Dirt are content with the positive impact their work is having on the city and the interesting opportunities it affords them.  “I love former councilman Chuck Richardson, and to have his number in my phone and him leaving me voicemails is just cool,” gushes Leigh-Davis. Perry’s favorite moment, when she coined Councilman Chris Hilbert’s nickname, “Chillbert,” after suggesting a “Netflix and Chillbert” campaign event, perfectly represents RVA Dirt’s goal: “We like to use humor to keep people engaged.”

You can learn more about your government through facts, interviews, analymaisis, and plenty of snark with the RVA Dirt girls on WRIR 97.3 every Wednesday from 11AM-12PM or check out past episodes on their SoundCloud.  You can also get tickets to join Francesca, Jessee & Melissa at WRIR’s 14th Anniversary Party on February 1st where they will be the emcees.

Accusations Of Gentrification Surround Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club Renovation

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Deep in the heart of Church Hill, where cobblestone boulevards give way to single-letter street names, the local Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club is in the midst of extensive renovation and expansion, a process that critics say comes at the expense of the area’s black community.

“This is textbook gentrification at it’s best. Anyone that disagrees has a motive that does not consider the impacted community members and legacy of Church Hill and the club,” said Lorraine Wright. Wright used to serve on the advisory board for the club, spearheading youth development workshops and a debate team within the organization, which she says suffered from poor conditions and unusable areas long before 2018. Most recently, the club’s services have moved into a single open space at the Franklin Military Academy while the club’s facility undergoes a year-long, $6.1 million renovation that will herald a shift in the club’s focus toward education, health, and fitness.

Wright brought increased attention to the club’s changes in a Facebook video condemning the firing of longtime club employees Dorothy J. Crenshaw and LaWanda Rowe, formerly the club’s program director (26 years) and administrative assistant to the director (38 years) respectively. The firing occurred with no notification given to the advisory board, and led to two separate work complaints being filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, with help from former Richmond City Council member Sa’ad El-Amin.

Those complaints were eventually denied, however, and Crenshaw and Rowe have both shifted their focus on to other pressing matters in their lives, according to Wright. This marks the latest development in a still-contentious issue, one that Wright sees as a deliberate effort to draw wealthier new residents into the area, at the expense of long-term residents and underrepresented citizens and without the purview or input of the community or those meant to give guidance on the club’s direction.

“I would really propose that this is strategic,” Wright said. “Every single step and everything that’s happened is absolutely intentional. And that’s our concern.”

Despite the club’s name, the Boys and Girls Club of America are involved very little in its operation, leaving the Salvation Army, and local leader Captain Donald Dohmann, to determine its future. For Dohmann, that means leaving any legal challenges to the organization’s lawyers, after what he says have been repeated attempts to reach a compromise with Crenshaw, Rowe and Wright, with no success.

“The only thing I can share with you at this point is that everything has been turned over to our legal department,” Dohmann said. “We feel that we have made good resolve on meeting the individuals and unfortunately, there are some individuals that have not accepted that offer. But we’re moving forward.”

Wright disputes Dohmann’s interpretation of the events leading up to the complaint filings, which she and Rowe have described as being much more dismissive of the former employees’ contributions. They also disagree on a proposed raise of pool fees from $15 annually to $20 monthly, which Wright says was only removed after community pushback, and Dohmann contends was never part of the renovation plans.

Regardless of the complaints’ dismissal, the conflict over the club’s future could have a potentially wider effect on Richmond society, as El-Amin and Wright have discussed introducing ordinances to the City Council that would put “a moratorium on increases in taxes” and restrict how much properties in areas undergoing gentrification can be improved, as a way of mitigating or stopping the impact that rising property values can have on long-time residents with lower incomes.

“We have to be diligent, we have to vigilant and we have to be proactive,” said El-Amin, who recently criticized Venture Richmond’s new ownership of the 2nd Street Festival as part of a conscious effort “to put Jackson Ward on the path of gentrification” in an October opinion piece in the Richmond Free Press. This along with the club’s renovation contributes, in El-Amin’s estimation, to “the complete annihilation of the African-American community as we know it.”

“It already happened in Church Hill,” El-Amin said. “It’s happening in Jackson Ward, it’s happening in Barton Heights, it’s happening everywhere. It is lethal to the black community, and we have to stop it by whatever means are necessary — legislation and whatever else comes up.”

Wright, for her part, expressed her intent to reach out to Councilman Parker Agelasto, formerly of the 5th District, “to discuss his potential support of the ordinance proposals, prior to his term expiration.” She also affirmed her commitment to establishing a community board for the club, made up of and controlled by indigenous or long-term Church Hill area residents. This proposed board would potentially allow Crenshaw and Rowe to continue serving Union Hill’s community, in a space distanced from the organization through which they did that same work for decades.

“For Ms. Rowe and Ms. Crenshaw, they don’t want to go back to the club, they feel so disrespected,” Wright said. “But it’s those kids, and you can even tell every single time I speak to them.”

“They’re talking about the kids. They’re not even talking about themselves, they’re talking about the kids.”

Photo by George Copeland

Bird’s Richmond Migration: Activists and Officials Weigh In on the Most Recent Developments

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A stalled bike share campaign is gathering dust on sun-baked streets. Truck beds stuffed with electric scooters are deposited across Virginia Commonwealth University’s bustling campus. Police forces directed to impound those scooters have joined a campaign that stretches across the Commonwealth. The contentious state of transportation in the city of Richmond has seemingly simmered, following months of upheaval and change that included the arrival of dockless scooter company Bird. But tensions remain, with questions about how the city will handle Bird’s motorized product — and how the company may respond — up in the air. 

On the issue of Richmond transportation, Nicholas Da Silva, Chair of the VCU chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America, is familiar and experienced, saying, “It’s better than some places, but it could definitely use a lot of work.”

Da Silva has served as part of improving this aspect of the community through a free car repair program, in addition to his research on the now-stalled Richmond Supershoppers bus program, and his observation of the many changes the GRTC Pulse initiative brought with its completion.

“I wish the city had considered making the Pulse more accessible to more people, and maybe got more community input before they moved the bus lines,” Da Silva said, citing interactions with people disappointed with the restructuring of Richmond’s public transit.

This shift in how citizens now commute was picking up steam even as the the RVA Bike Share program sputtered out less than a year after its launch. It was this chaotic atmosphere that Bird landed in during the summer, as it spread throughout Virginia, leading to quick adoption from those who could find and use them and a wide variety of responses from state officials.

While Da Silva thinks Bird’s products are “better than nothing,” he’s also aware of the requirements that come with using the motorized scooters in a city as busy and commuter-heavy as Richmond, and critical of how the company introduced themselves.

“Just as I would oppose pretty much any other private entity coming out and introducing a really disruptive element to the city, I think that all of them should be considering the effects they have on the community before they introduce a product like that,” Da Silva said.

With Richmond joining other cities, including Norfolk and Virginia Beach, in confiscating hundreds of the scooters from their streets, that community could be leveraged to defend Bird.

It’s worked for them before: in Santa Monica, during deliberations by the local government over who would serve as the city’s e-transport provider, Bird and fellow scooter company Lime called on the public to lobby in their defense when it seemed likely that Uber and Lyft would be chosen. Lobbying efforts included citywide service outages, pre-written messages for users to send to City Hall, and invitations to rallies. Effectively, these companies used language and tactics created to defend underrepresented, marginalized communities to sell and defend a product (mostly) aimed at upper- and upper middle-class citizens — and succeeded. 

This isn’t the first time similar companies have used similar tactics for product promotion or against regulation. And, according to Da Silva, they’ve already started in Richmond, with targeted appeals from Bird’s app and across social media.

“I think it’s a very transparent attempt to use people. In my own opinion, it’s a very cheap ploy used by a private company,” Da Silva said.

Richmond’s position as a seat of decision-making for both local and statewide policy makes the approach it takes to Bird a possible look into its ultimate fate in Virginia. Mayor Levar Stoney, for his part, has expressed an interest in working with the company, while ensuring they operate by the guidelines set by the city. As part of this, the Mayor introduced an ordinance to the Richmond City Council in September that includes requirements for application fees, customer service, safety standards, and parking education for riders of dockless scooters and bikes.

In a statement to RVA Magazine, Press Secretary James Nolan said Mayor Levar Stoney remains displeased with Bird’s continued defiance of the Cease and Desist order issued to the company in August.

“Scooters in violation of the ordinance will continue to be picked up, impounded and have fines attached to their recovery,” the statement read. “The mayor is not opposed to scooters in RVA, but he does think that for the safety, health and protection of residents, pedestrians and riders alike, this needs to be done the right way.”

City Council recently delayed voting on that ordinance to November, leaving the question of whether Bird will continue to nest in Richmond unanswered for now.

*Photos by George Copeland

Post-Accreditation, Former and Current Teachers Assess the City’s State of Education

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Richmond’s public schools are deep into the 2018-2019 semester, with midterm exams on the horizon for some, and the long shadow cast by the condition of the city’s education hanging over all.

That condition, detailed in a report released on September 27 by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), revealed that less than half of Richmond Public Schools (RPS) met the state education standards required to be awarded accreditation. Additional data released by VDOE also showed RPS had statewide lows in on-time graduation rates and attendance, and statewide highs in dropout and absentee rates at a middle school and high school level. The sole omission was George Washington Carver Elementary, who became embroiled in a cheating scandal earlier this year.

For Gladys Wilder, a retired teacher with 30 years of experience in RPS primary, correctional, exceptional and special education that includes establishing an annual “book tasting” event at Swansboro Elementary, the effort to meet state standards is still fresh in mind.

“It was a struggle to get there. But Swansboro broke out because of leadership,” Wilder said. “I mean local leadership, in-school leadership, principals and assistant principals. It was a whole school effort.”

“No child, no human learns the same way. There’s no box where you can put every child and this is it. Our philosophy, and I’m sure the philosophy now, is every child can learn, every child can achieve. You just have to meet that child where it is.”

RPS Superintendent Jason Kamras seems to share some of Wilder’s beliefs.  In a statement published following the report’s release, Kamras was adamant that any cause for the data’s findings didn’t come from the learning ability of RPS’s students, instead serving as “a reflection of our failure to provide them with the education they deserve.”

My administration is committed to changing this – once and for all – for every young person in RPS, Kamras said.

Wilder, for her part, stressed the importance of not placing guilt for educational failures on individual error, including parents and educators, something she felt may been implied in the wording of Kamras’ response.

“To me, is that like placing the blame on those who are in the trenches, the teachers? I will not do that,” Wilder said, instead drawing attention to the curriculums teachers are expected to abide by — and may occasionally have to veer away from to ensure all students learn what they need.

True to her skillset, Wilder referenced Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem The Charge of the Light Brigade in describing this situation RPS teachers are placed in.

“There’s blame all over,” Wilder said.

The state requirements for accreditation, recently updated in 2017, include increases in academic performance and decreases in failures in advancement, with special focus for high schools on absenteeism, graduation and dropout rates, in addition to the Standards of Learning (SOL) pass rates that were the sole criteria for accreditation in the past.

The continued presence of SOLs, and the challenges they bring to education, was a point of concern for both Wilder and Sharonda Ragland, an instructor in Virginia Union University’s Department of Mathematics.

“We need to stop teaching to the test,” Wilder said. “If you just teach to the test, and if the words in the test are not what you’re teaching, the kids are going to fail. Teach the child.”

Joining the conversation, Ragland adds, “And they don’t learn at the same rates, but they’re expected to take a standardized test that all of them may not be prepared for.”

Just because it works for one doesn’t mean it’s going to work for all. You’ve got to see what works for your school.

The topic of preparation for students is one Ragland is familiar with, serving last year in a math and science summer program designed to act as a “stepping stone” to college-level coursework for high school students, complete with college credit, improved study habits and early connections with other students. Virginia Union is also home to the Upward Bound program, offering graduating high school students in the RPS system a brief but direct experience at college-level courses and residential life.

Referring to her experience in the summer program, Ragland said, “The ones that have come in through that bridge seem to retain better versus the ones just coming from high school to college without any preparation. It makes a difference.”

The question of how RPS moves forward following this report is one with a number of answers. Tinkhani Ushe White, Ed.D., whose experience stretches from RPS teacher to principal in the Henrico County Public School system to School Improvement Specialist with Chesterfield Public Schools, suggests a path forward may lie in greater cooperation between state authorities, school divisions and the schools themselves. However, White acknowledges the difficulty this method may have with solving “issues outside the school’s control,” like absenteeism or poverty.

“The big thing there is for schools divisions and states to work hand in hand with their schools to try to figure out the issues that are preventing schools from reaching those minimum benchmarks, and then working to supply those needs and close those gaps,” White said.

Gary Broderick, an advocate for Richmond education and School Board candidate in Richmond’s 7th District, had his own ideas in his diagnosis of what he described as a “moral crisis for our city” in a statement to RVA Mag. Broderick wrote that fair funding and compensation should serve as parts of creating an ”atmosphere of support that makes long term investment in RPS a sustainable choice for teachers.”

Gary Broderick, School Board Candidate. Photo by Gary Broderick

“The path forward is clear,” Broderick wrote. “We must exert the political courage to demand corporations pay their fair share of taxes, so that we can staff our schools properly and wholly counteract the racist and systemic defunding of our schools.”

Some measure of Broderick’s recommendation may be coming to RPS, as Richmond City Council prepares for an uphill battle in requesting greater state support for public education as part of the city’s legislative package during the upcoming General Assembly session.

City Council Rejects Resolution for Greater Control over Monuments Celebrating the Confederacy (Again)

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The future of memorials to Virginia’s dark history, on one of Richmond’s most iconic streets, is still out of the city’s hands. Following a 6-3 vote by Richmond City Council, the chamber rejected a resolution to request greater control of the statuary on Monument Avenue from the state government.

“I’m baffled by the notion of us not being willing to address matters like these, and shirk our responsibilities,” said 9th District Councilman Michael Jones, at the start of discussions on the resolution. Jones, the resolution’s patron, voted with 6th District Councilwoman Ellen Robertson and Council Vice President Cynthia Newbille of the 7th district to approve the measure.

“We can only move this city forward by having the right to decide,” Jones said. “We cannot be afraid to tackle the tough decisions of our day, because they will go nowhere. We must decide if we’re going to be one Richmond or remain divided,” said Jones.

Councilmen Jones

Jones’ statement set the tone for over an hour of deliberation between councilmembers and public speakers. In the half-filled City Council room, speakers were occasionally spirited, but mostly measured in their approach. 

“I think this is my fourth time down here, both at the committee level and city council,” said Bill Thomas, at the start of his public comments in opposition to the resolution. Thomas’ comments were a brief acknowledgement of the long series of events that led councilmembers to this point, and almost certainly they are far from the last. 

The vote last night was a near-repeat of a similar measure last year, rejected 6-2 with Newbille abstaining. This new resolution came with new support, however, in the form of Mayor Levar Stoney, who made an appearance during the meeting’s start to introduce a bill calling for greater funding from the Virginia General Assembly for Richmond’s schools.

That bill, which would be expedited and approved by the council later in the meeting, proved to be one of a few recent developments used by councilmembers in their arguments against against Jones’ resolution.

2nd District Councilwoman Kimberly Gray drew attention to the poor state of Richmond’s schools in explaining her opposition to the proposal, arguing that this issue and the General Assembly’s involvement was a more pressing concern than gaining greater autonomy over city structures.

“The biggest monuments to white supremacy are in our schools,” said Gray. “If we don’t change how we’re operating, nothing will change for the condition of the people of color in our city,” a sentiment echoed by 8th District Councilwoman Reva Trammell. 

Their votes rejecting the proposal were also joined by councilmembers Andreas Addison from the 1st district, Kristen Larson from the 4th district, Parker Agelasto from 5th district, and Council President Chris Hilbert of the 3rd district.

This reasoning was later challenged by Jones, Richmond Public School Superintendent Jason Kamras, and Stoney himself, who described the process as indicative of a “culture of can’t” on Twitter following the vote.

“We can support choosing our own destiny about the future of Confederate monuments in our city AND advocate for the state to fund the true cost of public education. This was not a either/or proposition,” wrote Stoney. 

Councilmembers also negatively pointed to the differences between Jones’ resolution and the recommendations made by Stoney’s Monument Avenue Commission. The commission, created in 2017, was in response to events following the white supremacist pro-Confederate Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, which left one counter-protester dead and over 30 wounded. 

The 10-person Commission’s 115-page report, released in July, recommended the removal of the Jefferson Davis statue, along with efforts to re-contextualize the statuary, following months of private and public discussion. Addison and Gray also served as members of the commission.

Newbille disputed this interpretation, pointing out that while Jones’ resolution implies more than the Davis statue would come under the Council’s oversight, “it doesn’t say remove them.” 

“This paper allows this council, this local government, to have authority in the dispositions of monuments and statues. For me, that is a responsibility this city and this city council should have,” said Newbille.

Mayor Stoney Speaking at City Council

Jones’ legislation wasn’t the only one with a focus on how Richmond should handle the reminders of Virginia’s ugly history.  Also introduced for future consideration was legislation submitted by Stoney that would establish the Richmond History and Culture Commission. This focus would include “providing guidance on the recommendations of the Monument Avenue Commission regarding the reinterpretation of the Confederate statues on Monument Avenue.” 

The legislation will likely be part of the City Council’s agenda in their next meeting on November 13. 

As the meeting prepared for the council vote, Hilbert acknowledged a changing cultural “mood” in the U.S. that has seen other Confederate memorials removed or destroyed, remarking that regardless of the council’s decision on Jones’ resolution, Monument Avenue won’t remain the same forever.

“I was poisoned by the Lost Cause version of the Civil War,” said Hilbert, “and it’s wrong, the Civil War was about slavery. I do think that in 50 years these statues won’t be here.” 

*Photos by George Copeland 

Richmond’s Homeless Groups Speak on Monroe Park, Its Future, and Their Work

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Monroe Park saw its official reopening ceremony last Thursday following months of renovation. The fairly rainy event was attended by Mayor Levar Stoney and representatives from Virginia Commonwealth University, the Monroe Park Conservancy, Richmond City Council, along with a crowd of dozens — and one lone critic of the entire affair.

“Virginia Beach built a $29 million facility to help house homeless people. The city here does nothing,” said Thomas Alleman, chief facilitator of the Richmond chapter of the international Food Not Bombs collective.

Carrying a protest banner soaked from the rainwater that poured during the ceremony’s speeches and ribbon-cutting, Alleman was very critical of the event, the park redesign, its architects, and how it spoke, in his view, to the continuous changes Richmond has seen over the years.

It’s changing all right — but for what and for who?

Nearly two years after work on the park closed off a well-known hub for Richmond’s homeless and the organizations that aim to aid them, the way homeless outreach has changed in the city and Virginia is a question with a wide gulf of responses for groups that share a common cause and focus on this issue.

For Michael Rogers, a former member of CARITAS and Community Engagement Manager for Homeward, the current state of homeless outreach is a very positive one. Aided by staff tasked to connect with, check in on, inform and build relationships with the homeless, the group’s efforts have continued with little obstacles to hinder them.

This is important for the work they do, especially the annual Point-In-Time count, as Homeward’s ability to document the homeless people of the Commonwealth is critical to ensuring federal funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). As such, the work the group does involves not just networking with similar organizations throughout Virginia, but broad cooperation with local officials and law enforcement agencies to ensure proper support for all of Virginia’s homeless people.

“It’s grown a lot, but we’re getting participation across sectors and across organizations,” Rogers said of Homeward’s recent efforts.

Alleman has a more mixed take, owing in part to the disruption in service and outreach Food Not Bombs experienced following the park’s closing. As a result, after 25 years in the city, the group was faced with the hard work of reestablishing their organizing connections with a homeless population left scattered. Eventually, Food Not Bombs set up in Jackson Ward’s Abner Clay Park, with the help of Richmond’s homeless, though with a noticeable decrease in numbers.

This skeptical view of the situation extends to the renewed presence of law enforcement in the area, including the Richmond and VCU police officers stationed at the Checkers House near the park’s center, in addition to the new camera system. Ultimately, Alleman disputes the notion that Monroe Park is for Richmond’s city residents.

“They put a police station where this gazebo and bathrooms used to be. What does that really say? Instead of helping us and working with us to help these people, they do things like this, I think, to kind of dissuade us,” Alleman said.

In a statement, RPD 4th Precinct Officer Lt. James Roberts explained that the Richmond Police Department will be covering primary patrolling responsibilities in the park, with VCU’s police officers serving as support.

“The objective of the Richmond Police Department is to implement public safety strategies that will allow all park patrons to lawfully utilize the park,” Roberts said. “Enforcement action will be taken when appropriate, however, our overall strategy is to engage the community and our partner organizations in non-enforcement efforts to ensure all lawful activity is protected.”

“Homeless outreach groups will continue to be welcome in Monroe Park as they are in other city parks, as long as their activities are lawful.”

In contrast to Food Not Bombs’ struggles, Homeward was seemingly well prepared when news of Monroe Park’s closing reached them. Though Rogers was still part of CARITAS at the time, the usage of a coordinated communication plans for a network of case managers for emergency shelters, outreach workers, and law enforcement on alternative locations for shelter and aid helped some homeless outreach groups immensely in the time before and during Monroe Park’s closure.

This continued good fortune extends to Homeward’s interactions with HUD. In contrast to general operations and policy initiatives within the Trump administration and even from top HUD officials, Homeward’s work with the staff members of its homeless division is as professional as ever, if not better, according to Rogers. With applications for a $5.4 million federal grant and additional funds for homeless domestic violence survivors still pending, that relationship will be key for how Homeward operates in the future.

“I can’t speak for all of HUD, but in homeless services, it’s remained consistent, and we’ve even seen an increase in support,” Rogers said.

That support seems especially vital in a fall season that’s seen extreme and rare weather occurrences touch down in Richmond, including tornadoes generated in Hurricane Florence’s wake that claimed the lives of two people in Virginia.

Homeward opted to tackle the problem with a system of public communication, online resources and overtime work to bring the public into greater connection with both the city’s homeless and the kind of outreach work necessary when a potential hurricane could reach its streets.

Recalling the large amount of effort taken to ensure the safety of Richmond’s homeless people, Rogers said, “It was just kind of working diligently to make sure that everyone, including the general public, knew what resources were available; so that anyone who was sleeping outdoors, we could connect with them and offer those kind of services.”

On this topic, Alleman strikes a similar, more condensed tone: “Even if there was a tornado, we would still be here. We are dedicated.”

Judging by Alleman’s and Rogers’s statements, both organizations are still undecided on how they’ll utilize Monroe Park as part of their efforts, now that fences have come down.

Rogers and Homeward remain observant, waiting to get the full scope of the new rules and guidelines for the park, which includes a 6 o’clock closing time and new rules for lawn reservations and charitable food distribution. For now, they’re focused on connecting and expanding the capacity to aid.

“We will support and push people towards creating and expanding indoor meal programs, particularly for people who are sleeping outdoors,” Rogers said.

And for Food Not Bombs, who are deep in discussion among themselves and other groups? “We still want our presence in this park,” Alleman said. “It’s not like Food Not Bombs is just this bunch of punk kids making food. It’s the idea that we have to show people that there are other people in this city that need help.”

Despite his misgivings about the park, Alleman remains open to the possibility of greater homeless aid coming from Richmond officials.

“I do hope that we can work out something with the city to get people into some sort of shelters,” Alleman said.

While the gap in Alleman’s and Rogers’s outlook on Monroe Park is clear, equally clear is that both men — and the groups they work with — remain steadfast in their commitment to helping Richmond’s homeless.

Photos by George Copeland Jr.