I'm going to put pretty solid odds down that most of my readers don't have a huge amount of experience with Richmond's East End, particularly that large swath of Church Hill north of Marshall Street. (Some of you are exceptions to the rule; see below.)
In an interesting convergence I've found myself spending more time learning about and visiting Richmond's East End over the past several months than ... well, than ever. The good news is that all of that time is being spent with organizations that are making tremendous efforts to support and turn around a forgotten corner of our region.
I became more aware of the north-eastern section of Church Hill several years ago on an amazing tour of Woodville Elementary School, and through increased connection to a small group of young families who were moving into the community -- with the intention of being part of the community, rather than real estate investors looking for flip property.
But a series of recent conversations and engagements through my business have had two specific outcomes -- I know more about the East End than ever before, and I have a much deeper level of respect for the community organizations and individuals who are invested in the neighborhood.
I spent part of today touring Church Hill with the staff of Peter Paul Development Center. Our 20 minute bus ride probably never went more than two miles from the center itself, but along the way we passed through four of Richmond's public housing communities (seven, if you consider each section of Mosby separately). Which is to say we passed through the highest concentration of poverty in the Richmond region.
The four public housing communities -- Mosby, Whitcomb Court, Fairfield Court and Creighton Court sit in a semi-circle bounded by I-64, Nine Mile Road and Shockoe Bottom. Between them, they house more than 2,000 families with an average income level below $10,000 a year. The sizable minority of the residents in the East End live well below the poverty line (39%) and live in single-parent households (46%). Armstrong High School, which serves the four housing communities and other East End residents has been labeled a "drop out factory" by Johns Hopkins University -- more than 40% of students who start out as freshmen finish their senior year.
My tour guide was Rev. Lynne Washington, the executive director of Peter Paul Development Center. As we drove, she pointed to individual houses and told the group who lived there, where the children went to school and how they'd benefited from Peter Paul's after school tutoring and immersion program. She explained some of the area's difficult history, the difference between public and subsidized housing, why some young men were wearing black t-shirts and others were wearing white t-shirts. She made note of the length of the Mosby development, and that it followed a symbolic straight line to the City Jail and courts buildings.
This was my second visit to the area in a week. Last week, I had a work meeting at Richmond Community Hospital, a Bon Secours facility that sits at the southern edge of the area we toured. Bon Secours has a deep commitment to the East End, and I heard more about how they were partnering with Peter Paul during my tour. Next week, I'll be spending time with the board of the Blue Sky Fund, an organization that provides East End kids with an outdoor education -- summer camp opportunities, hiking trips and the like.
I also learned more about the work of one of my favorite local nonprofits, the Better Housing Coalition, which also has long and extensive roots in the East End. And I heard a bit more about one of the most exciting efforts taking place in Richmond today -- a collaborative partnership between more than a dozen organizations to submit a proposal to be one of 20 Promise Neighborhoods funded by the Obama White House.
