Learn more about the grassroots projects working to improve Petersburg. THE AGENDA
Welcome to The Agenda! This weekly feature will cover all the public meetings in Petersburg, Hopewell and Colonial Heights that may be important to you.
This Tuesday and next Tuesday are big days for public meetings in the tri-city area.
This Tuesday, Hopewell's City Council will convene for a regular meeting and the Keep Hopewell Beautiful (KHB) Committee— a forum to influence residents of Hopewell to keep the city clean and aesthetically appealing— will meet at the library to plan litter future cleanup and education events.
Hopewell’s City Council meeting will include a second and final reading of the city’s proposed FY25 Budget, which will go into effect on July 1. According to the meeting’s agenda, the city’s total budget is $140.1 million, excluding expenses related to non-city schools.
Multiple capital projects throughout the city will be funded through increased Real Estate and Hotel taxes (as well as overall net revenue from departmental expense reductions), including road work, repairs to local parks, refurbishments to the city's community centers and more. Increased storm water fees will also be implemented and used for road projects this upcoming year as part of Hopewell’s storm water remediation plan.
The largest chunk of the city’s budget for the year will be directed towards Hopewell Water Renewal (HWR), Hopewell’s Regional Water Commission, which will receive around $21.7 million from the city, or approximately 16 percent of the city’s budget.
The second largest chunk of the city’s budget, just under 14 percent—or about $18 million—will be directed towards the city’s Police and Fire Departments. Public Works will also be receiving nearly $18 million from the city. Hopewell’s Schools, meanwhile, will be getting around $15 million, the Health and Welfare Department will be getting $12 million, the Parks and Rec Department will be getting around $3 million, and so on. Read the City Council meeting's agenda to learn more.
Petersburg's City Council will also be convening this Tuesday in a special meeting to ratify the city's selection of Cordish as its preferred casino gaming operator. This ratification comes after months of political turbulence surrounding the decision and unease from Petersburg's residents around the seeming lack of transparency by the city throughout this process. Read more about the casino and ongoing developments here.
Petersburg will announce CDBG funding recipients at next week's City Council Meeting. Before they do, get to know the organizations and projects working to improve the community.
Among other public meetings, the Petersburg City Council will be meeting next Tuesday. During their meeting, city employees will announce the recipients of funding for projects meant to better the community.
The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Federal Program provides annual grants to states, counties and cities — including Petersburg— for infrastructure and community development. The CDBG Advisory Board in Petersburg reviews application for CDBG funding, conducts public hearings and makes recommendations to the City Council regarding requests for projects to be funded from the city’s annual CDBG fund.
Last month, local non-profit organizations and departments applying for CDBG grants presented their proposals for funding to the CDBG Board. They included a wide array of advocacy groups, city departments and other projects working to improve the community. Now, on Tuesday June 4, the CDBG Board will hold a public hearing at the Petersburg City Council meeting to present its recommendations for funding to City Council.
This meeting is open to the public and will include a public comment period. Residents who would like to learn more about local community initiatives and grassroot nonprofit efforts to better the community are encouraged to attend the meeting.
The contenders for CDBG funding include 10 local organizations and one city department:
Pretty Purposed
Founded in 2014 by Bianca Myrick during her time as a teacher for Petersburg County schools, this non-profit aims to empower young women and girls between the ages of 9 to 18 through school and community-based programs that center health and wellness, social-emotional development, and leadership skills. Since 2019, Pretty Purposed has provided young women and girls with over 4,000 hours of mentoring. With the CDBG funding, the organization hopes to continue expanding their mentorship programs and capabilities.
"We started mentoring just seven girls, and now we support close to 200 girls across Petersburg, Dinwiddie, Sussex and Hopewell," Myrick said last month during her CDBG funding proposal presentation. Myrick added that the girls have been able to use the skills they've learned through Pretty Purposed's mentorship and leadership programs to do their own advocacy work in the community, including speaking to politicians at the General Assembly earlier this year about chronic school underfunding in the community.
People’s Advantage Helping Hands
People's Advantage Helping Hands (PAHH) is a Petersburg-based organization established by People's Advantage, a federal credit union that aims to provide free financial services and education for people in lower-income areas, including Petersburg. PAHH provides free financial coaching and financial assistance- such as 15,000 in downpayment assistance for first time home buyers- to Petersburg residents. The organization hopes to use CDBG funding to expand these types of programs that are designed to establish a foundation for long-term financial stability and wealth in the community.
Currently, PAHH is providing financial assistance to first-time homebuyers of six properties, said PAHH Executive Director Shanika McClelland. "We're investing about $2.5 million into this project. And we are asking for CDBG funding to help support that effort," said McClelland. "Petersburg increases its tax base with this program by reducing the number of blighted properties, increasing affordable and desirable properties available...and the creation of economic diversity."
River Street Education
Also known as River Street Market, River Street Education is a non-profit organization in Petersburg that aims to enhance the overall wellbeing of Petersburg's residents by providing affordable healthy food options through a farmer's market that supports local farmers, as well as hosting free educational events and initiatives for community members of all ages.
One of these initiatives includes the Pop Club, a weekly Saturday program where every child at the market is able to participate in an educational program through which they can learn more about the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables and are given $10 each to buy fresh produce. River Street Education also buys produce from local farmers and distributes these to the community's churches, food pantries and- most recently- schools. Since 2021, River Street Education has distributed over 2,000 bags of fresh produce to Petersburg's community members.
Project Homes
An affiliate of the Richmond-based non-profit organization, Petersburg's chapter of Project Homes aims to improve access to affordable, safe housing to the city's residents by providing low-income families and individuals with free critical home-safety repairs, accessibility modifications and energy conservation measures. The organization has also helped provide housing assistance to seniors and first-time home buyers. Since its founding in 1992, Project Homes has provided critical repairs and modifications to 40,795 homes throughout Virginia.
"The Critical Home Repair Program will utilize CDBG funds to provide home improvements to address critical immediate housing repairs," said Director of Home Repairs Justin Randolph, who has completed over 30 critical home repair projects in Petersburg, during his funding proposal presentation in April. "Such repairs include but are not limited to the repair or replacement of roofs, addressing plumbing leaks, repairing faulty heating systems and electrical repairs where hazards exist."
"Over the past three years that Project Homes has received funding from Petersburg, the Critical Homes Repair Program has completed a total of 33 houses," added Randolph. "Our current waitlist has over 150 people still waiting to be served. Safe, dry and warm is our focus- to be sure these homeowners can have these simple necessities is our goal."
Petersburg Family YMCA
An affiliate of the Greater Richmond YMCA, the Petersburg Family YMCA has served the community for nearly 150 years, regularly hosting free and affordable programs for Petersburg's residents. These programs include before and after school care for children, swim programs, teen initiatives, academic tutoring and enrichment programs, summer day camp and more.
"Previous CDBG funding has supported thousands of low-to-moderate income families and youth," said Marco Callender, Executive Director of the Petersburg Family YMCA. "Our programs foster academic and social emotional learning, enrichment and healthy activities while providing affordable, accessible childcare for working families."
Lending Helping Hands
Lending Helping Hands is a Richmond and Petersburg-based non-profit organization that aims to provide immediate relief to Petersburg's most vulnerable population— the city's homeless and unsheltered community. Since their founding in 2020, the organization has helped dozens of unhoused individuals and families access emergency shelter and basic necessities. In addition to partnering with Petersburg's Public Schools to ensure that the basic needs of Petersburg's unhoused students are being met—providing them with clothes, school supplies, hygiene items, warm meals and emergency shelter—Lending Helping Hands regularly hosts back to school and holiday giveaways, free community resource fairs and reoccurring programs and events for children and families.
"Petersburg is not the city that I grew up in. I was here when it was booming and thriving. Now it's in a state of survival," said Founder and Executive Director of Lending Helping Hands LaVerle Talley during her organization's funding proposal presentation. "This project is a beacon of hope for many. Lending helping hands is not just our name, it's what we do in the community. We are the most active boots on the ground non-profit organization in the City of Peterburg."
Alamo Addiction Recovery
Established in 1971, Alamo Addiction Recovery is an addiction recovery center based in Petersburg, Virginia. In addition to housing, the center offers a structured, safe environment for individuals to recover from drug and alcohol abuse through residential programs and community outpatient services. The center also offers free weekly AA meetings, seminars on re-entering the workforce, small group discussions on family relationships, anger management, and other therapeutic counseling— all of which are open to the community.
Alamo Addiction Recovery would use the CDBG funding to restore their current building, a pre-Civil War two-story house built around 1840 that serves as transitional housing for residential clients and is also used for community AA meetings, counseling and other programming.
Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) VA
LISC is a non-profit organization that supports community development in cities and rural areas throughout the county, including Petersburg. LISC supports local community development efforts and organizations in low-and-moderate income neighborhoods with grants, loans and expertise to help construct affordable homes, businesses and community centers.
"We provide job training, digital literacy and financial training services as well as job placement and workforce training," said LISC's Program Officer for Housing and Capacity Building, Jonathan Adkins-Taswell. "We are seeing around 100, 120 clients per-year in the Petersburg region, but we'd like to push that up to around 150 to 200. We would use the CDBG funds to continue our current operations while also increasing our capacity to help those in the Petersburg area."
Hebron VA Inc.
Hebron VA Inc. is a Petersburg-based non-profit organization that aims to educate and empower young women and girls in underserved communities. Through events, fellowships, recurring programs and social wellness education, Hebron aims to decrease young women and girl's vulnerability to academic challenges, crime, unplanned pregnancy, and juvenile justice involvement.
"Our research has shown that whenever there is community violence, young women and girls are impacted the most," said Executive Director Janell Sinclair. "That's why this work is so important."
Last year, Hebron was awarded CDBG funds to finance a conference and an entrepreneurship program. The conference, a day of workshops and seminars for 6th to 12th grade girls, included sessions on dressing for success, financial literacy, art therapy, a FAFSA workshop and more. The entrepreneurship program offered workshops for boys and girls aged 10-18 in Petersburg, including workshops on financial literacy (saving & budgeting), empowerment (building self-esteem & communication skills), anti-bullying and trauma awareness (education & ally recruitment), entrepreneurship and more. All attendees were sent home with food bags that included fresh produce to help address food insecurity in Petersburg. This year, Hebron is hoping to use CDBG funding to finance the same events in 2024.
"We want to close the generational wealth gap for our Black and Brown babies, so they can be on the same level playing field as other children," said Sinclair. "We want to provide social equity for them."
Petersburg Department of Parks and Leisure Services
Last year, the Department of Parks and Leisure Services was awarded CDBG funds to refurbish two of Petersburg's parks- Blanford Academy Park and Farmer Street Park. This year, the department is hoping to use CDBG funds to renovate the Jefferson St. Park and Playground and the McKenzie St. Park and Playground, as well as the Farmer St. Pool.
Rebuilding Together Richmond
A Richmond-based non-profit organization that also operates in Chesterfield, Petersburg and Hopewell, Rebuilding Together Richmond (RTRVA) aims to provide critical home repairs to underserved communities.
"In the past 30 plus years we have repaired over 1,700 homes in the area and that encompasses over 30,000 individual repairs," said Development Coordinator Amy Capistran. "The majority of the homeowners we serve are seniors, people with disabilities and veterans."
In the past, RTRVA has used CDBG funding to provide critical repairs to several houses in Petersburg. Even though the organization was not able to get CDBG funding last year, it was able to use rollover funds to conduct critical home repairs on three different homes in Pocahontas Island as well as the local chapel. In the future, RTRVA hopes to use CDBG funding to continue the work they have been doing repairing the homes of Petersburg's residents who need it the most, said Capistran, and in the process not only improve the lives and wellbeing of locals, but also reduce blight in the area and improve the entire community for the better.
Upcoming public meetings
This week's public meetings in Petersburg, Hopewell and Colonial Heights are as follows:
Tuesday, May 28
Keep Hopewell Beautiful Committee Meeting, 6 p.m., Hopewell Library, 209 E. Cawson Street. Inquiries? Contact Senior Planner Kelly Davis at (804) 541-2269.
Petersburg City Council Special Meeting to ratify the city's selection of Cordish as its preferred casino gaming operator. 1 - 2 p.m., Multipurpose Room, Petersburg Public Library. View the agenda for this meeting here.
Hopewell City Council Regular Meeting, 7:30 p.m., Municipal Building (City Council Chambers) 300 N. Main Street. View the agenda for this meeting here. Inquiries? Contact Brittani Williams at (804) 541-2408.
Tuesday, June 4
Petersburg City Council Closed Session Meeting, 3 - 4 p.m., Multipurpose Room, Petersburg Public Library. View the agenda for this meeting here.
Petersburg City Council Meeting, 5 - 6 p.m., Multipurpose Room, Petersburg Public Library. This meeting will include the below CDBG Public Hearing. View the agenda for this meeting here.
Community Development Block Grant Advisory Board (CDBG) Public Hearing at Petersburg City Council meeting, 5 p.m., Multipurpose Room, Petersburg Public Library. This meeting is open to the public and will include a public comment period.
City of Colonial Heights Planning Commission Meeting, 6 - 8 p.m., City Council Chambers, 201 James Avenue. Find the agenda for this meeting here.
This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: THE AGENDA: City meetings, CDBG funding announcements and more.
