Thriving City Hall:

Quality, trustworthy services start with our people. 

Did you know that more than 4,500 people work for the City of Richmond? City government can establish great procedures or a rockstar budget, but without people to implement them, nothing gets done. 

“The core and soul of Richmond is its staff,” shared CAO Odie Donald II at our second annual Service Awards this month. That event recognizes staff who have served the city for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, and even 50 years!  

There are also big team milestones to celebrate. This year, the turnover rate for City staff is at its lowest rate in close to a decade, with an average rate of 10.3% during the fiscal year. 

Why does the turnover rate matter? A low turnover rate tells us that the City is holding on to experienced staff who are committed to serving their communities. It means we’re spending less time and resources hiring and onboarding—although we love finding amazing new staff—and more time improving and refining. When we make the City a great place to work, we build a city that works for our residents. 

Interested in joining Team Richmond and building our culture of service? Check out open City positions and apply today!  

Ms. Sureatha McGhee, Parks and Rec program specialist, was recognized for 50 years of service! 

Thriving Neighborhoods:

Mayor Avula’s September Days of Service highlight the need to bring every tool to our affordable housing work.

Whether it’s a hammer, a piece of policy, or even birthday festivities, Richmond is bringing everything we’ve got to the challenge of making our city an affordable place to live for all residents. Mayor Avula celebrated his birthday this year with a Days of Service event focused on our neighborhoods.

From September 18-20, about 175 volunteers completed 16 projects in 5 City Council districts!

Here’s just some of what we got done: 

• 110 meals served 
• 2 new accessibility ramps installed at two different homes 
• House siding installed

While the Mayor and other volunteers rolled up their sleeves, they were also thinking about structural changes. This month, the Mayor also introduced plans to add $2 million to Richmond’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund and helped deliver keys to residents moving back into the newly redeveloped Creighton Court.

We’ve also wrapped up the first public comment period on Code Refresh, the City’s effort to update the City’s outdated zoning ordinance and present a version which will more closely align with the needs of Richmonders today and into the future. City planners will now sort through community comments and make adjustments before presenting the next version for public comment later this year. You can still have real input on this process with the next version; we’ll keep revising as we work to hear and balance the many needs of our communities.

Whether you left a comment for Code Refresh or pitched in on Days of Service, thank you for helping move our thriving neighborhoods forward!   

Thriving Families:

An important part of supporting families’ wellbeing? Helping our littlest residents fall in love with reading.  

Literacy – the ability to begin reading and understanding what you read – is a foundational life skill. All that work starts when we’re very young. 

Fortunately, in Richmond, two of our most important institutions are helping families thrive through literacy: 

Richmond Public Schools are creating confident (and multilingual!) readers 

RPS is meeting early literacy goals by emphasizing reading as a joyful activity in addition to one that sets us up for lifelong success. When we’re comfortable in our literacy skills, we’re able to solve problems, work collaboratively, grow professionally, and participate in the civic life of our communities.  

• RPS’s dual-language immersion program has expanded to two kindergarten classes at GH Reid. Students learn in both English and Spanish, an approach that helps all kids grow as multilingual learners.  
• All of RPS has implemented the UFLI phonics curriculum,, which helps build a love of reading into skills development.  
• The RPS Lit Limo travels around town to share free books with readers from ages 0-18. This year, it’s also added STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) activities. 

And RPS is seeing reading results: SOL scores for 2024-2025 were up again! As Superintendent Jason Kamras shares, “We still have a long way to go to reach our goal of meeting or exceeding the state average, but it’s clear RPS is on the rise!” 

Want to learn more about RPS’s literacy initiatives? Follow the Lit Limo on Instagram (@rps_lit_limo), and sign up for Superintendent Kamras’s RPS Direct newsletter.  

Richmond Public Library meets readers-to-be where they are 

Not every city is home to a book-loving otter, but Richmond is! Ripple, the Richmond Public Library mascot, is helping kids citywide fall in love with reading.  

Early literacy coordinator Katie Heslop says that the Read with Ripple program started with Richmond’s Head Start programs and has since expanded to other preschools and daycares. It’s supported by the Richmond Public Library Foundation and dedicated community members.  

Each month, about 1,700 kids receive a free book when volunteers come to their classrooms to read. Each child takes a copy of the book home – along with some recommended activities – to add to their family’s library. They also receive educational materials like flyers on the Basics (principles for early childhood brain development) or maps showing different library locations around the city.  

“Reading at home with children is such a foundational thing to do, and it’s so important,” says Katie. “We’re trying to get across this message: read to your child every day, even if it’s the same book over and over. It still makes a difference.”  

Fun fact: In October, kids in the Read with Ripple program will be reading Firefighter Pete in honor of Fire Prevention Week. If your child comes home obsessed with fire trucks, you’ll know why! 

Get involved with your public library! Volunteer for Read with Ripple, sign up for a library card during National Library Card Sign Up Month, or check our RPL’s other early literacy programs on the Kids webpage.  

A Thriving Economy:

Investing time and effort into a vibrant City Center.

The City’s Economic Development Authority (EDA) is hard at work breathing new life into Richmond’s downtown. Construction of Virginia Public Media’s (VPM) new headquarters in the Arts District on Broad Street is well underway, as is the CoStar Center for Arts and Innovation at Broad and Belvidere.

Did you know? The new VPM headquarters is expected to generate at least 70 new jobs and more than $2.5 million in new real estate tax revenue over its first ten years! 

Both projects are invaluable anchors for Citywide efforts to revitalize the Broad Street corridor. They’re already leading to increased investment from small businesses and developers alike. It’s a clear signal that Broad Street is ready for its much-deserved glow up.  

Speaking of glow-ups, the EDA has two key incentive programs for encouraging growth and development in specific areas of Richmond: 

• Enterprise Zone Program: Offers incentives like relocation rebates or employment assistance grants for business who are in or are considering a move a state-designated Enterprise Zone.  
• CARE Program: Provides rebates for interior or exterior investments in commercial structures located in designated areas and reimbursement for some security improvements.   

You can learn more about both of these programs and check eligibility requirements on the EDA’s website.  

Thriving and Inclusive Communities:

Showing off Richmond at its welcoming, diverse, and unapologetic best. 

"Unapologetically RVA” wasn’t just our tagline for September’s PrideFest—it's a celebration of the dynamic communities who make up our city. Here are just a few of the other ways we showed off Richmond’s inclusive spirit in September: 

What am I seeing? 

Welcoming Week is a celebration of neighbors of all backgrounds in an effort to build strong connections and affirm the importance of welcoming and inclusive places in achieving collective prosperity. • The Office of Immigrant and Refugee Engagement team at the Manchester YMCA Welcoming Week celebration. • KP the Line Dance King of RVA gets the crowd hyped up at our September First Fridays Lunch on the Block. • Mayor Danny Avula living out loud at the rainy but joyous Pridefest 2025. • CAO Odie Donald II and Chief Segal joined Fire Station 11 for a shared dinner and shared stories. • Mayor Danny Avula meets some mini-historians at the Run Richmond 16.19 race. • The Virginia Union University Ambassadors of Sound band at the Falling for the Culture event 2025. • Performances at the Manchester YMCA Welcoming Week celebration. • Marvin Hicks (Richmond Public Library Memory Lab) shares a presentation of Richmond in 1925 and now during the 12th Annual City of Richmond Centenarian Celebration. • Mayor Danny Avula and City of Richmond employees honor Hispanic Heritage Month (Agencies represented: The Fire Department, Public Works, Police Department, Human Resources, and Neighborhood and Community Services). • Mayor Danny Avula with artist Amiri Richardson-Keys and his poster design for the 2025 2nd Street Festival. • Mayor Danny Avula and community members from the Black History Museum of Richmond and the Djimon Hounsou Foundation honoring the launch of the 2025 Run Richmond 16.19. • Mayor Danny Avula with artist Julie Wang and her poster design for the 2025 Folk Festival. • Aerial view of the crowd during our Fall Music at Main Street Station concert series. 

A Thriving and Sustainable Built Environment:

RVA Builds introduces residents to the world of infrastructure.

There are more than a billion reasons (1.2 in fact!) to learn about Richmond’s infrastructure. That’s the amount invested in Department of Public Works construction projects for the coming years.

RVA Builds: An Infrastructure Information Initiative showcased fully funded construction projects coming to our neighborhoods. More than 80 community members attended the open house to learn from DPW and other City organizations about their construction work.

“This was a chance for the community to speak directly with the teams who design, build and improve our city,” said Bobby Vincent, Director of Public Works. “It’s about transparency and connection. We want residents to understand how decisions are made, how projects are prioritized, and how they can get involved.” 

Want to keep the conversation going? DPW is looking for feedback on protected bike lanes around town and information about how people choose which mode of transit they use each day. And keep exploring upcoming construction at the Capital Project dashboard!  

A City that Tells its Stories:

Poet Laureate Joanna Lee encourages others to share their voices.    

Take it away, Joanna! 

“A big part of the Poet Laureate role is not only writing and sharing my own experiences, but also encouraging others to share their experiences and observations, to support arts participation and the capacity for connectedness it brings. All this leads me to a question: Do you have words to share?

As a “city that tells its stories,” Richmond is bursting with creative energy, and we know its residents definitely have things to say. So for the first time, we’re inviting YOU to send your work for inclusion in one of our forthcoming newsletters.  

We’re looking specifically for creative work that says something about the experience of living in Richmond today. What do you love? What could be improved? Are you moved by sunsets on the James? Or frustrated by the traffic over the Mayo Bridge? Or both at the same time?! Show us what it’s like in your day to day, or what makes a day here unlike anywhere else… make it beautiful. Make it hard. Make it sing.”   

Guidelines for submission:

• Any resident or full-time student living in the City of Richmond is welcome to send work. 
• Your work can be in any genre (poetry, fiction, essay, for example) but should be NO longer than 500 words. 
• All work should be original and should not have been previously published. No AI-generated pieces will be considered.  
• Send your submission as an email attachment to askosc@rva.gov with “Newsletter Submission” in the subject line. The attachment should be in the form of .doc, .docx, or .pdf 
• Please send only ONE submission per email. If you wish to submit multiple pieces, please send separate emails for each submission. 
• In the body of the email, please include a short statement about yourself and your connection to Richmond. 

The deadline to submit is midnight, November 16, 2025. We’re excited to hear from you!  

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