The City’s Department of Economic and Community Development invites developers to learn more about the $20 million Economic Development and Housing Revolving Loan Fund Program in the city of Richmond on Tuesday, July 30 at 8 a.m. on the 2nd floor of Main Street Station, 1500 East Main Street. Funding for this loan program is being provided as gap financing for eligible projects, through the U.S. Housing and Urban Development’s Section 108, to assist with economic and community development activities in the city of Richmond. The funds have been used to create a business loan pool targeted to special projects to include affordable housing that will have positive economic and community development benefits within targeted neighborhoods. Target neighborhoods include the Arts & Cultural District, Shockoe Bottom, Manchester, Jeff Davis corridor, Brookland Park Boulevard, and the 25th Street - Nine Mile Road corridor. However, the City will be willing to provide business loans to eligib...

To celebrate World Breastfeeding Week, which begins August 1, Richmond’s Big Latch On is set for Saturday, August 3 at 10:30 a.m. at the Bell Tower on Capitol Square. The Richmond Healthy Start Initiative is partnering with Bon Secours Richmond Health System, HCA Healthcare and VCU Medical Center to host this year’s event. The Richmond event is part of a worldwide gathering of thousands of breastfeeding women and their babies and/or children who will assemble in their communities to take part in synchronized breastfeeding events. Registration for the Richmond event begins at 9:30 a.m. and all nursing mothers and their babies in the metro-Richmond area are invited to participate in the Big Latch On . In the event of inclement weather, the Big Latch On will move to Virginia State Capitol House Room 3, which is accessible through the Bank Street visitor’s entrance.  “This year's Big Latch On is sponsored by the Richmond Health Action Alliance, a Healthy Communities Action Tea...

Mayor Dwight C. Jones received the final report of the Breastfeeding Commission today from the commission he created in July of 2011. The Breastfeeding Commission was created to provide recommendations on ways to increase the number of women breastfeeding, particularly among underserved and fragile women in Richmond, where participation is well below the state average. Over the course of the Commission’s work, state officials recognized the city as the first locality in Virginia to establish a breastfeeding commission and for bringing together businesses, government and healthcare advocates to encourage women - especially low-income mothers - to breastfeed. “I would like to thank Dr. Stephanie Ferguson and the other members of this diverse group of individuals for their diligence in creating recommendations to aid my administration in increasing the number of breastfeeding mothers in the city of Richmond,” said Mayor Jones. “The Commission has recommended a comprehensive, co...

~Addressing food deserts in the city a major focus of groups work~ Mayor Dwight C. Jones today received the final report of the Food Policy Task Force; a task force charged with providing the Administration advice on food policy and land use planning issues in the City of Richmond to include urban agriculture, development of markets for locally-grown food, food education, child nutrition, and the development of inner-city supermarkets. Mayor Dwight C. Jones established the Task Force in July of 2011 as part of his multi-pronged approach to finding ways to address concentrated poverty in the city of Richmond and advance the quality of life. A number of “food deserts” exist (areas where low-income residents have no access to grocery stores) in the city’s lower income neighborhoods, which can contribute to a continuing cycle of poor health and poor outcomes for segments of the city’s population. “I want to express my thanks to the many individuals who devoted their time an...