Richmond Free Press May 19-21, 2022 edition

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Richmond Free Press

VOL. 31 NO. 21

© 2022 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

www.richmondfreepress.com

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Meet Richmond’s Teacher of the Year B1

MAY 19-21, 2022

‘Like every other day’ 10 lives lost on a trip to the store By Carolyn Thompson and Matt Sedensky The Associated Press

BUFFALO, N.Y. They were caregivers and protectors and helpers, running an errand or doing a favor or finishing out a shift, when their paths crossed with a young man driven by racism and hatred and baseless conspiracy theories. In a flash, the ordinariness of their day was broken at Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, where in and around the supermarket’s aisles, a symbol of the mundane was transformed into a scene of mass murder. Carts lay abandoned. Bodies littered the tile floor. Police radios crackled with calls for help. Investigators will try, for days to come, to piece together the massacre that killed 10 people, all Black and apparently hunted for the color of their skin. Those who loved them are left with their memories of the lost, who suffered death amid the simple task of buying groceries.

“These people were just shopping,” said Steve Carlson, 29, mourning his 72-year-old neighbor Katherine Massey, who checked in often, giving him gifts on his birthday and at Christmas, and pressing money into his hand when he helped with yard work. “They went to go get food to feed their families.” One came from volunteering at a food bank. Another had been tending to her husband at his nursing home. Most were in their 50s and beyond, and were destined for more, even if just the dinner they planned to make. Shonnell Harris, a manager at the store, was stocking shelves when she heard the first of what she figured must have been more than 70 shots. She ran for the back door, stumbling a few times along the way. She wondered where her daughter, a grocery clerk, was, and went around to the front of the store. She saw someone being shot, she said, and a man who looked like he was dressed for the Army. Please turn to A4

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

Wayne Jones, center left, accompanied by his aunt, JoAnn Daniels, center right, son Donell Jones, left, and daughter Kayla Jones, talks Monday during an interview about his mother, Celestine Chaney, who was killed at the shooting at a supermarket over the weekend in Buffalo, N.Y.

Homeless concerns persist despite efforts to assist people lacking shelter By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Photos by Carlos Bernate

New St. Philip’s rector envisions a more inclusive neighborhood ministry Following her recent installation as the 23rd rector of historic St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in North Side, the Rev. Marlene E. Forrest described the occasion as a “beautiful, spirit-filled service.” Rev. Forrest’s installation at the church came nearly two years after she was named priest-in-charge of the 300-member congregation, the largest Black Episcopal congregation in Virginia. She succeeds Bishop Phoebe A. Roaf, who led the church for eight years until she was installed as bishop of West Tennessee in May 2019. “I am grateful that after a bit more than two years at the church to be finally installed

and made kind of permanent,” said Rev. Forrest, who will lead the South’s oldest Black Episcopal church, which began operations in 1861, the same year the Civil War began. Mindful of the strain placed on many religious institutions everywhere since the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, Rev. Forrest expressed gratitude that St. Philip’s has returned to in-person services and activities. “We are back to in-person services and hope to stay in person,” she said. “We believe in mutual ministry and doing church together. Our goal is to become more active in engagement and outreach to our neighbors and friends and provide help to those in need.”

Doorways, bus benches and even city sidewalks are once again sleeping pads for some unsheltered people in Richmond now that the inclement weather and COVID-19 shelters have shut down. “This city treats stray animals better than people,” said Rhonda Sneed, co-founder and leader of one of the largest homeless relief programs in the area, Blessing Warriors. Ms. Sneed, who has been on the go every day since 2013 bringing food, clothing, shoes, underwear and other necessities to those without housing, said the most dismaying part of her work is having to tell the people she and her 2,000-member

cadre of supporters serve that there is no place for them to lay their head. Ms. Sneed is concerned about a potential spike in homeless numbers in Richmond this summer as the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority begins evictions for hundreds of families in arrears on rent. The spike will occur as the state prison system, after July, begins to release 4,500 inmates due to General Assembly-mandated changes in sentence calculations. While a good portion of those families and individuals could end up bunking with family and friends, a substantial fraction might wind up on the streets, seeking a shelter that does not exist.

COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Richmond area By George Copeland Jr.

Living 2 years under

The counties of Henrico, Chesterfield and Hanover are among the Virginia localities where COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have risen, as the spread and impact of the virus has increased throughout the Central Virginia area and statewide in recent weeks. These changes were reported last week, with multiple localities in Metro Richmond reaching medium levels of community COVID levels, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The three levels of community COVID are determined by the number of people hospitalized due to the virus, new COVID-19 hospital admissions and the total number of new cases in a given area. In response to these changes, local health officials have advised

COVID

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Ms. Sneed said she looked at the news coverage of the new skateboard park that the city just built in South Side and just wished there was the same commitment for the unsheltered. “Why is it so hard to open a shelter where people can go year-round to spend the night?” she said. “I just don’t understand it.” Fifth District City Councilwoman Stephanie A. Lynch, who has championed a yearround shelter through resolutions that council has passed, agrees with Ms. Sneed. As chair of council’s Education and Human Services Committee, Ms. Lynch has pushed Please turn to A4

Free COVID-19 testing, vaccines Free community testing for COVID-19 continues. The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations: • Thursday, May 19 and May 26, 4 to 7 p.m. – Broad Rock Sports Complex, 4899 Old Warwick Road. • Wednesday, May 25, 9 a.m. to noon – East Henrico Recreation Center, 1440 N. Laburnum Ave. Call the Richmond and Henrico COVID-19 Hotline at (804) 205-3501 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday for more information on testing sites, or go online at vax.rchd.com.

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Richmond Ambulance Authority sounds funding alarm By Jeremy Lazarus

A sea of red ink. That is what the Richmond Ambulance Authority warns it is facing. According to RAA budget documents, expenses are outstripping revenue, with no recovery in sight. The result: The ability to maintain quality service is in jeopardy, even with the temporary fix City Hall has put in place for the new fiscal year that will begin July 1. According to the documents, RAA is generating about $17 million to $20 million in revenue a year, including its $4 million subsidy from the city, but is having to spend $23 million to $25 mil-

lion to operate. Over the next five years, RAA projects expenses rising as fast or faster than revenue, creating deficits of $6 million to $8 million a year. The documents show the authority has been losing money but has been able to paper over deficits by tapping reserves. By tapping reserves again, the RAA projects breaking even in the upcoming 2022-23 fiscal year. But that will exhaust the reserves, according to RAA. If its projections of revenue and expenses prove accurate, RAA will show an actual deficit of about $6 million in the 2023-24 fiscal year and will continue to do so in the years following, according to the documents.

While the documents do not say so, those deficits would be unsustainable, forcing cuts in personnel and reductions in service if the city does not double and potentially triple its subsidy. RAA is a busy operation, with ambulance personnel reportedly responding to an average of 162 calls a day and performing an average of 113 transports a day. Since its founding in 1991, RAA has ranked among the top ambulance providers in the country, earning accreditation and re-accreditation from the two top standards-setting organizations — one of the few emergency medical services agencies to be able to do so. Please turn to A4

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Capturing the moment Malakai Sellers helps Melody Sellers try on his baseball cap during the 2022 Virginia State University Commencement ceremony last Saturday. The two were with family to see the graduation ceremony. Please see story, more photos B2.


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