Home Care In Richmond, VA

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A troublesome stretch of road in Richmond’s Northside is drawing city officials’ attention.

A recent road safety assessment presented at February’s Land Use, Housing and Transportation Standing Committee meeting showed a one-and-a-half mile stretch of Chamberlayne Avenue has experienced a high volume of crashes.

The report highlighted key issues on Chamberlayne Avenue between Belvidere Street and Brookland Park Boulevard, it showed that there were 21 serious injuries and five deaths on this corridor between 2018 and 2023. Of those crashes, 80% happened at intersections, while the rest of the city only saw 50% of crashes happen at intersections.

The assessment also showed that 100% of the crashes that occurred along that stretch of Chamberlayne Avenue were speed-related.

“It’s just over the years and time, just neglect of this strip,” Councilwoman Ann-Frances Lambert said. “You know, the lights, the medians, the crosswalks, not enough of them. And it’s a lot of speeding, especially as you come down Chamberlayne.”

Lambert was a part of the team that walked the stretch of road to observe the area as part of the assessment in November.

Some proposed solutions have included better streetlights, speed cameras and adding more crosswalks.

“It’ll come to be about $200 million,” Lambert said about the cost of those proposed solutions. “So, that’s city funds that we just really do not have, so we have to look at our federal and state partners to help us fund these projects.”

Lambert, along with other council members on the committee, said the next step in this process would be to identify the funding necessary to complete those improvements.

“I think a lot of the improvements that we saw from that plan a couple weeks ago, was really highlighting the need of really investing in the infrastructure for walkability, and designing that from the intention of how we move forward, not looking backwards,” said Richmond City Council member Andres Addison.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Employees of the Richmond Wildlife Center in Virginia are doing their best to act like mother foxes as they feed and care for an orphaned kit that found her way into their care.

In a video posted to the center’s Facebook page Tuesday, Executive Director Melissa Stanley is shown wearing a red fox mask and rubber gloves while feeding the tiny kit from a syringe. The kit sits on top of a large stuffed animal fox that is supposed to look like her mother, Stanley said.

The same Facebook post explained why staff are wearing the mask to feed her, minimizing human sounds, creating visual barriers and taking other precautions. “It’s important to make sure that the orphans that are raised in captivity do not become imprinted upon or habituated to humans,” the post said.

All those measures make it more likely the kit could be reintroduced into the wild someday.

Stanley said in an interview Tuesday that the kit was admitted to the center on Feb. 29 after a man walking his dog found her in an alley in Richmond. Thinking she was a kitten, he turned her over to the Richmond Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. She was less than 24 hours old and her umbilical stump was still attached.

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Wildlife center staff initially tried to locate the kit’s mother and her den site so they could reunite them. They found the den site, but were told by the grounds superintendent that the foxes had been trapped and removed. Stanley said she suspects the fox kit either fell out of a trap or off the back of the trapper’s truck.

Staff at the wildlife center have been taking turns feeding the kit every two to four hours, all while wearing the fox mask. In addition to the large stuffed animal meant to mimic the kit’s mother, staff also put a smaller stuffed red fox in her enclosure. She cuddles up to the smaller stuffed animal at the end of the video.

“The goal is to release animals back into the wild, not only to give them a greater chance of survival, but to recognize their own species and to reproduce to carry on their wildlife population,” Stanley said.

To that end, the center immediately began looking for other red fox kits of the same age and weight within the rehabilitation community. Staff located three other kits in a rehabilitation setting in northern Virginia. The fox kit will be transferred to the Animal Education and Rescue Organization, which plans to eventually release the kits back into the wild together.

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Skene contributed to this report from Baltimore.

The strategy is especially helpful to lower-paid workers, but it might not be sustainable.

RICHMOND, Va. — Free bus rides have made life easier for Melvin Wilson, a 28-year-old Richmond resident who was on his way to his warehouse job on a recent morning. His only worry is that fares, which once ate up $60 or more of his monthly pay, might come back and go even higher, making it harder for him to afford to get to work.

“It could throw a lot of people like me out of their comfort zone. I think people would lose their jobs over this, especially if it happened too fast,” said Wilson, who was waiting with other riders at a downtown transfer station on a cold, sunny day earlier this month.

Richmond is one of the few cities where transit systems have regained pre-pandemic ridership, according to a Stateline analysis, and waiving fares has played a large part. A $4.5 million state grant from Virginia’s Transit Ridership Incentive Program has helped make the free rides possible.

In addition to Richmond, only 22 other cities had ridership in 2023 that was equal to or higher than in 2019, and 14 of those had free rides at least part of the year, according to the Stateline analysis of National Transit Database data. The largest of the cities that fully recovered ridership all offered free rides at least part of the year: Tucson, Arizona; Albany, New York; Birmingham, Alabama; Worcester, Massachusetts; and Shreveport, Louisiana, with 2023 ridership ranging from 17.5 million in Tucson to 3.3 million in Shreveport.

It’s not surprising that free rides can juice ridership numbers for systems struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting shift to at-home work. And offering free and reduced-price rides is a boon to the low-income workers who disproportionately rely on public transit. The question is whether such policies are financially sustainable — or fair, given that higher-income riders benefit too.

As is the case with Richmond, states will play a pivotal role in determining the viability of city transit systems facing diminished ridership and a “fiscal cliff” of the end of federal pandemic funding, according to a Brookings Institution report last year.

In Richmond, regional leaders first dropped fares in March 2020 during the pandemic to support essential workers and to make it easier for people to get to hospitals and doctors. Scrapping fares also prevented passengers from clustering around fare boxes and eliminated the need for some face-to-face interactions.

Officials kept the free rides when they realized how the change was helping lower-paid workers and the employers who depend on them. A survey found 71% of riders had household incomes of less than $40,000 a year, while higher-paid riders such as state employees got free passes as part of their jobs, said Henry Bendon, spokesperson for GRTC Transit System, which runs bus service in the Richmond area.

“There was an equity issue. Fares were falling on the backs of people who could least afford it,” he said. “Transit is a public service. We build roads and we don’t charge people to use them, so why should we charge for this?”

Fares were falling on the backs of people who could least afford it. Transit is a public service.

– Henry Bendon, GRTC Transit System in Richmond, Va.

Bendon took buses to work and school on a recent day — he’s studying for a master’s degree in public administration at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, and many students pile onto free buses that pass by the downtown campus. Riders saw the transit insignia on his jacket and asked questions or voiced concerns, mostly about cleanliness and security on buses. But riders were generally happy with new service expansion that brought service every 15 minutes on main lines, up from every half-hour a few years ago.

Dee Otey, a 25-year-old restaurant worker at Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken in Richmond, said she also worries about fares coming back higher than before. She doesn’t miss the weekly struggle to calculate her transportation needs to determine whether it made more sense to pay single fares of $1.50 or buy a weekly pass.

A free ride for all?

Other cities are grappling with the question of whether higher-income riders should support the system by paying fares. In the Worcester, Massachusetts, area, which includes part of Connecticut, the Worcester Regional Transit Authority has extended fare-free rides one year at a time, and some want to keep it that way.

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Alex Guardiola, vice president of public affairs and public policy at the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, said “there are many benefits to our residents and employers getting employees to their jobs as well as health care [appointments].” But some local officials see a benefit in charging fares to those who can afford it.

“I appreciate that we are trying to increase ridership, but adding riders without any increase in funding puts us in the position of not being able to afford drivers,” said Robin Grimm, town administrator for the Worcester suburb of Sturbridge and a member of the agency’s board. Using a sliding scale would still allow lower-income riders to pay less or nothing, she said.

Brian Taylor, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles and director of the university’s Institute of Transportation Studies, said reduced or free rides make less sense in cities with more affluent commuters, such as San Francisco.

“It’s difficult to make an equity case for it,” Taylor said. “There is an excellent argument to be made for free fares in the right situation. But to do it universally would cost enormous amounts of money and actually convey benefits to high-income people who don’t need it.”

Historically, city transit systems were for-profit businesses, but they became subsidized public services after World War II when widespread car ownership made them unprofitable. Systems in Richmond and other cities that have recovered their pre-pandemic ridership have large populations that depend on public transit because they don’t have access to cars, Taylor said.

But even in Richmond, there’s a financial strain from the loss of fare revenue, which amounts to more than $8 million a year. That loss is offset somewhat by not having to cover the $1.5 million cost of managing fare cards, plus the state money the system gets because it does not collect fares. The authority is considering asking for tax-deductible contributions from employers such as Amazon whose employees benefit from free rides, Bendon said.

“There will be some difficult conversations about funding in the next five or six years,” Bendon said. “We’ll go back to charging fares only if everything else fails. We don’t want to do that, and we don’t ever want to do that.”

Even some of the largest systems are experimenting with limited free rides. New York City’s Metropolitan Transit Authority, which Stateline found has recovered about 76% of its 2019 bus and subway ridership, is using a state grant to fund five fare-free bus routes among its 325 total routes. Washington, D.C., delayed a free city bus proposal until later this year; its regional ridership on bus and rail service, which includes suburbs in Maryland and Virginia, is about 71% of 2019 levels.

Staffing shortages

But it’s harder for very large transit systems to waive fares without damaging their finances, said Stephanie Lotshaw, director of TransitCenter, a New York City foundation devoted to transportation funding and strategy.

“In Richmond they get significant state support, and they are a small agency, but for larger operations it is less feasible,” Lotshaw said. San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit, for instance, received 71% of its operating costs from fares, parking and advertising before the pandemic. That figure is down to about 50% now.

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And some of the big cities that have waived fares still haven’t regained pre-pandemic ridership. In New Mexico, Las Cruces and Albuquerque both have free rides, but only Las Cruces has recovered ridership fully and Albuquerque is still at about 75%, said Leslie Keener, the Albuquerque system’s transit director.

One reason is a shortage of drivers and other employees: Albuquerque has only about 62% of the service hours it did in 2019, with a job vacancy rate of 34% overall and almost 50% for mechanics.

“We have been struggling with vacancies peaking last summer. We are starting to see some hiring come back, but we still have a ways to go,” Keener said.

Richmond addressed its driver shortages by raising pay 43% to $24.91 an hour last year and waiving a requirement for a commercial license, instead requiring only a clean driving record and training.

“We set an ambitious goal to bring back the 300 drivers we needed in a year and a half, and we met that goal in pretty much half the time,” Bendon said.

Staffing shortages are part of the ridership problem with most mass transit agencies, along with decreased commuting as work-from-home becomes a permanent consequence of the pandemic, said Tracy Hadden Loh, a Brookings fellow and co-author of its recent transit report.

“Some systems are dropping way more trips than others because of lack of staffing. People can’t use something they can’t rely on,” Loh said. “There’s no doubt that free fares juice ridership. Just look at Richmond.

“So, do we cling to the fantasy that somehow transit will pay for itself,” she said, “or do we figure out a way to pay for it that really solves the free rider problem?”

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State workers will vacate the James Monroe Building in downtown Richmond, and many of them will move their offices to the Virginia Lottery tower on East Main Street, as the state government prepares to shuffle its downtown workforce.

The Monroe Building is no longer functional, Secretary of Administration Lyn McDermid said Friday. The state is considering tearing it down.

By July 2025, the employees who work there will have left. Many will head to the lottery building, also known as Main Street Centre, a 23-story tower at 600 E. Main St. Others will relocate to facilities across Richmond and Henrico County.

The state will not construct a new office tower to replace Monroe, as demand for downtown office space has waned. Instead, Gov. Glenn Youngkin has asked legislators to approve $20 million to renovate Main Street Centre.

Completed in 1981, the Monroe Building is 29 stories and looms over the highway. It is considered the city’s tallest building and is an icon within the downtown skyline.

But it’s no longer functional, McDermid told a Senate Finance subcommittee on Friday. Its elevators are unreliable, and its bathrooms are not compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act. The building is safe, but employees are ready to leave.

Renovation, which would cost $900 million, was deemed too expensive. The state considered leasing space in privately owned buildings downtown. There is plenty of open office space, as many businesses have shifted to remote work. But the General Assembly advised the Youngkin administration to enter into leases of three years or less, which would also increase costs.

So the administration decided it would scatter employees from Monroe into different buildings, some owned by the state, some not. Most will go to Main Street Centre, but others will be moved to Reid’s Row, Old City Hall, the Workers’ Compensation building, the George Washington Building and other unannounced spaces. The move is expected to save about $3 million annually in rent costs.

Main Street Centre was built in 1985. The state bought it for $49 million in 2008, and the city assessed the building and its 1-acre parcel for slightly more than that this year.

It houses four state agencies: the lottery, labor, taxation and conservation. The lottery and labor departments plan to leave, and the other two agencies will consolidate space, creating room for new workers to move in.

Staffers from the departments of accounts, treasury, education, human resources and higher education are expected to move there. The Department of Education has the largest number of employees in Monroe, and some of its staff will go to Old City Hall, McDermid said.

Now, the state wants to allocate $20 million from the budget to renovate Main Street Centre. The city rated its condition as normal for its age.

“We want to avoid Main Street Centre becoming another Monroe,” McDermid said.

The state is considering demolishing Monroe, which would cost between $20 million and $60 million, McDermid said. Another option is taking it to market and seeing if there is another use for it, she added. State leaders do not want to see the tower standing empty.

The Virginia Lottery expects to move out of Main Street Centre. It wants a smaller office space with parking for visitors and people who come to claim their winnings. The lottery expects to share office space with the department of workforce development near Staples Mill Road. The move is cost-neutral, McDermid said.

The labor department will leave Monroe for leased space at Brookfield Place, an office building near West Broad Street and Dickens Road in Henrico, where the Virginia Employment Commission is housed.

The Inspector General will go to Reid’s Row, a set of historic town houses on Governor Street that is being renovated.

Two other agencies will head to the Virginia Workers’ Compensation building on East Franklin Street in downtown, which Media General once owned. The departments headed there are Veterans Services and Small Business and Supplier Diversity.

The Department of General Services will relocate to the George Washington Building in Capitol Square. New homes for Pharmacy Services and the Auditor of Public Accounts have not been announced.

The state is demolishing the three-story building it owns at 703 E. Main St., diagonal from the Virginia Lottery building, by next month. State officials had considered building a $400 million tower in that spot to replace Monroe, an idea that was deemed unnecessary. No plans have been announced to build anything new in that spot.

The state will also demolish the Pocahontas Building at 900 E. Main St., which temporarily housed the General Assembly while its recently opened building was under construction. In its place, the state plans to build a facility for the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Virginia Court of Appeals.

But the design of the new court building is changing, McDermid said, as the court realized it needs more space. A final cost and construction schedule have not been set.

“A lot has changed since that building was originally designed a couple years ago,” McDermid said.

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The Office of Advanced Manufacturing (OAM) within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is revolutionizing healthcare for Veterans using 3D printing and other advanced technologies.

By creating customized solutions for Veterans in need of assistive technology (AT), OAM helps individuals maintain, increase, or improve their functional capabilities. AT helps Veterans perform a variety of tasks, from complex movements like driving and playing sports to everyday tasks like using a phone or turning on a light.

A new library of VHA OAM hosted on the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) 3D page currently contains a collection of design packages, which include CAD files and detailed instructions available for use within a clinical setting. Specific areas of interest include Assistive Technology, empowering individuals with disabilities to improve their independence.

“The website is a design library of files for assistive technology devices that we've created here at Richmond [VA Medical Center] that came out of two things:” said Melissa Oliver, assistive technology program director at Richmond VA Medical Center. “One, a patient need, a Veteran need, but then we were hearing from people across other VA sites that said, ‘hey, we would love to be able to have this Item.’”

The idea for the library began as a link on Shopify through VA’s Innovation Spark, Seed, Spread project where someone could order the actual AT product before moving to the current setup before the proliferation of 3d printers became widespread.

“When everybody Started getting 3D printers, they just wanted the files and so then that's how we got to the design library, and we partnered with NIH,” said Oliver. “We already had a platform for the design files and so we partnered with them to have a place to manage it and house it for us.”

There are currently 31 designs on the site with plans to expand and grow the number of design packages available for download, according to Oliver. The library's second goal of connecting VA clinicians with engineers is also incredibly important. By fostering collaboration between these two groups, the VHA OAM Design Library is helping to drive innovation in the field of assistive technology. These innovations have the potential to greatly improve the quality of life for Veterans with disabilities.

“That covers the primary goal of it, but I think it also serves as a sort of a portfolio of or starting point of ideas for other VAs to look at and say, hey, if we, you know, modify this existing design a little bit, you know maybe we could meet the need for another Veteran,” said Brian Burkhardt, Richmond office of advanced manufacturing hub site lead. “So, it's a nice way to not only share the designs, but to be a jumping point of, you know, for creativity.”

The impact of OAM's AT digital library is profound, with many Veterans experiencing life-changing benefits. For example, 3D-printed toothbrush holders aid in independent personal hygiene, while 3D-printed stylus palm grips make it easier for Veterans to write. These tailored solutions make a significant difference in the lives of Veterans, enabling them to perform tasks that were previously difficult or impossible. OAM's innovative approach to healthcare transforms the way VA approaches patient care and sets a new standard for the industry.

The VHA OAM Design Library is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in assistive technology. Its commitment to providing detailed instructions and fostering collaboration between clinicians and engineers is helping to drive innovation and improve the lives of people with disabilities.

“The traditional method for sharing out things that we produce in VA is tech transfer. So that's great and works for many things, but this is a way to share things that either maybe aren't appropriate for tech transfer, or there's just not a big enough market for,” said Burkhardt. “So, we're sharing something that might help a few people out there but there's just not a big enough market for.”

The new online library provides access to a vast collection of CAD files for use in clinical settings. The library is primarily focused on assistive technology and improving the independence of individuals with disabilities. By providing detailed instructions on how to uniformly fabricate and use these devices, the VHA OAM Library is helping to ensure that these designs are accessible to as many people as possible.

“Anybody, whether you're a federal employee or Joe Schmoe, can get to the NIH site. It's a public open facing outward facing site than anybody can do that. So, it's not only accessible for our Veterans to be able to utilize, but the public at large,” said Oliver. “It has the general picture, then it has a description, then you also have the PDF here and you also have more pictures too, so they can see what it looks like,” Oliver said.

“I think it's also a way for smaller VA's that are making things to be able to share what they're doing because I think a lot of times, they don't feel like they can get that word out to other people, but it might benefit of a Veteran or any therapist that is looking for a potential solution,” she said.

Check out the collection at:https://3d.nih.gov/collections/oam/at