~City residents encouraged to attend to provide input on Task Force recommendations~ All City residents are encouraged to attend the Mayor’s Food Policy Task Force community forum to discuss and prioritize recommendations concerning access to quality, affordable, healthy fresh foods in the city of Richmond. The community forum will be held on Wednesday, April 4, at the Carillon at Byrd Park, 1300 Blanton Avenue, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be provided. Residents are encouraged to come and learn about the action recommendations being developed by the Mayor’s Food Policy Task Force and to discuss the impact that the lack of access to healthy foods has in the community. This forum will help shape the action plan to address identified needs to ensure that the city has a healthy and accessible environment for all. The Food Policy Task Force is part of Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ Healthy Richmond Campaign that was created to help improve the health of City residents by ad...

The monthly service schedule for RVA Shoppers’ Shuttle has been modified again based upon feedback from participants. The free courtesy shuttle will continue to operate on the second and fourth days of each month; however several pick-up times have changed to allow additional pick-up locations and to change all final destinations to the Walmart SuperCenter at 2410 Sheila Lane. Additional pick-up locations are North 23 rd Street and Selden Street; Sussex Street and Whitcomb Street; and Accommodation Street and Gay Street. A full schedule of the RVA Shoppers’ Shuttle is available at www.Richmondgov.com . The pilot RVA Shoppers’ Shuttle program is focused on areas of the city where residents are without access to healthy, nutritional, fresh food. As the free courtesy service is a six-month pilot project, the City will continue to work with participants to help shape the best scenarios for the shuttle. Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ Food Policy Task Force is currently working on recom...

Join Mayor Jones on Saturday, April 28, 2012 as he officially kicks off the Healthy Richmond Campaign at the ‘Get Healthy – Stay Healthy’ Health Expo and Chick-fil-A Cow Walk. The Healthy Richmond Campaign is a new initiative designed to promote active lifestyles, healthy nutrition, preventative health, sustainability and well being in the city of Richmond. The event will begin at 8:30 a.m. with the Chick-fil-a Cow Walk at Festival Park between 6th Street Marketplace and Richmond Coliseum and ends at the health expo at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. The expo will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Exhibit Hall A. “The city of Richmond is a city of opportunity and innovation, and I am excited about our city moving forward in implementing this campaign. We are engaging the community and encouraging the public to proactively embrace the Healthy Richmond concept to improve and maintain a healthy lifestyle.” For more information, please visit www.RichmondGov.com/CampaignH...

The City’s second Workforce Development community share site opened today at the East District Family Resource Center. Mayor Dwight C. Jones, City Councilwoman Cynthia Newbille, and Director of Economic and Community Development Lee Downey opened the site with a brief ribbon cutting ceremony. The share site is the second joint Workforce Development Center in the city of Richmond and will offer services and resources to city residents to better prepare and search for jobs. The first share site at Fifth Street Baptist Church opened in October 2011. The center will partner with RESOURCE, the Capital Region Workforce Investment Board, to teach classes on résumé writing, interviewing and networking skills. Trained volunteers will staff the center and serve as career agents and job coaches for interested residents looking for work. “We recognize that many of our residents with the greatest needs cannot easily reach these services,” said Mayor Jones. “Share sites serve our communities w...