RICHMOND, VA— To prevent lease enforcement action of families living in public housing communities managed by Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority (RRHA), several local partner organizations and individuals are lending a hand! These include representatives from Richmond’s Office of Community Wealth Building, area churches and faith leaders, Centers for Families in Transition (C-FIT), the Offices of Richmond 7th District City Council President Cynthia Newbille, 3rd District Councilwoman Ann Frances Lambert, Saving Our Youth Virginia. Inc., A Better Day Than Yesterday Initiative Program, and other concerned individuals. Beginning Tuesday, March 15, through Thursday, March 17, 2022, these individuals will be going door to door in each RRHA public housing community to assist those who need help with rent relief applications. In addition, volunteers will be keying rent relief applications on March 18 and 19, 2022.
Kicking off canvassing efforts and supplementing the energies of partner organizations, RRHA employees will also volunteer their time by dedicating the next two Saturdays (March 12 and 19, 2022, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.) in all of RRHA’s public housing communities.
Still, even more help will come from 6th District Councilwoman Ellen Robertson on Saturday, March 26, 2022 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Councilwoman Robertson’s office will be at the Annie Marie Giles Center, 1400 Oliver Hill Way, Richmond VA 23219. There will be music, food, entertainment and hands-on assistance for senior real estate tax relief, assistance with rent relief applications, and full services from the Office of Community Wealth Building in job placement, career training, how to start your own business, and new family services.
“RRHA sincerely appreciates the assistance of the volunteers joining the effort to keep our public families housed. It makes a difference when those who speak out are willing, not only talk about it, but to put their hands to the plow to make a meaningful difference. We look forward to working with each of these volunteers to mitigate as many negative outcomes as possible,” stated Interim CEO Ms. Stacey Daniels-Fayson.
The Virginia Rent Relief program (RRP) administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) continues to provide funds to pay rents to renters and landlords across the state who have been negatively impacted by COVID. Since rent relief assistance was first made available in January 2021, RRHA property managers have filled out thousands of rent relief applications. They continue to do so while resources are still available from the DHCD. To date, over 1700 families are 31 days or more behind in rent. As RRHA moves forward with lease enforcement, the Agency continues to exhaust all available options before issuing unlawful detainers.
For more information about this and other programs and policies of RRHA, visit www.rrha.com or any one of our social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and Instagram. For general RRHA inquiries, contact our Call Center at (804) toll free at 1- 833-750-7742 (RRHA).