The morning air smelled of damp soil as the volunteers’ shovels struck buried rocks, glass bottles and bits of old plastic, reminders that the area was once a dumping ground. On Saturday morning, this stretch of land in Richmond’s Greenway was being reborn, as roughly 50 volunteers, from children to retirees, gathered for the city’s 14th annual Arbor Day celebration. Over the course of three hours, volunteers planted 29 trees along the Richmond Greenway. The nonprofit Groundwork Richmond, which improves…
In years past, if someone in Richmond called 911 about an overdose, the response almost always came from the police. But if you were to call 911 about an opioid overdose in Richmond today, help often comes in the form of the city’s new crisis-response programs. These programs are gradually shifting Richmond’s opioid treatment approach away from emergency law enforcement and toward coordinated care. This new citywide coordinated response overhaul was the focus of the Opioid Awareness Community Forum held…