Community

Richmond Emergency Shelter Proposal Concerns Neighbors

A proposal to convert a vacant office building at the corner of Bissell Avenue and 37th Street into an emergency shelter with up to 25 beds has drawn neighbor concerns. A conditional use permit is being requested from the Richmond Planning Commission to allow for the conversion of the vacant, 5,045-square-foot office building at 207 37th St., which recently served as a temporary shelter.

Published

1 year ago

June 13, 2024

Oakland Post

The vacant office building has formerly served as a temporary shelter. Photo by Kathy Chouteau.

The Richmond Standard

A proposal to convert a vacant office building at the corner of Bissell Avenue and 37^th Street into an emergency shelter with up to 25 beds has drawn neighbor concerns.

A conditional use permit is being requested from the Richmond Planning Commission to allow for the conversion of the vacant, 5,045-square-foot office building at 207 37^th St., which recently served as a temporary shelter.

If approved as proposed, the building would transition into a permanent facility with seven rooms – six dorm-style and one private – and with an entertainment room, dining hall, staff offices and rear courtyard area. Residency at the shelter would be limited to six months or less, planning documents state.

“The facility would provide housing and minimal supportive services including therapist, vocational, and occupational and related services,” they further state.

Neighbors are expressing concern about the proposed shelter, noting public safety issues when the property was recently used for this purpose.

One neighbor wrote to the city that their teen son was harassed in his backyard while playing soccer. Other neighbors said the building, while acting as a shelter, attracted increases in car thefts, break-ins, public drug use, littering and suspicious activity.

“Many complaints and police calls were being made with concerns and nothing much was being done,” one neighbor wrote to the city. “There was suspicious activity all hours of the night.”

Based on neighbor concerns, city staff recommends imposing conditions of approval for the homeless shelter “to address security, rule enforcement, and community engagement.” Staff suggests, in part, reducing the maximum occupancy of the shelter in the proposal from 25 people to 16 and requiring state-based best practices for shelter housing standards.

“Proposed conditions of approval would require graffiti-abatement and fencing design to improve compatibility with the surrounding neighborhood and requiring the applicant to consent to inspection with appropriate notice, so that the required standards may be verified for compliance,” city staff recommended.

The shelter proposal is set to go before the Planning Commission at its Thursday, June 6 meeting.

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Oakland Post: Week of July 2- 8, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 2 – 8, 2025

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July 7, 2025

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Trump Set to Sign Largest Cut to Medicaid After a Marathon Protest Speech by Leader Jeffries

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The bill also represents the biggest cut in Medicare in history and is a threat to the health care coverage of over 15 million people. The spending in Trump’s signature legislation also opens the door to a second era of over-incarceration in the U.S.

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4 days ago

July 3, 2025

Oakland Post

By Lauren Burke

By a vote of 218 to 214, the GOP-controlled U.S. House passed President Trump’s massive budget and spending bill that will add $3.5 trillion to the national debt, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The bill also represents the biggest cut in Medicare in history and is a threat to the health care coverage of over 15 million people. The spending in Trump’s signature legislation also opens the door to a second era of over-incarceration in the U.S. With $175 billion allocated in spending for immigration enforcement, the money for more police officers eclipsed the 2026 budget for the U.S. Marines, which is $57 billion. Almost all of the policy focus from the Trump Administration has focused on deporting immigrants of color from Mexico and Haiti.

The vote occurred as members were pressed to complete their work before the arbitrary deadline of the July 4 holiday set by President Trump. It also occurred after Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries took the House floor for over 8 hours in protest. Leader Jeffries broke the record in the U.S. House for the longest floor speech in history on the House floor. The Senate passed the bill days before and was tied at 50-50, with Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski saying that, “my hope is that the House is gonna look at this and recognize that we’re not there yet.” There were no changes made to the Senate bill by the House. A series of overnight phone calls to Republicans voting against, not changes, was what won over enough Republicans to pass the legislation, even though it adds trillions to the debt. The Trump spending bill also cuts money to Pell grants.

“The Big Ugly Bill steals food out of the hands of starving children, steals medicine from the cabinets of cancer patients, and equips ICE with more funding and more weapons of war than the United States Marine Corps. Is there any question of who those agents will be going to war for, or who they will be going to war against? Beyond these sadistic provisions, Republicans just voted nearly unanimously to close urban and rural hospitals, cripple the child tax credit, and to top it all off, add $3.3 trillion to the ticking time bomb that is the federal deficit – all from a party that embarrassingly pretends to stand for fiscal responsibility and lowering costs,” wrote Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Yvette Clarke (D-NY) in a statement on July 3.

“The Congressional Budget Office predicts that 17 million people will lose their health insurance, including over 322,000 Virginians. It will make college less affordable. Three million people will lose access to food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). And up to 16 million students could lose access to free school meals. The Republican bill does all of this to fund tax breaks for millionaires, billionaires, and corporations,” wrote Education and Workforce Committee ranking member Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) in a statement. The bill’s passage has prompted Democrats to start thinking about 2026 and the next election cycle. With the margins of victory in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate being so narrow, many are convinced that the balance of power and the question of millions being able to enjoy health care come down to only several thousand votes in congressional elections. But currently, Republicans controlled by the MAGA movement control all three branches of government. That reality was never made more stark and more clear than the last seven days of activity in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.