How close do you live to a pharmacy?

Pharmacies in South Richmond

A recent conversation about the lack of grocery stores and the resulting food desert in South Richmond brought up the similar lack of pharmacies in a broad area. With many grocery stores also hosting pharmacies (but not all of them), the two issues are hand-in-hand.

This map shows the area pharmacies and a one mile radius around them. Looks pretty bleak along Richmond Highway, right? Even worse – the Rite Aid at Hull and Cowardin is closing in May.

What would it take to get a CVS or Walgreens along Richmond Highway? Conventional wisdom says more people with more income. It doesn’t feel like trying to gentrify our way to better service is the track to lean into, though.

On Churches and Polling Places

The city last week announced that they want to move a polling place from Redd Elementary School to Liberation Church.

I wrote at the time that I thought this was a bad idea, because the views of the church on marriage and gender as stated on their website were exclusionary - that putting our civic actions here endorses those ideals. I stand by this.

Lively conversation ensued in many places, it kind of blew up in a way that I did not foresee.

There are folks felt that the church had been attacked by my writing. I promise this was not my intent. I obviously failed at communicating that very well.

After getting an earful from folks whom I respect, I rewrote my piece to hopefully put better words to the thought. One thing thing they said was to write the bigger story:

This is a 9th District polling place, moving from Jahnke Road to Midlothian Turnpike. The specific situation is that the school is 40 years old, and doesn’t have the parking space or physical space to readily allow for voting. This larger situation is that aged and lacking infrastructure is endemic to swathes of South Richmond.

Why is it like this? We know that Richmond has underinvested in large areas of the city for decades, directly impacting communities that are low income and Black.

If the school can’t be used a polling place – there aren’t really any other options. That area of Midlothian developed as suburban sprawl and is a wash of small businesses. The recent district meeting near by was held in a bingo parlor adjacent to a sports bar. To paraphrase one of the comments made – if these are our options, the city has has not been investing in the communities. Where is the neighborhood space, the civic space, the community space?

Liberation Church is a large, active community that by all accounts does meaningful on-the-ground work for people in need. As part of their outreach, Liberation Church offered their space to be used a polling place, a polling place for a historically disenfranchised population. This is, to borrow a line, moving things forward.

The church has removed the language about marriage and gender from their website, and then more recently withdrew their building as a polling place.

Keith Balmer, the city's General Registrar, released a statement lamenting the loss of the polling station, saying in part “the selection of polling locations does not imply endorsement of the beliefs or practices of any particular institution.” I don't know about that.

In the end, I wish that I'd handled this differently, I'll look for a better way next time. I do want to effect change, but not with this much friction and added division.

DEREK STARR REDWINE IN FOR OPEN 4TH DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD SEAT

Derek Starr Redwine has put in for the School Board 4th District interim appointment and is interested in running for the open seat but has not yet filed any paperwork.

Applicants have until 4:30PM TODAY to apply for the open School Board seat.

CAN YOU HELP CHEER FOR BIKE TO SCHOOL DAY?

Fit4Kids is looking for volunteers to help distribute SWAG and cheer on students who walk or roll to school on BIKE TO SCHOOL DAY May 8, with spots at Westover Hills ES and Oak Grove-Bellmeade ES in South Richmond (and others across the city).

Also - there are other activities across the area for RVA BIKE MONTH this month.

VCU LIFEEVAC @ J.L. FRANCIS CAREER DAY

Sara Lahmann, a flight nurse with VCU LifeEvac, was part of a team that come out with a helicopter for Career Day at J.L. Francis Elementary School last week & send in this pic and a video.