🗣️🌟 Community Spotlight Special Edition: Richmond Speaks on Housing, Rights, and the Power of a Collective Voice

Last week’s City Council meeting wasn’t just another agenda — it was a mirror held up to Richmond’s most urgent realities. Across districts and neighborhoods, residents stepped up to the mic with one shared message: our voices belong at the center of the decisions shaping our homes and our city.

Here’s what Richmonders are speaking up about:

• Public accountability and transparency — Thomas called for a public update on the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts expansion.

• Redevelopment without displacement — Mikala, Kiara, Emeka, and Omari raised concerns about RRHA’s handling of public housing and the future of deeply affordable homes.

• Tenant protections — Cassie, Kashisha, and Deanna urged City Council to add anti–rent gouging authority to Richmond’s 2026 legislative agenda.

• The human cost of rising rents — Rosmeri spoke of struggling to pay rent while facing health challenges.

• Fairer city services — Justin highlighted problems with Department of Public Utilities billing practices.

  
  

Community members, joined by organizations like New Virginia Majority, Housing Opportunities Made Equal, and the Legal Aid Justice Center, deepened those calls with three clear demands for action on housing justice:

• Implement the Residential Rental Inspection Program to address unsafe living conditions. As Penny shared, this program is vital for people who've had to live in homes that weren't safe, with hazards, infestations, and mold that can cause chronic illness. Between January and July 2025 alone, the city cited 630 building code violations.

• Enact a resident-led Gilpin Court Redevelopment Plan to prevent the privatization of public housing. Public housing is the city's most affordable housing, said Gilpin resident Kiara, and city leaders need to keep families stable as real estate investors seek to control the land homes sit on.

• Prioritize anti–rent gouging protections to stop swift rent hikes that displace tenants. Rent increases like $200 a month happen without corresponding pay raises, said tenant Emeka, and that we need protections for when government assistance fails.

  
  

The urgency behind these calls is clear. Richmond now has the second-highest eviction filing rate in the country, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. In 2024 alone, there were 14,022 eviction filings — more than 100 times the number of tenant complaints filed — and over half of those eviction cases were lost by tenants.

At Gilpin Court, where privatization could displace hundreds, residents have organized a Community Solidarity Petitionwith over 500 signatures and laid out a vision rooted in equity and democratic control — from a Community Benefits Agreement and a Tenant Bill of Rights, to guarantees of one-for-one replacement housing and resident-led decision-making.

These voices reflect more than frustration, they reflect agency. They show Richmonders claiming their rightful place in shaping the decisions that determine whether our city is livable, just, and inclusive.

At Voice !t, we believe public comment is more than a box to check. It’s how everyday people participate, reflect, and connect their voices to the larger conversation about Richmond’s future. When you speak up at the podium, through a petition, or by staying informed, you’re not just reacting to policy. You’re helping shape it.

For more information on the Richmond City Council, please visit the city's website.