Destiny Pryor, a 19-year-old Ginter Park resident, envisioned a future for

herself.

If you work hard, you can live across the street, Pryor said.

Pryor, a freshman at the University of Richmond, grew up in the inner city of

Northside. She described her neighborhood as a fragmented community where
adjacent streets divided people of different socioeconomic statuses.

Pryor experienced financial hardships at age 10.

Around 5th grade, my mom lost her job. Our house was foreclosed, Pryor
said. Pryor and her family moved in with her aunt for two months while they
looked for a new home.

And of course being a child, I dont know whats really going on, Pryor
said. I just know were kind of moving and moving really suddenly and Im
just kind of like, I want to go back to our old home.

Pryors family found their solution with the help of the Better Housing
Coalition, a nonprofit community development corporation. Financial burdens
forced the Pryor family to downsize, but an apartment complex ran by the
nonprofit turned out to be the right fit for the family.

Thats how we got into affordable housing and getting back on our feet. It
was interesting how we went from owning a home to pretty much renting one
and then renting one, Pryor said.

Though Pryor said life for her family became better once they moved into
their new apartment, she noted her neighborhood struggled with exclusivity.
She said economic contrasts are evident and not everybody feels a part of the
neighborhood, though they may live one, two streets apart.

Such is life for many in the segregated city of Richmond.

Despite its national recognition for trendy restaurants, craft breweries and
world bike races, the city faces financial divides. Home to people of diverse
socioeconomic backgrounds, Richmond struggles to provide all its residents
with sufficient housing opportunities.
According to the Partnership for Affordable Housing (PAH), approximately
35 percent of all households in the Richmond Regional Planning District are
cost burdened, paying more than 30 percent of their income for housing. Of
these households, 15 percent are severely cost burdened which means they
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pay more than 50 percent of their income for housing. These families often
have difficulty affording other necessities such as food, clothing,
transportation and medical care.

In Pryors neighborhood alone, the juxtaposition of the city is apparent.

When me and my mom walk from our house to go to the neighboring

schools, we pass so many houses and you see everyone with their pets and
things, Pryor said. Its really nice and its something to strive for when you
may live in a lower income neighborhood.

Reverend Andrew Terry of St. Peters Episcopal Church also mentioned a

lack of unity among Richmond residents in his area of Church Hill.

Thats something that were looking at in the church how do we come

together across racial lines and across socioeconomic lines to try to make our
communities as healthy as possible, Terry said.

Affordable housing in Richmond is limited. The Richmond Regional Planning

District Commission reported that they face an annual housing affordability
deficit of $862 million.

In addition to the lack of supply, available properties are often blighted and
need renovation.

To better this issue, the New Vision Civic Association (NVCA), a group of
long-term residents who sought more affordable homes, rejuvenated Church
Hill neighborhoods. In doing so, they indirectly altered the neighborhoods
demographic and consequently raised housing prices. Families who lived in
these neighborhoods for a long time suddenly could no longer afford their
homes.

Terry noted that more white, middle class families are taking over his area of
Church Hill.

Housing prices are increasing, Terry said. If were not intentional about
making sure there are affordable options, then there wont be places for
people to live who have been a part of the community for a long time and also
from different socioeconomic and racial backgrounds.

Thad Williamson, the citys Office of Community Wealth Building director,

also saw issues with refurbishing neighborhoods. He played a leading role in
developing the People Plan aspect of the East End transformation process.
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This process seeks to revitalize the depressed East End of Richmond that
suffered from disinvestment when it was separated from downtown and other
neighborhoods by Interstates 64 and 95.

The aim of the People Plan is to assure that as public housing communities
are transformed into mixed-income communities, the needs of all residents are
met, Williamson said.

Williamsons office also collaborated with Richmond City Health District to

create the Good Neighbor Initiative, a program in which public housing
residents work for the Health District as resource coordinators to connect
fellow residents to resources and opportunities.

A recent VCU graduate, who asked to remain anonymous, knows how

important these opportunities and resources are.

If you dont know anyone, it can be pretty hard, she said. The houses are
usually by word of mouth.

As a current nursing school student who works part-time at Sams Club

Pharmacy and Johnston Willis Hospital, she found it necessary to obtain two
paychecks in order to afford her apartment.

Theres basically no way to live in Richmond, with this job market, unless
you have a roommate, she said. You need a masters for an entry level job
that most of the time isnt even full time so you end up having no benefits so
you have to find two part time jobs to try to compensate. Thats what a lot of
people have to do.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that since 2001, the number of

people who work multiple part time jobs grew to 2 million in the U.S.

Laura Lafayette, CEO of Richmond Association of Realtors, emphasized the

importance of affordable housing for recent graduates in order to create long-
term sustainability and competitiveness for the city.

If we want to have a vibrant, attractive, creative region where we can keep

our graduates, give graduates the option of staying, allow people to put down
roots... we gotta have affordable housing, Lafayette said.

In addition to holding symposiums and distributing her organizations reports,

Lafayette seizes every opportunity to speak with local officials to ensure

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affordable housing is a public policy priority. She feels that change at the
policy level is the solution to Richmonds affordable housing problems.

We need anti-blight strategies to shore up neighborhoods where there is

affordable housing, its just not in the best of shape. We also need to look at
our zoning and land use policies and think about how do we create housing
that is less not more expensive, Lafayette said.

Lafayette believes that affordable housing makes economic sense.

Thats the appeal I make to elected and appointed officials, she said. I
dont go in there and say do the right thing Im like, look at the economic
benefits and look at the danger of not having an adequate supply of housing.

Without prioritization of sufficient affordable housing, Pryors story may not

be as it is today. The Better Housing Coalition supplied Pryors family with an
affordable living option which allowed them to focus on their goals rather
than a burdening living situation.

Pryor noted that though her family faced challenges, her mother always made
college a priority.

Hardships have passed and everyone has gone to college, Pryor said. It was
never am I going to college or not. It was where am I going?

Pryors determination to succeed is evident as she is currently achieving her

goals of receiving a higher education at the University of Richmond.

Crossing the street is really easy if you just work hard or work harder at what
you do, Pryor said.