Eight months ago, Leroy Markland was sitting in his car in a Lynchburg parking lot. He felt like that car was all he had left. “I hit bottom. Things were falling apart,” he said of his substance abuse. “My wife…
It's incredible to see a child's self-esteem grow, just because a trusting adult told them, ‘I believe in you.’” That's the ultimate power of mentoring, according to Laura Leporati, a mentoring program coordinator for AMP! Metro Richmond. “It is important…
Imagine living just a mile from the James River, but never visiting any of the access points that line its banks – or even knowing that the river exists. Many of the children from Richmond’s East End neighborhoods – an…
Two years ago, the Starke family was living in Singapore, and mom Arpie and the kids, Mary Mac and Thomas, were visiting friends and family back in their hometown of Richmond for the summer. Keen Starke remained in Singapore for…
Recovery Fest and Cookoff Saturday, September 7, from noon to 5 p.m. McShin Foundation, 2300 Dumbarton Road, Richmond _____________________________________________________________ Newspaper clippings, photo collages, and resource flyers cover the hallways of The McShin Foundation in Henrico. It’s apparent this is not…
I started my studio in 2003 with a CD player and some dance shoes,” says Eleanor Robertson about Rigby’s Jig Ballroom Dance Studio in Richmond. “I was amazed by how quickly that business grew and how many people came through…
Suzanne Allen of Ashland had always considered herself a pet person, but after losing her beloved schnauzer Charlie Brown two years ago, she thought she might never adopt again. “It was too painful to lose a friend,” she said. In…
On a snowy March evening in 2014, Brad Hughes parked his patrol vehicle on Midlothian Turnpike in Chesterfield County and turned on his emergency lights. As a conservator of the peace, one of Hughes’ responsibilities was to assist police officers…
In August 2017, three tiny kittens arrived at Richmond Animal League (RAL) from a partnering municipal shelter. These kittens, like many of the more than 500 who were cared for by RAL in 2017, were neglected, underweight, and had goopy…
When Shanté moved into the Better Housing Coalition’s Lincoln Mews community last summer with her son, she had no idea her family would grow so quickly. A year ago, Shanté and her 9-year-old son Darelle were homeless. Adding to the…
