Inclusion and Belonging
Inclusion and belonging are vital for a thriving, dynamic city. When a city fosters inclusion, all residents, regardless of their background or socioeconomic status, have equal opportunities to participate in and benefit from its resources and services. When residents feel they belong, they are more likely to contribute to community initiatives and support their neighbors. It also creates more cohesion and reduces conflict.
A city that prioritizes inclusion and belonging supports the well-being of its residents and builds a more resilient community that fosters pride and a richer culture.
Richmond has maintained a perfect score of 100 for its commitment to LGBTQ+ rights in the Municipal Equality Index by the Human Rights Campaign. However, we can be doing more to build community and support LGBTQ residents and businesses. As mayor, I will create an Office of LGBTQ Affairs that organizes around issues based on sexual orientation and gender identity for residents of all ages.
This new office will:
Connect LGBTQ+ residents to care, direct services, and community safety to ensure basic needs are being met, especially for the city’s youth, those experiencing homelessness, and transgender Richmonders.
Promote and support LGBTQ+-owned businesses for economic growth and increase supplier diversity for city contracts.
Partner with community-based organizations to fund and expand initiatives that serve the LGBTQ+ community through grants, such as housing, health care access, HIV testing, bullying, and domestic violence resources.
Work with City departments, City Council, and advocates to champion state and local policies and programs that benefit LGBTQ+ residents.
Host events that bring the LGBTQ+ community together and grow VA Pride so that it’s bigger and better than D.C.’s Pride.
City Hall needs to enhance the quality of language services to promote meaningful access and engagement with community members. While the city offers the ability for individuals to request assistance to attend public meetings or access city services, those accommodations should already be in place. That includes Spanish and ASL interpretation for constituent services and meeting participation and city staff who can assist residents in their language when paying taxes or wanting to open a business.
Our website should, at a minimum, have the most important pages translated into languages most commonly spoken across the city. All images should have alt text to provide descriptions for those using a screen reader, and videos produced need to be captioned. Even designs we use to share information or for promotional purposes should adhere to a design standard for those with a visual impairment, such as colors and fonts.
The more we do to ensure the city’s signage, public facilities, park spaces, and structural infrastructure are accessible to Richmonders, the greater access and positive engagement we’ll have as a community.
As mayor, I will continue to advocate for Virginia to remain a safe haven for abortion and reproductive health. In the City of Richmond, we are responsible for working with health care providers and birth workers, like doulas and midwives, who are essential for Black maternal health. Increasing access to health care overall — both in the number of facilities and care options available and in the ability to get to the doctor, be it walking, biking, or public transit — is how we close the life expectancy gaps we have around the city.
Having an efficient City Hall with seamless permitting, providing safety-net and wraparound services to improve social determinants of health, and funding community-based organizations offering perinatal, maternal, and reproductive health services is critical. Additionally, expanding the number of health care providers in areas with few medical resources also improves the overall life expectancy of residents.
I’ve been clear about my support of reproductive freedom and gender-affirming health care. At the state level, we need to keep the Reproductive Health Protection Act and pass key legislation like Senator Ghazala Hashmi’s Right to Contraception Act that will enshrine these protections for everyone.
As Richmond grows, it’s important that we preserve and respect the character of our neighborhoods. Richmond is unique because of its people and we cannot continue down a path of displacement, nor the erasure of our history. New investments should add benefits that enhance a sense of belonging and advance racial equity.
Richmonders are tired of learning about their history just because landmarks are being threatened with demolition. I have a track record of advocating for and preserving the culture and history of our neighborhoods, such as the Westwood Community, Westhampton School, and Hickory Hill Community Center.
As mayor, I will prioritize historical and archaeological reviews in our planning processes to ensure the historic preservation of our neighborhoods and does not create additional barriers, especially for communities of color. I’ll also pursue funding that tells the stories of Richmonders beyond the Confederacy and its former monuments and financially support community projects that revitalize historic Black neighborhoods.
In the 1930s, Richmond graded Black neighborhoods with a D or F rating to indicate lower property values through redlining – a process denoting risky investments for home loans. The city then saw the displacement of families during urban renewal – the federal government’s way of “revitalizing” neighborhoods through large infrastructure projects like I-95.
And if that weren’t bad enough, in 1970, the City of Richmond annexed a portion of Chesterfield County south of the James River, with the explicit purpose of diluting the growing power of Black voters and elected officials in the City. The City added 23 square miles and about 47,000, mostly white residents, to counter Black political power growth during the Civil Rights movement. However, Richmond had no real intention of incorporating this new land into its infrastructure plans.
It’s also no coincidence that factories, our waste treatment plant, and industrial warehouses are next to majority-Black and Latino neighborhoods in the East End and Southside.
While we are making progress in the city, a history of systemic racism and discrimination in housing, education, health, economic opportunities, and employment has divided the well-being and quality of life for many Richmonders along race, income, and zip codes.
Every decision we make as a city must be rooted in racial and economic justice. We must be intentional about dismantling systemic barriers and breaking through generational poverty to improve the quality of life and close the life expectancy gap that disproportionately impacts Black, Brown, and lower-income residents. Our policies, programs, and representational political power must right these wrongs until there is justice and equality for Black and Brown people and those who historically have been disenfranchised.
As mayor, I commit to:
Economic development: Funding and implementing my Southside Economic Development Plan to generate economic growth and bring new grocery stores to South Richmond.
Uplifting Black- and Brown-owned businesses: Supporting SWaM businesses with direct support from a revamped Economic Development Authority, accessible procurement opportunities, and expanding the Revolving Loan Fun with favorable terms for start-up and expansion.
Career pathways: Building the future of work by creating a Southside Development Workforce Center with union-led training and apprenticeships so young people have a path to success.
Affordable housing: Creating more diverse housing options at all price points to reduce displacements, evictions, and financial strain, especially for low-wage earners and seniors on fixed incomes.
Infrastructure investments: Monumental investments in sidewalks, street lights, parks, athletic fields, and traffic calming measures for safe and walkable neighborhoods.
Early education: Delivering a high-quality education starting with our earliest learners so all students' learning experiences and outcomes are strong regardless of socioeconomic status.
Environmental justice: Improve the health and quality of life for Black, Brown, and lower-income residents in neighborhoods near environmental hazards and few green spaces by increasing infrastructural investments.
ANDREAS’S VISION FOR RICHMOND
Leading Richmond Forward
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