Richmonders are strong in the belief that they can only change their city’s future and improve health for all if they understand its past. Stakeholders from across the city are coming together to create agency and opportunity for all residents, empowering them to make healthy choices and forge pathways out of poverty.

“Richmond is becoming a place where regardless of the color of your skin, where you live, or how much you have in the bank, you can enjoy a healthy lifestyle,” says Mayor Levar Stoney.

Reaching that goal means helping people build wealth after generations of African-American families were prevented from doing so by discriminatory lending and hiring practices. It means creating inviting, socio-economically integrated neighborhoods in lieu of the sprawling public housing developments of the 1960s and 1970s. It means making sure families that have lived in poverty for generations are not left to fend for themselves, but rather are given supports so they can thrive.

“Something that’s going on in another neighborhood ... is still my problem because this is an entire community—I think there's a growing understanding of that,” says Becky Clay Christensen, director of community partnerships at Bon Secours Health System, Richmond. “The quality of this community is not based on its individual parts being strong, but all of us being strong and taking ownership.”