“It didn’t make sense to do a fancy coffee shop this far north in Church Hill,” Weir said. The café is meant to foster a “front porch” culture and convey a sense of neighborhood.

“This neighborhood is starved for economic investment,” said Albert Walker, director of healthy communities for Bon Secours Richmond Health System and one of three speakers at the event.

Walker, who grew up in the area, noted the correlation between healthy living and living conditions, social inequities and health disparities. The life expectancy of people in this part of town is 20 years less on average than people in more affluent areas, he said.

More investments are coming, just a block or two away.

They include the Reynolds Culinary Institute, which is in development at the northern corner of Nine Mile Road and North 25th Street, and a neighboring mixed-use project with a centerpiece 27,000-square-foot grocery store in an area long considered a food desert.