Week Ahead for March 8, 2021: Charlottesville PC to take up New Hill’s vision for Starr Hill
This week marks the one-year anniversary of the “before times” when meetings were held in person in greater Charlottesville. We still don’t when we’ll be able to return to administrative buildings, but for now, many have adjusted to a new normal where meetings can be attended with relative ease — as long as you have the Internet.
Charlottesville City Planners approve Starr Hill Vision Plan
Charlottesville City Planners voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the Starr Hill Vision Plan. The vote doesn’t give any money, nor does it start construction – those things would come later. But the sign-off is the first step toward getting it into the city’s Comprehensive Plan.
Yolunda Harrell Appears on Neighborhood Law Center’s Latest Episode
Yolunda Harrell joined Melvin Burruss on the latest episode of Neighborhood Law Center to discuss New Hill Development Corporation.
COMMUNITY FOCUS: New Hill Development
VINEGAR HILL’S RAZING is symptomatic of institutional racism that is as evident now as it was in 1964 when the first bulldozer demolished the neighborhood as a part of the city-sanctioned “urban renewal project.” Families were forced into public housing, livelihoods were destroyed, and Cville’s Black community continues to bear the burden of deliberate displacement.
Vinegar Hill Magazine: Determined to Stay
Yolunda Harrell is currently the CEO of the New Hill Development Corp., but on September 11, 2001, she was working for a major airline. After the terror attacks, she immediately found herself among tens of thousands of people in the industry without a job. She’d never before been unemployed.
“I didn’t know how to deal with that at all,” she said. “I was not financially prepared.”
She didn’t have any savings. She hadn’t invested in her company’s 401(k) retirement plan. “I just didn’t take all of those things into consideration because no one had ever explained it to me,” she said. “As a result, I learned a lot of hard painful lessons.”
Cville Tomorrow: New Hill drafts plan to give Black Charlottesville reasons to stay
In the spring of 2019, New Hill Development Corporation and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) engaged Richmond-based firm Floricane to facilitate the development of a community engagement process and the creation of a Small Area Plan (SAP) for the Starr Hill community in Charlottesville
Later at a City Council Meeting, New Hill’s Starr Hill Neighborhood Small Area Plan was referred to the city’s Planning Commission for consideration of amending the Charlottesville Comprehensive Plan.
COVID-19 Update
We hope you and your families are healthy and safe. As you know, our community is facing unprecedented circumstances– certainly not the March Madness some of us we were anticipating! Nonetheless, New Hill will work to provide the best possible service to our community during this time. Check out our March Newsletter to get all of the details on how New Hill Development Corporation is keeping its services up and running even as when the community is staying at home.
New Hill drafts plan to give Black Charlottesville reasons to stay
Gloria Beard said she wants to spend more time with her children, but none of her three sons want to live in Charlottesville anymore. Beard is always cheerful, but she is not optimistic about her sons changing their minds.
New Hill receives Wells Fargo grant to continue financial empowerment efforts
Last week, Wells Fargo awarded the New Hill Development Corporation a grant to continue building financial empowerment in the Charlottesville community.
We are excited to announce their support, which comes at an important moment as we move forward with Operation Hope to develop avenues for wealth building and increase access to financial education in the city.
V.A. Governor Northam signs executive order to advance minority business equity
On July 3rd, 2019, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed an executive order to expand resources and opportunities for V.A.’s small-, women-, minority-, and Veteran-owned businesses.
Speaking about the decision, Northam said “More than 97% of all businesses in Virginia are small businesses and they are truly the economic engine of this commonwealth,” and this executive order will help “level the playing field.”
