Steven Nesmith News Today

The RRHA's latest move on lease enforcement and rent repayment plans as the temporary eviction moratorium has expired.

A chief concern for some leaders: If families become homeless, it will put pressure on city resources and the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care's shelter system which already faces capacity issues.

RRHA's federal regulators at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently directed RRHA to increase rent collection efforts.

Richmond’s housing authority says it’s found ways to help public housing tenants deal with back rent, and to help others who want to buy their own places.

The project's first 68 units are slated for completion next March, while a second phase of 72 units is scheduled to start by this fall and finish late next year.

Some Richmond city officials and housing advocates are sounding the alarm about what they've noticed to be an increase in evictions in public housing neighborhoods.

Of the roughly 208 residents who were relocated for the demolition, Nesmith said only about 20-25 former residents will return and live in the new units.

Along with new resources for mental health and job training services, Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority is bringing back security in each of its housing communities.

“Public housing was never intended for folks to live in it generation after generation and generation … You have people with that mindset, and in part they have that mindset because there’s no hope,” said RRHA CEO Steven Nesmith.

The city’s public housing authority is building a new program designed to cycle more people through public housing and into homeownership.