Located in the East End of Richmond, Church Hill is one neighborhood that has seen many changes over the years. As a source of great history for the city, Church Hill is home to many monuments and historic structures. Although there is great heritage in this community, there is also a great deal of urban decay. Aging houses are crumbling and the rise of housing prices are forcing many people to move out of the community. Despite the problems of the neighborhood, some residents are remaining in Church Hill to try and help restore it. Others remain in the neighborhood because it’s home.

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An Unlikely Community Leader

 

How one man is helping change the community of Church Hill

About seven years ago, while working as a campus minister at the University of Richmond, Percy Strickland, 33, decided he needed to figure out the true meaning of being a neighbor.

Strickland and his wife Angie moved from the comforts of the West End into Church Hill where he created Church Hill Activities and Tutoring, a non-profit program that provides educational services to more than 120 children and teenagers in the neighborhood.

“We didn’t intend for this to happen. We just wanted to understand what it was like to have people who want neighbors. They want people to be in a relationship with,” Percy Strickland said.

For Dabney DeHaven, a former student of Strickland, he is the kind of person who will do whatever he thinks is right, even if it appears strange to others.

“He is willing to put himself on the line and do things that other people might think are crazy, like move to Church Hill, if he thinks it’s his purpose,” DeHaven said.

For Strickland, the reactions he got when he announced he was moving to a neighborhood like crime and drug ridden Church Hill varied from him being insane to him being brave.

But in the mainly African-American community, neighbors tended to have a negative reaction to Strickland, who is white.

“Many people assumed we were just another white couple who was looking to flip a house. Buy a cheap house, renovate it, and sell it for a profit,” Strickland said. It took several years to be recognized as a part of the neighborhood.

“They finally saw that we were there. That we weren’t about making money and moving people out of the neighborhood, but rather keeping people around,” he added.

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For over 60 years, Edloe’s Pharmacy has been a staple in the African American neighborhood of Church Hill. The pharmacy, which is located in the far East End of Richmond takes the word community to a new level. Edloe’s serves to provide customers with more than just their prescription needs. The pharmacy prides itself on building relationships with each person who walks through the doors. Offering more than just medicine, Edloe’s provides personal counseling to help people better understand their medical needs. And that is why generations of families go to Edloe’s, says owner and pharmacist Dr. Leonard Edloe.

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Although it took a while for some to warm up to the new neighbors, many children in Church Hill instantly liked the Stricklands.

“I would go over to the basketball court and just play around with the kids, just trying to do the neighborly thing and build relationships,” Strickland said. “One day, my wife and I came home and there was a group of kids on the front porch. They just wanted to hang out.”

When he opened the door of his home to those children, Strickland had no clue that it would result in the formation of Church Hill Activities and Tutoring, known as CHAT.

“Its funny, in the suburbs, kids try as hard as they can to not hang out with their parents, but here, kids want adults to be interested in them,” Strickland said.

As the number of children showing up at this house increased daily, Strickland knew he couldn’t just sit there and play video games with them. He asked them what they really needed, how he could help them.

“One of the kids just said that they really need help with their homework, they needed help in school because they just weren’t doing well,” Strickland said.

Strickland began to plan a program to help tutor the children of the neighborhood, thinking it would begin a few months down the road. But the children had a different thought.

“The next Monday they all showed up ready to go. We thought it would be an in the future kind of thing, but they were there,” Strickland said.

After that first week, more and more students came to receive tutoring.

“We got to a point where it was just me and my wife and 20 kids. We needed help, so I called some of my students from U of R, she called somefriends from med school, and kids just kept coming, and we just kept growing and that’s really how CHAT started,” he said.

While his wife began her work as a doctor at Medical College of Virginia, the quick growth of the program, lead Strickland to leave his job at the University of Richmond.

And the time and energy Strickland puts into CHAT is paying off.

According to Madeleine Gore, executive administrator of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Church Hill, though she doesn’t know Strickland, she knows his work which is seen throughout the community.

“His program has had a very positive impact on community and its children,” she said. “His leadership is an asset to the neighborhood.”
Shannon Murray, a CHAT volunteer, said that his role as a community leader came naturally, as he is open to help everyone.

“He is definitely a servant leader, one who is willing to open his home to anyone at anytime,” Murray said.

For Strickland, although he has a leadership role, his focus is on raising the next generation of leaders.

“My wife and I have always known that in terms of change in this neighborhood, we aren’t going to be the ones who are going to make it,” he said. “It’s going to be these kids who have grown up in this community, who make the real change,” Strickland said.

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Facts about Church Hill

 

For the mainly African-American community of Church Hill, located in the East End of Richmond, history is important. With sites such as St. John’s Church, where Patrick Henry quoted the infamous “give me liberty, or give me death”, and Chimborazo Park, the largest military hospital during the Civil War, history is clearly seen. However, for parts of this historic district, time has not been good. With a high crime rate, extreme poverty and soaring house prices, Church Hill is one neighborhood that has seen better days. Some are moving to Church Hill in order to restore the area. Other residents have lived in the neighborhood all their lives. Although many things have changed over the years, one thing about Church Hill remains the same, the sense of the community.

(Reported in July 2008)