In this past Fall’s house meetings, in response to a question having to do with care for creation, many of our members shared stories of their experiences living in unhealthy homes. Extreme heat and extreme cold due to poor conditions of mobile homes, mold, and other unsafe elements were at the root of these stories. We are now in the “research” phase of this campaign, and will be moving it to an “actionable” item at our Nehemiah Action.
In January, having conducted several research meetings and gained a better understanding from our own people of the problem we came up with the problem statement our solution will seek to solve. It is:
Households living in mobile home parks in Richmond and Chesterfield, which are primarily Latino, are experiencing unsafe, unhealthy, and environmentally unjust living conditions.
Stay tuned as we shape what our exact proposal will be to our local officials, in the coming weeks!
In the meantime, here are links to some very interesting documents / information we're coming across!
A study done in 2016 by the Manufactured Homes Community Coalition:
https://mhccv.org/resources/central-virginia-study/
Links about project:HOMES' purchase of Bermuda Estates:
https://www.projecthomes.org/bermuda-estates
https://www.chesterfieldobserver.com/articles/nonprofit-to-revitalize-mobile-home-park-on-route-1/
https://www.virginiamercury.com/2021/02/15/could-trailers-be-the-new-face-of-affordable-housing/