Women, Trans, Femme Wednesday Night Ride

RVA Women Trans Femme Wednesday, a Richmond bicycling club which organizing social rides for women, transgender, and femme people on Wednesday nights, is resuming their regular schedule.

Their next ride will be this coming Wednesday, October 5th 2016, at 9pm, starting out from the VCU Compass (901 Park Avenue, Richmond VA). The ride begins at 9:15pm. Bring lights. Free.

Showing of "Gen Silent": Diversity Richmond

Tomorrow, Friday September 30th 2016, from 6:30-8:30pm, at Diversity Richmond (1407 Sherwood Avenue, Richmond VA), Diversity Richmond and CommonHealth Partners are holding a screening of the documentary film “Gen Silent,” followed by a panel discussion on the needs of LGBT elders and how our communities can support them.

“Gen Silent” (www.gensilent.com) is a documentary that follows the lives of six LGBT seniors living in the Boston area who must choose if they will hide their sexual orientation or gender identity in order to survive in the long-term health care system.

Free, open to the public. The venue is handicap accessible. For more information and to RSVP, see the link. 

RVA Mayoral Recovery Listening Forum at the McShin Foundation

Monday, September 19th 2016, from 5:30-8pm, at 2300 Dumbarton Road, Richmond VA, the McShin Foundation is hosting a forum for people to talk to Richmond’s mayoral candidates about mental illness and substance abuse disorders affecting the community. All eight candidates will be present, and Carol McDaid (co-founder of the McShin Foundation) will moderate. From the event description:

“We will be opening up our audience to anyone in our community who is interested in changing the way mental health and addiction services are handled in Richmond. The audience will have the opportunity to share with the candidates what they are looking for in our next mayor on this topic. For one hour, audience members will be commenting and asking questions while mayoral candidates listen and prepare a response.”

The second hour will go to the candidates – each will have an equal amount of time to respond to what they heard. At the end of our forum, we are asking each audience member to make a campaign contribution to the candidate of their choice, based on who they believe will best improve existing recovery systems available in Richmond to treat substance use disorder and mental health disorders.”

Free (except for the requested candidate donation at the end). Light refreshments will be served. To RSVP as an audience member or to request a press pass, contact Taryn Kelly at  tarynk@mcshin.org or 804-310-4831. See this link for the Facebook event page. 

Premiere of "Facing The Surge," Old Dominion University

NOTE: This event is taking place in Norfolk, but because of its subject matter, I am listing it here despite the distance. 

Wednesday, September 28th 2016, from 7-8:45pm, at the University Theatre at Old Dominion University (47th Street & Hampton Boulevard, Norfolk VA), the Chesapeake Climate Action Network and Chesapeake Bay Group Sierra Club are holding a screening of the documentary film “Facing the Surge.” After the film, there will be a panel discussion with ODU professors on the science of climate change, a talk with featured storytellers from the film, and a panel discussion with local leaders on policy initiatives to combat climate change and sea level rise. From the event description:

“Facing the Surge documents the tangible costs of sea level rise for the people of Norfolk, VA. Norfolk is home to the largest naval base in the country and to thousands of hard-working Americans struggling to adapt to the rising tides and an uncertain future. The town has registered 16 inches of sea level rise since 1930. But Facing the Surge is not a film about loss and inaction. It tells the stories of citizens from across the United States as they step forward to raise awareness and push their government to solve climate change.” 

The event is free and open to the public, but you must reserve a ticket by following the instructions through the link. For more information, see the link. 

Hampton Roads Regional Jail inmate denied request for medical help two days before he died

Sarah Kleiner and K. Burnell Evans of the Richmond Times-Dispatch report: Another innate has died at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail after being denied medical help. Henry C. Stewart, 60, had requested emergency medical help several times before his death last month, but was told that corrections officers had determined his situation was not an emergency. He died two days later.

Stewart’s family has retained the same lawyer representing the family of Jamycheal Mitchell, a young schizophrenic man who was starved to death at the facility in August of 2015. Though the jail and its employees have been cleared of any wrongdoing by a state investigation, whisteblower employees have alleged that investigators never visited the jail itself, and evidence like video of guards abusing Mitchell have been destroyed by jail staff.

Henry Stewart’s death is the fourth to take place at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail this year.

You can read the entire article here.