Richmond Mayor Danny Avula reflects on his first 100 days with citywide day of service

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Mayor Danny Avula reflected on his first 100 days in office during the city's inaugural day of service. The milestone was marked with a chance for the community to participate in service projects across the city.

The celebratory event kicked off on Saturday morning at the Southside Community Center. During the event, Mayor Avula looked back on the moments that have shaped his term so far.

"I can clearly see the big stories that mark our way to where we are today," Mayor Avula said. "Weathering winter storms, and of course the water crisis," 

Avula's leadership was tested during his first week on the job when a power failure at the city's water treatment plant left residents without water for days. As he spoke to the crowd, Avula shared his priorities for the city's future including investments in infrastructure.

"We are launching our infrastructure council, which will take a hard look at our aging critical infrastructure across the city. Yes, water, but also gas and roads and bridges in the flood wall." Avula said.

He also acknowledged that residents have expressed hardship with finding affordable housing.

"We have done some good things already and inherited some good directions, but we’ll need to continue investing in affordable housing and housing production across the board to be able to keep housing costs down.”

After the celebration, the community got to work on a number of service events across the city that included clean-up efforts and beautification projects.

Mayor Avula got his hands dirty alongside children, volunteers, and Richmond City firefighters as they worked to create a garden at UMFS, a non-profit that provides foster care.

"The kids who reside here at UMFS came up with a generosity project where they wanted to grow fruits and vegetables all along the campus." said Nancy Toscano, President and CEO of UMFS. "Having [this] kind of support, attention, and tangible hands on work to help our community means so much to us." 

This day of service was the first of its kind but Mayor Avula who said he hopes this will build community and create connections across Richmond.