[10 Years, 10 Stories of Impact series]
image: Ribbon cutting on February 14, 2011
Sometime in 2009, Storefront founding member Burt Pinnock, FAIA, NOMA, received a call from Cynthia Newbille, 7th Voter District Council Representative. The Old and Historic District (O&HD) had been expanded in her district and she wanted to figure out how to bring design services to community members, many of whom lived below the poverty line. With the added design overlay of an O&HD, things like adding a ramp or replacing windows became that much more complicated for community members. Local design professionals and community members were aware of community design centers in other cities and recognized the need for something similar here in Richmond.
The Alliance to Conserve Old Richmond Neighborhoods (ACORN) was instrumental in facilitating the community dialogue that led to the creation of Storefront for Community Design. Additional founding Partners included community members, affordable housing developers, City of Richmond Planning and Economic Development departments, members from VCU’s Urban and Regional Planning program, and practicing architects, landscape architects, urban planners, and preservationists.
“To have this resource and to have extraordinary talent be available to the community through Storefront and its offering has been a game changer.”
image: Workshops and community conversations to envision Storefront
It is interesting to look back at how many different possibilities were explored in the creation of Storefront, including the potential to operate as a formal program of the City or VCU, as an extension of an existing non-profit, or even as an affiliate of a neighborhood civic association. There were conversations with, and even field trips to, established community design centers.
With a vote of confidence from the City Council, Storefront was founded on February 14, 2011, in the East End of Richmond on 25th Street. Storefront set out to make design accessible to all “for the love of our city” by providing pro bono and low-cost design and planning assistance to support local businesses, residences, organizations, and neighborhoods. In hindsight, Storefront’s lack of a formal affiliation with an existing entity was a blessing as we quickly became recognized as a convener of community voice with no allegiance other than to the communities we serve.
Since 2011, Storefront has completed over 350 low-cost design and planning projects and over 15 design education series/projects with an estimated value of donated services well over $950,000.
image: Move-in day to Storefront’s original office on 25th Street.
“Storefront has benefitted from foundation support and critical funding from the City, along with generous donations from individual supporters. However, the need for Storefront in the community far exceeds our financial resources. It is amazing to see what we have accomplished over the last decade, but even more amazing to think about what we could do in the next ten years with more financial support. ”
We need your support!
We can only continue because of your generous support that makes it possible for Storefront to create community impact across Richmond. In honor of our 10th anniversary and to ensure future funding, we are laying the foundation for the next 10 years of community impact. Money raised will be invested in a variety of ways that, taken together, are designed to increase Storefront's mission and programming that will bring positive change to Richmond communities over the next 10 years.
10 Years, 10 Stories of Impact
Follow Storefront for Community Design’s 10 Years, 10 Stories of Impact series to learn more about our impact over the last ten years and check out a timeline of milestones for an overview of our work.
01 | Storefront is Born
02 | Ms. Thompson’s Kitchen
03 | mOb + Storefront = ❤️
04 | Recovery by Design
05 | A Celebration of Community Design
06 | Designing an Innovation Center
07 | Building a Brave Space
08 | General Demotion / General Devotion
09 | Community Driven Design Process
10 | A Vision for the Future