Neighborhood Resource Center of Greater Fulton

From the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Junior Iron Chef RVA is an 8 week summer youth program that focuses on teaching culinary and healthy food skills. Thirty lucky students trained in a professional kitchen– a workshop, that culminated in a festive competition on August 26th at Peter Paul Development Center in Church Hill.

How Did We Get Here?
Richmond has made national headlines for its budding culinary scene and talented chefs and restaurateus but, has also gained spotlight for being home to some of the largest food deserts for a city of it’s size. Church Hill and Greater Fulton make up a large portion of Richmond’s food deserts. The Neighborhood Resource Center, Peter Paul Development Center, Shalom Farms and Greater Richmond Fit4Kids seek a new and exciting way to engage in change around this epidemic. For this reason, we successfully launched the first ever Jr Iron Chef RVA event. This is a community event to connect all community members and families to resources around health, nutrition, gardening, food and access and to bring awareness to the issues that our communities face.

Getting To The Meat Of It!
Having access to fresh, whole foods is only a part of a much larger problem. Knowing what to do with fresh ingredients can help to make healthier decisions in the kitchen, leading to a healthier, more fulfilled lifestyle. The Junior Iron Chef Program is an 8 week summer enrichment program that focuses on teaching culinary skills, exploring healthy food options, defining farm to table efforts and giving students a better view of our local food and market scene.

The Event
Our partners and sponsors hosted information, demo tables, and farm stands highlighting food, gardening, health, nutrition, and access. We gave away seeds, late summer/fall seedlings, and cookbooks. More importantly, we connected community members to local resources that they can use to live healthier lives.

 

Our own Angela Buchanan, one of UnBoundRVA’s latest entrepreneurs, successfully completed a rigorous business development program and recently graduated. She provides our office cleaning service, and has been since before she started with UnboundRVA.

From a Richmond Times Dispatch article:
Angela is one of five entrepreneurs in UnBoundRVA’s third class. The organization starts its fourth class in July with 20 participants. With class four, UnBoundRVA will move from a 12-month timeline to an 18-month timeline.

Buchanan’s Cleaning Service

Angela Buchanan has been cleaning professionally for more than 30 years. She began her career cleaning hotels at age 16.

Buchanan’s mother and sisters all went into nursing, but Buchanan took a different path. She decided last year that she wanted to have her own business.

She sought help at the Neighborhood Resource Center of Greater Fulton, which referred her to UnBoundRVA. She wrote a proposal and was accepted into the program.

Shortly after, Buchanan was hit by a car. “With staples and stitches in my arm, I was still determined to get my business,” she said.

Buchanan has a passion for cleaning as well as for making her clients happy.

“You have got to love what you do to do it well,” Buchanan said. “I love to see people smile.”

Buchanan said she is “cleaning in her sleep” and has always had a strong passion for cleaning homes.

But she said completing the UnBoundRVA class was no easy task.

“I was up late nights getting my homework in. … I was determined to stay in the class,” Buchanan said.

Although Buchanan loves cleaning, she cares most for her clients.

“I like to treat my clients like family,” she said. “When I finish (cleaning), I want them to know Angela has been there.”

Contact: (804) 852-2062 or buchananscleaningservice@gmail.com

Read the entire Richmond Times Dispatch article here.