Decossaux Honored with Valentine History Makers Award

The Valentine Richmond History Center has selected Mary Lou Decossaux, founder and co-executive director of the Neighborhood Resource Center, for this year’s Richmond History Makers “Promoting Stronger Communities” award:

“Today, she continues to ask each neighbor who walks through the door not only what they need from the center, but what skills and talents they can bring to the center with them. Greater Fulton Hill is a stronger community because of her work.”

While some people saw a neighborhood in decline and held out little hope for its survival, Mary Lou Decossaux regarded Fulton Hill as a goldmine of potential. As the “spark plug” behind the creation of the area’s Neighborhood Resource Center, she has provided educational, cultural and social assistance to thousands of neighborhood residents.

“I had been working on public safety and community improvement projects in Greater Fulton Hill since the mid-’90s,” remembered Decossaux. “when the neighborhood post office closed, I saw what it could be and invited everyone I knew to think about the possibilities… the vision spread like warm butter.”

Lacking a neighborhood school, the community was in need of a place where children and adults could pursue personal and professional dreams. Since its opening in January 2005, more than 3,000 people have been enriched by the center’s resources.

Today, children improve grades through the assistance of after-school tutors. Teens learn skills that will take them into the future in the center’s state-of-the-art recording studio. Others grow organic vegetables, learn ballet, tae kwon do and photography skills. Adults study for GEDs and pursue career goals through the center’s job-search resources. But perhaps most important, neighbors are building meaningful relationships with each other adn a community is growing and thriving.

“We’re providing quality resources and opportunities to people who really need them,” said Decossaux. “Staffing the center with loving, patient people, and cultivating an ocean of gratitude for the mighty work and mini miracles that are changing people’s lives.”