Businesses, schools, social clubs, non-profits and communities of faith are always on the lookout for people who can come speak to their group knowledgably about a given topic or theme.  Richmond has a rich and diverse collection of people who are experts on a wide variety of topics - between our educational institutions, consultants, hobbyists and others, there's surely a great wealth of knowledge that we can help each other share more effectively.

Potlucks are great ways to get to know your neighbors, co-workers, and others around you while sharing good food.  They can usually be done on short notice, and tend to provide more than enough food for everyone who comes, even if a few folks don't have time to prepare dishes.

Organizing a potluck can be as easy as picking a time and place, but you can also play around with the idea by having themes, trying to make dishes from local ingredients, etc. 

Back years ago, about 10, I was at a Gus Macker basketball game on a Satruday am at IUE where hundreds of young people were participating in the sport. I recall sitting there and thinking to myself - how will these young people ever financially make it living in Richmond? Will they have to move away? I had hoped not, since I have three children of my own. As it turns out I had to move away due to the limited employment opportunities in Richmond. I recalled that Dr. Vermalley from IUE was a big proponent on the laws of economics, especially the law of Supply and Demand.

Hi, all.  I bought a house here on N 11th back in May (cf. the houseblog) for the grand total of $8000, and since then I've been walking the dog past a lot of other heart-meltingly beautiful (but vacant) brick houses.  There's no economic reason to keep these houses around, unfortunately, so recently I've been trying to think of one before the city declares more of them unsafe; the idea that presents itself most obviously (to me) is to host entrepreneurs or other creative people.