RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) – It’s a problem growing by the day throughout Richmond — unwanted graffiti covering walls across the city. But by renting out graffiti removal kits, leaders hope to beautify the city once again with the help of residents.
Richmond City Councilwoman Katherine Jordan said the issue of unwanted graffiti became worse this year. That’s why her office partnered with a local nonprofit so residents can take action alongside the city.
“Our office is always trying to be responsive to what we hear from our constituents, and graffiti is something that we hear about often from our residents and our businesses,” Jordan said.
That’s where ‘graffiti abatement kits’ will come in. Community organizations can rent the tools they need to remove unwelcome graffiti in the city from the nonprofit Richmond ToolBank. Toby Vernon, the executive director of Richmond ToolBank, said they were able to purchase the items in the kit through district funds from Jordan’s office.
“What we provide is pressure washers, hoses, scrub brushes and any safety gear that folks are going to need, [like] eye protection and high visibility vests, so that they can do that work safely and effectively out in the community,” Vernon said.
The kit costs just over $10 to rent for up to a week at a time. Vernon said he’s seen a lot of groups take interest in the program so far and they’ve even had workshops in the past to show people how to use them.
“We’ve had a great response with our tool, training workshops, and we’ll continue to provide those as interest grows. And as folks learn different methods for removing graffiti that’s unwanted,” Vernon said.
You can find more information about renting the kits on Richmond ToolBank’s website.