ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) – A Roanoke nonprofit is asking for the community’s help, after someone has continued to vandalize their building.
The Roanoke Valley Speech and Hearing Center on Colonial Avenue experienced the first incident in June 2023 when staff noticed fire damage to the side of the building from a campfire. Then in October 2023, someone spray painted graffiti on the back of the building and cut a fence.
Fast forward to this year, staff repainted over the graffiti but just weeks later they found more graffiti with a message. Someone spray painted ‘Try a little harder’ over the repainted sections of wall.
The center’s executive director explained the whole ordeal has been a major distraction from their communication work in the community.
“It definitely has kind of made our center and staff feel a little bit unsafe,” LeeAnn Reich said.
Another message, ‘Got Em!’ was spray painted over a repainted section of wall as well. The messages came after the center attempted to remove the graffiti, fix the fire damage, and repair the broken fence.
Reich explained the center invested in lights to deter vandals, but it wasn’t enough.
“A little over a week later [after we installed the lights] is when the second round of graffiti happened,” Reich said. “We’re really hoping that we can come up with the money or fundraise enough money to get security cameras put on the outside of a building.”
The center has already spent close to $10,000 repairing and repainting the building, an expense that Reich explained is taken away from helping clients in the Roanoke Valley.
“We’re really concerned that we have to pay a lot more attention into how much of resources we have available to help those who come through the doors every single day with the financial set back to where they just need a little bit of help in order to address a communication delay,” Reich emphasized. “We’re nervous about what decisions that might mean for our center and our ability to be able to help.”
The center filed a police report after each incident, but were told not much could be done to prevent it from happening again.
“We’ve definitely tried to take all the steps that we could to request more help with policing the area,” Reich said. “For now, we’re just really hoping the community can help us keep eyes on the building and keep eyes in our community to try and make sure this doesn’t happen to someone else.”
The Roanoke Police Department told Target 7 they are working to provide the number of vandalism incidents in the area and provide tips on what businesses can do to prevent graffiti tagging.
The Roanoke Valley Speech and Hearing Center is asking anyone who may have seen the vandalism happen to speak up and come forward. The center is also planning to host events in March to fundraise money for security cameras.
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