Chesterfield County, Virginia's Weekly E-Newsletter
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Stay Connected with Chesterfield!
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Scroll to the bottom for more helpful links and resources to stay up to date on all things Chesterfield!
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County Response to COVID-19
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The
Chesterfield County Response to COVID-19 webpage
has links to many resources for citizens during this situation. If you are looking for information in any of the following topic areas, please click the links below to be directed to additional resources:
Other important information and updates on resources for Virginians can be found at:
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Chesterfield Health District:
Director Update
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Outdoor Options Under Executive Order 61
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Outdoor Dining Options Added to Chesterfield Eats to Go
New feature in addition to pickup and delivery information
Chesterfield Eats to Go
, an online resource to help Chesterfield residents and visitors identify which restaurants near them are open for pickup or delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic, has added information regarding outdoor dining!
Using a GIS mapping system format, Chesterfield Eats to Go allows patrons to zoom-in on their designated area of Chesterfield County, select one of the pinned restaurants highlighted on the map and retrieve essential contact information for their desired restaurant. The website also works on most mobile devices, allowing residents to transfer the restaurant’s address to most mobile driving apps to ensure safe and timely travel for pickup to-go orders.
The Governor’s
Executive Order 61
has moved much of Virginia into Phase One recovery under the
Forward Virginia
blueprint. Executive Order 61 allows for restaurants to re-open with limited outdoor dining only. Restaurants can continue to provide food pick-up, delivery or drive-thru services regardless of outdoor dining capabilities. Chesterfield Eats to Go will now include those with outdoor dining options so residents can easily identify those establishments.
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Chesterfield Economic Development Launches Let’s Take It Outside, Chesterfield
Information for business owners on how to move certain services outside
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Sheriff's Office Implementing Additional Measures at Courthouses as More Cases Added to Docket
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To limit the spread of the coronavirus known as COVID-19, effective 8 a.m. on Monday, May 18, all patrons entering any of the three Chesterfield County courthouses will now be asked a series of COVID-19 screening questions and have their temperature taken. Sheriff’s deputies will be wearing full personal protective equipment, or PPE, during the screening process.
This video
highlights some of the changes that visitors need to know prior to conducting business at courts.
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Chesterfield County Battelle Critical Care Decontamination System
™
(CCDS)
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The
Battelle Critical Care Decontamination System™ (CCDS)
uses a concentrated hydrogen peroxide vapor to decontaminate N95 masks, which can sustain up to 20 decontamination cycles without degrading filtration performance. This technology will help address the national shortage of critical personal protective equipment (PPE) and protect healthcare workers and first responders on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In this video
, take a tour of the Battelle CCDS recently installed at the Vietnam Veterans Pavilion at the Chesterfield County Fairgrounds.
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Chesterfield Health Department -
Free COVID-19 Testing
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Wednesday, May 20, 2020 at 9 a.m.
Ettrick Community Center
20621 Woodpecker Road
Wednesday, May 27, 2020 at 9 a.m.
Stonebridge Recreation Center
230 Karl Linn Drive
Testing is for individuals who have COVID-19 symptoms and is
free for uninsured or underinsured persons
.
While some appointments will be reserved for walk-ups that morning, testing is limited and appointments should be made prior to arriving.
Spanish speaking staff also will be present during the testing event.
The
Chesterfield Health District
is a state division of VDH that includes the counties of Chesterfield and Powhatan and the City of Colonial Heights.
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Parks and Recreation -
Virtual Recreation Programs
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When the COVID-19 pandemic started to affect Chesterfield County and services were forced to modify, the county’s
Parks and Recreation Department
wasted no time to
pivot its programs
by offering
virtual recreation programs
. Programming includes activities, tours, classes and videos all organized into different categories, such as family activities, history, nature, outdoor activities and fitness. New activities are posted daily, Monday-Friday.
Programs include:
- All About Bees
- Family music time
- Reptiles at the Rockwood Nature Center
- River Safety with rising water levels
- Craft activities for children and families
- Fitness instruction for older adults
- Park and historical site tours, such as Dutch Gap Conservation Area and Falling Creek Ironworks Park
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Additional Family and Parent Resources:
Staying Active - Fitness, Crafts, Learning Opportunities and More!
Mental Health and Coping
Access to the Internet During COVID-19
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Chesterfield Unveils Public WiFi Access Locations Interactive Map
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This week, Chesterfield County
unveiled a new website
designed to help citizens locate publicly-accessible, county-owned WiFi locations throughout Chesterfield. Featuring an interactive map, the
Public WiFi Access Locations website
allows visitors to pinpoint nearby WiFi spots and provides a link to Google Maps directions to each location.
Currently, the map features over a dozen public WiFi locations accessible from outside of county buildings and facilities currently closed to visitors
due to COVID-19. The new website also provides details on where citizens can park, stand or sit to get the best coverage. When in public, however, citizens should follow
social distancing guidelines
established by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), including remaining at least six feet away from others, avoiding gathering in groups and staying away from crowded places. In addition, some public facilities have limited hours of accessibility; users are encouraged to contact that facility’s managing department prior to traveling to that location.
To find a nearby WiFi location, citizens may type in an address and pinpoint a user-defined area of up to a 30-mile radius represented by a large, blue circle on the map. Note that this circle does not show the coverage area for a given WiFi signal; it helps identify the locations of the WiFi access spots themselves.
Public WiFi connections should always be used with caution, and citizens are urged not to access sensitive personal data such as banking information, medical records or credit card numbers while connected to public WiFi.
To view Chesterfield’s new Public WiFi Access Locations website and begin using the interactive map, visit
www.chesterfield.gov/wifi
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Chesterfield Food Bank Community Update
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This week's CFB Community Update
is an amazing example of what grassroots organizations like the CFB can achieve with County-level partnerships! We are
#StrongerTogether
and will continue to meet this growing demand amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Please take a moment and watch how your community from an individual level, up to the County level is working together to feed our neighbors. We need your continued support in order to provide food to those in need. Thank you for all you have done and will keep on doing!
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Happy 271st Birthday, Chesterfield!
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On Monday, May 25, 2020, the county turns 271. Interested in learning more historical facts about Chesterfield? Check out the
Chesterfield History
webpage.
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Adoptable Pet Spotlight: Marigold
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Meet Marigold:
Hi! My name is Marigold and I am the happiest mama around. I was running loose in Chesterfield for a while when someone finally caught me. Little did they know that I was pregnant! I've had my puppies, but there was a complication, so I had to have emergency surgery shortly after. I'm all healthy now and looking for my forever home! I love to go on walks. I'll stay right next to you because I know just how a dog is supposed to walk on a leash! I'm interested in toys, but don't really know what to do with them so you'll have to teach me. But don't worry, I'm a smart girl. I already know how to sit and training me will be a breeze. Want to watch a movie or your favorite TV show? I love sitting on the couch! I'm ready to be your new best bud so come and meet me today! I am a 5-year-old female spayed Bulldog/Pitbull mix who weighs 45 lbs.
Animal #568797
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Chesterfield - Employee Excellence:
Chesterfield Juvenile Detention Home Greenhouse;
Telephone Reassurance Program
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These unprecedented times have forced innovative adaptations in how Chesterfield County continues to keep resources and services available for our citizens, businesses and employees. Those adaptations have taken multiple forms, from teleworking to completely new processes, and many employees are being redeployed in other areas to keep essential functions operating.
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Chesterfield Juvenile Detention Home Greenhouse
The
Chesterfield Juvenile Detention Home
(CJDH) is a secure facility for holding court-involved youth until their next court hearing, until they have received a judge’s final ruling or as a judge’s final sentence.
However, it is also a place of growth and learning.
“This facility serves some of the most vulnerable and traumatized youth in this county,” said CJDH Director Marilyn Brown. “We also recognize that the youth we serve have harmed this community by their actions. Our role is to hold them accountable by engaging them in meaningful educational and evidence-based treatment services that foster emotional awareness and regulation and a higher moral reasoning as well as counseling and support services for their families.”
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CJDH Greenhouse delivers plants to seniors - clockwise from top left: Renita Davis-Kelley and
Detric Branch; Shaliana McFarland and Davis-Kelley; Davis-Kelley.
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During their stay at the facility, residents participate in treatment services, learn important life and businesses skills and are afforded the opportunity to care for plants at the facility’s greenhouse.
According to Brown, the greenhouse is a metaphor for the youths’ change journey.
“They plant the seeds, take care of the plants on a daily basis, have patience and watch them transform into flowering plants,” said Brown. “Even when they can’t see it, the plants are changing and growing. We want them to leave here and be positive contributors to their communities.”
Leading the greenhouse program is Renita Davis-Kelley, the CJDH’s Economics and Personal Finance teacher. Davis-Kelley has been an educator for 25 years – 18 with the CJDH – and has received the Teacher of the Year Award three times.
According to Brown, Davis-Kelley is the greenhouse program, and she has persevered in her work through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Even when all of the teachers went home in March with the Governor’s school closure announcement, Ms. Davis-Kelley has come every day to tend to the plants with the kids,” said Brown.
In past years, Davis-Kelley organized yearly plant sales, during which the kids talked to community members and customers about the plants, tallied up orders and helped carry customers’ purchases to their cars. Proceeds were invested right back into the CJDH’s educational programs. Due to the threat of COVID-19 this year, however, Davis-Kelley decided this spring’s plants should be donated to those in need.
The success of the greenhouse program at the CJDH is the result the hard work of many, including McFarland, Branch and youth counselors Jason Downing, Adam Guilbeaux and Vicki Robinson. With Renita Davis-Kelley leading the way, it should continue to serve as an invaluable tool for the CJDH for years to come.
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Vestine Patrick on a Telephone Reassurance Program phone call
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Aging and Disability Services:
Telephone Reassurance Program
To limit the spread of COVID-19, people across the country—including in Chesterfield County—began self-quarantining and adopting social distancing practices. While difficult for all, the increased isolation has put even more pressure on some of the county’s most vulnerable adults, including seniors and those with disabilities.
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When wide-ranging impacts of COVID-19 became clear, the Office of Aging and Disability Services knew the Telephone Reassurance Program had to expand.
“When we first heard about the COVID-19 pandemic in our area, we thought about our older adults,” said Vestine Patrick, the administrative secretary overseeing the program. “We knew expanding the program, calling our older adults seven days a week instead of four, was the answer.”
Patrick continued, “This program meets the needs of our older adults and those with disabilities one conversation at a time. I am privileged to lead it."
If you know of any Chesterfield County adults who would benefit from a friendly phone call, please contact Aging and Disability Services at 804-768-7878 or by email at
AgingServices@chesterfield.gov
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Remember to Complete Your U.S. Census!
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While April 1 was Census Day, Chesterfield encourages residents who have not yet completed their
2020 U.S. Census
to do so as soon as possible.
Completing the Census is easy!
Households should have received official U.S. Census Bureau mail with detailed information on how to respond to the 2020 U.S. Census
online, by phone or by mail.
Pay close to attention to the unique number given to your household and be prepared to use it during your response.
The 2020 U.S. Census is mandatory and responses are based upon the members of a household as of April 1 (Census Day).
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To learn more about the 2020 U.S. Census, visit the official website at
2020census.gov
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Learn More About Your District
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