Wellness center dedicated //
Once a gas station, this Church Hill site is now home to the new Sarah Garland Jones Center for Health Communities.
The new $1.5 million center developed by Bon Secours Virginia Health System with private donations opened Tuesday at 2600 Nine Mile Road.
Bon Secours officials announced at the dedication that the building will bear the name of Dr. Jones, the pioneering African-American physician who in 1902 founded and ran the forerunner to Richmond Community Hospital, which is now part of Bon Secours.
The building’s renovation and opening took longer than expected. Groundbreaking took place in April 2016, with plans to open four months later.
The new center has three components, according to Bon Secours.
First, the building houses a commercial kitchen for Class-A-Roll, a Bon Secours program that provides community cooking classes and food skills training to promote healthy eating. The kitchen also will be available for preparation of community dinners.
The building also includes space for a coffee shop that nonprofit Church Hill Activities and Tutoring, or CHAT, plans to operate to provide jobs and entrepreneurial experiences for neighborhood teens.
Finally, the building includes a separate 900-square-foot community room to be used for health and wellness programs and meeting space for neighborhood groups.
