The floors are caving in. The roofs are leaking. The walls that lack insulation invite mold. For residents of Rudd’s Mobile Home Park in Richmond’s Southside, these aren’t just minor inconveniences — they’re daily battles in a place they call home.
Unlike traditional renters, most mobile home residents own their homes. (What they rent is the land or lot under where they live.) That means when things start falling apart, the responsibility to fix them falls on their shoulders. But many say they are barely making ends meet, making expensive repairs out of reach.
Josefina is an older single woman who works only a couple days a week. For her, repairs on her deteriorating mobile home — which she purchased in 2008 — are just not in her limited budget.
“Rent doesn’t wait,” Josefina said in Spanish. “Sometimes I work two, three days [a week]. It’s not even enough for food. I just put my weeks of pay together and go pay the rent.”
In line with most mobile home parks, residents like Josefina pay a monthly lot rent for the land their trailer sits on, in addition to standard utilities like electricity, sewage and water.
Earlier this month, Josefina was one of two residents at Rudd’s Mobile Home Park who invited Richmond Mayor Danny Avula to their homes so he could see the issues firsthand. Currently, 38 of Rudd's 98 lots are occupied.
The invitation was extended after Richmonders Involved to Strengthen Our Communities, the organization the two residents are a part of, asked Avula during a January meeting to commit to funding the city’s only mobile home repair program in his fiscal year 2026 budget.
RISC told VPM News that Avula said in January he couldn’t commit to funding, prompting the members who live at Rudd’s Mobile Home Park to extend their invitations. VPM News is only using the residents' first names in this article to maintain their privacy.
Josefina gave Avula a tour of her trailer, pointing out urgent needs and makeshift repairs.
Her bathroom ceiling is one piece of cardboard away from collapsing; she has no central heat or air conditioning; and she needs to upgrade her electrical system. She’s made repairs to her kitchen ceiling after a leak, but water still gets in every time it rains. She fixed her kitchen flooring using a license plate from an old car.
“I need a lot of help with my trailer,” she said. “I’ve been living here a long time. It’s deteriorating. It needs fixing.”
Currently, the city only has one program specifically designed to help with mobile home repairs in partnership with the nonprofit Project:HOMES.
The Manufactured Home Initiative Fund provides limited assistance to mobile homeowners struggling with necessary fixes. The city first appropriated money to the program for fiscal year 2023.
In 2024, Project:HOMES told VPM News the nonprofit completed 20 repairs across the city's eight mobile home parks during the fiscal year. (Virginia's fiscal year runs from July 1–June 30.) On average, homes receive about $11,000 in repairs. The organization supervises the work, which includes replacement of windows and doors, flooring, insulation, electrical, plumbing and heating systems.
Richmond's fiscal 2025 budget allocated $800,000 to funding the program through FY26. But that budget was approved during former Mayor Levar Stoney's final year in office; the current Richmond City Council and Avula will have to approve its continued funding past June 30, 2025.
And residents like Sucely —— worry that prolonged waits for funding and repairs will only continue forcing her family to live in unsafe, dangerous conditions.
Her main concern is a lot harder to see. Sucely said her home lacks insulation, which traps moisture in the walls — increasing the likelihood of mold and also her monthly energy bill.
She said she worries this could create more health problems for her children, who have already been diagnosed with asthma.
“We need you to provide the help so it can be enough to make the repairs we need: Get the air on, so my children don’t suffer in the winter or summer,” Sucely said through an interpreter to Avula.
As the mayor’s office finalizes his city budget proposal, the fate of Richmond's mobile home repair fund remains uncertain.
“We have to address some of the housing needs of our community, and we need to be committed and consistent in putting money behind that,” Mayor Avula told VPM News after his tour. “That is work I am going to do in the remaining weeks I have to mold the budget.”
RISC is holding its annual Nehemiah Action Assembly on Thursday, March 25. At this year’s action, Richmonders will again be seeking commitment from Avula to address mobile home repairs.
