Anthony Clary laced up his running shoes and never looked back while losing 100 pounds and discovering the joy of long-distance running.
“As I started working out, I started moving, I started running. I got lost on those [James River] trails and I started enjoying myself in ways that I didn't realize I could,” the Southside Richmond native said.
In 2019, he founded WeOffTheCouch, a community-based running and fitness group that aims to bolster people’s health — and help them discover joy in the process.
“We got out there, we started moving into the community. It was one person, [then] two people,” Clary said. “Now, it’s over 1,500 people, and we move three times a week throughout the community.”
The run club’s mission is to remove barriers to access, so it raises funds for race entries, running shoes and to provide no-cost marathon training.
Now, with about $61,000 in funding from the Richmond Health Equity Fund, WeOffTheCouch plans to expand its existing partnership with city schools by offering long-distance running training to students.
“We're also going to be able to go directly into the community, partnering with our recreational centers,” Clary said, emphasizing that the program will also focus on mental health.
A fund designed to close the gap
Richmond Mayor Danny Avula was director of the Richmond City and Henrico County Health Departments when the equity fund was created in 2021 as a way to address disproportionate health outcomes uncovered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As Avula announced the nine organizations receiving first-time funding in mid-March, he said the groups represent much needed services in the community: “It’s what the data shows are driving disparate impacts between Black and white communities.”
Initially, the initiative was funded with $5 million from the American Rescue Plan Act and ultimately seeded by the Health Equity Trust Fund, a part of the local health district. The arrangement, Avula said at the recent press conference, is the result of City Council President Cynthia Newbille’s advocacy.
“For generations, the majority of Richmond's low-income residents, especially in communities of color, have been excluded from the resources we all deserve to protect and promote our physical and emotional health,” Newbille said at the event in Church Hill with the city skyline behind her.
She said challenges to equitable access to health care persists.
“Still today, we have too many die too early and too often from preventable and more treatable health conditions. That's the challenge,” she said.
What’s next?
The city’s Health Equity Fund is accepting applications for this round of funding until March 30.
As for Clary, he’s ready to get started: “We're going to continue to lead with love because we know that it breaks down the barriers to access — not only to shoes and running gear — but the walls of access to one another.”
The fund is distributing about $520,000 to nine organizations this year; groups can apply for a second round of support:
- Healthcare access and education resources
- Hitting Cancer Below the Belt
- Sacred Heart Center
- Chronic diseases and underlying health conditions
- WeOfftheCouch
- Food access
- Mutual Aid Disaster Relief Richmond
- RVA Community Fridges
- Maternal and child health
- Family Lifeline
- Mental and behavioral health
- ChildSavers
- Women Can Inspire Foundation
- Substance-use Prevention, treatment and recovery
- Atlantic Outreach Group
1 of — Mayor Avula and Direcotor DrawbaughMayor Danny Avula listens along Shaleetta Drawbaugh, Program Officer for Health Equity Fund, during a press conference announcing new Richmond Health Equity Fund grantees on Tuesday, March 18, 2025 in Richmond, Virginia.Shaban Athuman / VPM News2 of — Mayor Avula gives remarks at a podiumMayor Danny Avula gives remarks during a press conference announcing new Richmond Health Equity Fund grantees on Tuesday, March 18, 2025 in Richmond, Virginia.Shaban Athuman / VPM News3 of — Mayor Avula gives remarks at a podiumMayor Danny Avula gives remarks during a press conference announcing new Richmond Health Equity Fund grantees on Tuesday, March 18, 2025 in Richmond, Virginia.Shaban Athuman / VPM News4 of — Council President NewbilleRichmond City Council President Cynthia Newbille gives remarks during a press conference announcing new Richmond Health Equity Fund grantees on Tuesday, March 18, 2025 in Richmond, Virginia.Shaban Athuman / VPM News5 of — Council President NewbilleRichmond City Council President Cynthia Newbille gives remarks during a press conference announcing new Richmond Health Equity Fund grantees on Tuesday, March 18, 2025 in Richmond, Virginia.Shaban Athuman / VPM News6 of — Council President NewbilleRichmond City Council President Cynthia Newbille gives remarks as Mayor Danny Avula listens during a press conference announcing new Richmond Health Equity Fund grantees on Tuesday, March 18, 2025 in Richmond, Virginia.Shaban Athuman / VPM News7 of — Council President Newbille leavesRichmond City Council President Cynthia Newbille leaves after a press conference announcing new Richmond Health Equity Fund grantees on Tuesday, March 18, 2025 in Richmond, Virginia.Shaban Athuman / VPM News8 of — Mayor Avula gives remark to members of the pressMayor Danny Avula gives remarks to the media following a press conference announcing new Richmond Health Equity Fund grantees on Tuesday, March 18, 2025 in Richmond, Virginia.Shaban Athuman / VPM News9 of — Clary is photographed after a press conferenceAnthony Clary, founder We Off The Couch, is photographed following a press conference announcing new Richmond Health Equity Fund grantees on Tuesday, March 18, 2025 in Richmond, Virginia.Shaban Athuman / VPM News
