Welcome to the first edition of The Providence Plan’s electronic newsletter. This monthly newsletter will feature short articles designed to keep you up to date on the wide range of work that we – and our community partners – are doing to improve the economic and social well-being of the city’s residents. We’ve launched this newsletter to give you greater access to information and data that we think you’ll find useful in your own work and activities. We also hope it will trigger additional interest in our Web site, which has valuable information about Providence and Rhode Island. If you see ways we can increase the usefulness of either this newsletter or our Web site, please contact me at the e-mail address below. If you do not wish to continue receiving this E-newsletter, simply click unsubscribe.

Thanks,
Pat McGuigan, Executive Director
pmcguigan@provplan.org

Providence Plan secures $950,000 grant to help grassroots organizations in Providence 
Working closely with several partners, The Providence Plan has successfully secured a $950,000 Compassion Capital Fund Demonstration grant for the city of Providence. The purpose of this grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is to help community and faith-based organizations improve their ability to provide social services to those in need. The Providence Plan will manage the project -- entitled New Roots Providence -- and serve as an intermediary between local organizations and the federal government. [more on grant...]

Mapping project analyzes accessibility of resources for released offenders
The Providence Plan is nearing completion of a mapping project analyzing former prisoners and the proximity of resources available to them. The project, commissioned last spring by the R.I. Department of Corrections, focuses on four communities: Central Falls, Pawtucket, Newport and Woonsocket. Since residents of Pawtucket and Central Falls often use services in Providence, those were mapped as well. [more on mapping...]

Ninth YouthBuild class gets started on a brand-new house
By next July, a low-income family will have a home of its own and 28 young men and women will have the skills and degrees needed for productive, rewarding careers, thanks to YouthBuild Providence, a program of The Providence Plan.

The ninth class of YouthBuild Providence, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Rhode Island, began construction this fall of a house on Ida Street in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Providence. Working beside skilled electricians, carpenters, plumbers and others, these YouthBuild Providence students will develop marketable construction skills. On alternating weeks in the 10-month program, students attend academic classes in preparation for the GED examination. [more on YouthBuild ...]

Ready to Learn Providence AmeriCorps team spreads the word
After a month of training in August, 29 AmeriCorps members are now in the city’s libraries, early-care settings, and living rooms promoting and enhancing early literacy skills. Some work directly with children while others work with parents and providers, but all are part of Ready to Learn Providence’s vision that all children will enter school healthy and ready to learn. Ready to Learn Providence, a program of The Providence Plan, was awarded the three-year AmeriCorps grant last spring, allowing R2LP to hire up to 30 AmeriCorps members each year. The program is funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service through the Rhode Island Service Alliance. [more on Ready to Learn...]

Angel Taveras joins ProvPlan board
The Providence Plan recently named Angel Taveras to its board of directors. Taveras is a founding partner of Corley Taveras & Petrarca, a Providence law firm that focuses on civil, commercial and criminal defense litigation. [more on Taveras...]

Grant, cont.
Announced in October, this grant represents the first Compassion Capital Fund grant awarded to Rhode Island in the four-year history of the program. Nationally, just 20 grants were selected from the more than 450 applications submitted.

“Winning this grant wouldn’t have been possible without partners,” notes Nzinga Misgana, who will direct the initiative for The Providence Plan. “They have been remarkably cooperative and generous, and all are very excited about the impact of this project.”

The local and regional partners that will help deliver the training programs associated with the project include Third Sector New England, the Rhode Island State Council of Churches, Providence Making Connections, the Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence, the Family Life Center, and Dorcas Place Adult and Family Learning Center.

In addition to the $950,000 in federal funds, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Rhode Island Foundation, the United Way of Rhode Island, and the Rhode Island State Council of Churches have pledged additional funds for the project totaling $250,000.

Beginning in early 2006, The Providence Plan will sponsor training workshops for grassroots organizations on leadership development, organizational design, strategic planning, communications, fundraising and financial management. In addition, up to 24 community and faith-based organizations will receive grants to hire experts in organizational planning and program design. These organizations, selected through a competitive process, will also participate in peer discussions to reinforce what they learn.

Priority for the one-on-one technical assistance and small grants will go to small, grassroots organizations working on issues related to youth violence, prisoner reentry, children of prisoners, and families transitioning from welfare to work. For more information on New Roots Providence, call Nzinga Misgana at 401.455.8880 or email nmisgana@provplan.org. [top]

Mapping, cont.
The analysis examined people who had been released from the Adult Correctional Institutions in 2004 and whose crimes had fallen into one of four categories: drugs, sexual offenses, violence and domestic violence. Resources include basic services – housing, employment, health care, counseling and food – as well as mental health and substance abuse treatment, religious organizations and access to public transit.

The “hotspot” and thematic maps that The Providence Plan developed in this project illustrate the relative density of former prisoners in neighborhoods of the targeted cities, and the proximity of services. Some of the maps incorporate charts and graphs depicting the type of offense, ethnicity, education level, employment status or religion of the released prisoners.

The Providence Plan relied on data from the Department of Corrections and the U.S. Census Bureau to derive demographic profiles and to develop its neighborhood-level analyses. “A continuing challenge in mapping the formerly incarcerated is that many do not have stable living situations, which means it will always be difficult to obtain accurate, up-to-date information on their location,” notes Jim Lucht, who coordinated the project for ProvPlan.

Employment services are an important resource for men and women returning to the community after incarceration. Forty percent of those released from Rhode Island prisons in 2004 were unemployed at the beginning of their sentences, and that rate is typically much higher at the time of release. Of the 38 employment services located in the state available to returnees, 16 are in Providence, three are in Pawtucket, and two are in Woonsocket. Neither Newport nor Central Falls has any.

“Housing is another huge issue,” says Lucht. A recent analysis by the Rhode Island Family Life Center found that most housing programs had very low turnover rates and waiting lists to gain admittance. [top]

YouthBuild, cont.
YouthBuild Providence, which began in 1998, is an education and workforce-development program that helps high school dropouts gain the literacy and job-readiness skills needed to make a successful transition into the workforce. The program is open to young adults (ages 16 to 24) who are unemployed or who have been unsuccessful in traditional educational environments because of low literacy levels, poverty or involvement with the criminal justice system.

In a series of interviews and a three-week program titled Mental Toughness, applicants must demonstrate maturity and a sincere commitment to the goals of the program before earning admission into YouthBuild, which can accept no more than 30 students in any given cycle. YouthBuild Providence selected this year’s class from an initial field of nearly 200 applicants.

“Students in these classes develop family-like bonds,” notes YouthBuild Director Andrew Cortes. “I don’t think a day goes by when a graduate of the program doesn’t come by our offices to say hi.”

In the early part of the house construction, students tackle a wide range of tasks. As the year progresses, and skills and interests become more apparent, students begin specializing in a particular trade. After graduation, some will move directly into the workforce, while others will enroll in post-secondary education.

Of the 28 students in this year’s class, only three are women. The gender imbalance that has always existed in the construction field concerns Cortes, who says it is a goal of his to build female enrollment in the program by enhancing current recruiting efforts. [top]

 
Ready to Learn AmeriCorps, cont.
Current AmeriCorps members – 22 women and seven men whose ages range from 19 to 63 – started August 1 and will work through June. The 12 members who speak fluent Spanish often find themselves bridging the language gap between early-care educators and parents. By removing that barrier, members already see an increase in parent involvement at these settings.

Ten members based in the city’s libraries assist librarians with early-literacy programs and work at increasing the number of families and providers who use the library. Two at Laurel Hill Avenue School can be found working in bilingual first-grade classrooms where they assist special needs students and help non-English speaking parents build stronger relationships with teachers and school administrators.

Members based in child-care settings generally work directly with children, assisting teachers with their literacy programs. Several members visit parents in their homes to discuss literacy activities they can do with their preschoolers, and others work with family-care providers who are enrolled in R2LP’s HeadsUp! Reading program. Recruitment of parent volunteers and related administrative tasks fill the days of members based in the R2LP offices.

AmeriCorps members receive a stipend for their work during the year and, upon completion of their service, a $4,725 educational award.

But “there is no greater motivator than meeting and working with the children and families in Providence,” insists AmeriCorps member Melissa Walsh, who is based at the Fox Point Library. “They inspire me to put every fiber of my energy and being into the work I’m doing.” [top]

Taveras, cont.
Taveras, the son of Dominican immigrants, was born in New York but has lived in Rhode Island since infancy. A product of the Providence public schools, Taveras went on to Harvard University where he earned a bachelor’s degree, cum laude, in government. Before pursuing his dream of becoming a lawyer, Taveras created an after-school program and summer day camp for inner-city youth at the Elmwood Community Center with an Echoing Green Public Service Fellowship.

In 1996 Taveras received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center and joined the law firm of Brown Rudnick Berlack Israels LLP in Providence. He formed his current firm in 2005.

In 1999 Taveras ran for Congress in Rhode Island’s 2nd Congressional District, calling his rise “from Head Start to Harvard” the fulfillment of the American Dream. Taveras surprised observers by finishing third in a four-way race and almost winning the city of Providence. From 2003 to 2004, Taveras served as the state’s authorized representative of Sen. John Edwards’ campaign for president.

Asked what triggered his interest in serving on The Providence Plan board, Taveras said it’s his love for the city. “I grew up in Providence and this is a great opportunity to be part of the positive changes that are coming to the city,” he explained. “And I’m excited to be part of a board that is composed of so many distinguished leaders.” [top]