| Welcome
to the March-April issue of Provplan’s e-newsletter. Our
lead story is foreclosures, an issue that is affecting every
neighborhood in Providence as well as cities and towns across
the state. We are working with the City and community groups
to analyze and map the trends and impacts of foreclosures in
order to develop effective policies and programs. This is one
case where the mapping really does make the point in a powerful
way. ProvPlan studies the
impact of home foreclosures on specific neighborhoods Different colors on these maps indicate the number of foreclosed properties per square mile. A map illustrating the third quarter of 2006 shows just one small area in red, the color signifying 75 or more foreclosures. Less than a year later, these high-density “hot spots” had not only grown much larger but had spread into nearly all of the city’s less affluent neighborhoods.
Rhode Island Housing and the city’s Department of Planning and Development have devoted considerable energy to studying this issue. ProvPlan, meanwhile, is using updated data to understand how foreclosures are impacting specific pockets of the city’s neighborhoods. It’s an issue that clearly concerns the police. “It comes up at every police meeting,” notes Jim Lucht, director of ProvPlan’s Information Group. “Foreclosed homes are routinely broken into for the copper pipes and anything else of value.” Also of interest to the police is a possible correlation in overall crime rates with a high number of foreclosures in a particular area. Greater Elmwood Neighborhood Services has hired ProvPlan to examine that and other issues surrounding foreclosures in the city’s Elmwood neighborhood. ProvPlan’s mapping and data analysis will be part of a team initiative that includes the Community Development Corporation, police, and probation/parole officers. [more on Foreclosures...]
ProvPlan’s board
holds a conversation on universal prekindergarten
“We can’t invest in universal prekindergarten programs at the expense of the early-care programs currently in place,” cautioned Helen Blank, a national advocate for early care and education and the director of leadership and public policy at the National Women’s Law Center in Washington D.C. As part of a two-day visit to Ready to Learn Providence, Blank was asked to discuss the universal prekindergarten movement with The Providence Plan’s board of directors and invited guests.
“It’s embarrassing to me that Rhode Island hasn’t
done anything with Pre-K,” said Judge Robert G. Flanders
Jr., who is chairing an exploratory committee on the adoption
of universal prekindergarten in this state. “Pre-K has
the results we’re looking for.” Elizabeth Burke Bryant, executive director of Rhode Island Kids Count and a member of the Pre-K exploratory team, agreed. “When I travel across the country,” she said, “everyone tells me Rhode Island did it right. You built the foundation.” “Universal prekindergarten is not a substitute for child
care,” Blank stressed. “It’s an add-on. You
want to build a Pre-K system on a strong child-care and early-care
foundation.” [more on Blank Visit...] In a recent interview, Sabitoni talked about Building Futures and the value of its mission. Q: Why is Building Futures so important to the unions
and the construction industry? Second, the majority of our unions started in the urban areas. Building Futures is a way of getting back to our roots by recruiting from the urban centers. Third, it’s a way of helping the labor movement grow into the 21st century by increasing the number of minorities in the industry. This will help us meet the future employment demands of employers and developers. All the labor reports show a growing need for skilled laborers. Many in the current workforce are nearing retirement. In its pilot year, Building Futures aims to place about
30 candidates in union apprenticeships. Two have been placed
in your union. How is that working out? As a member of the Building Futures Advisory Council,
what are some of your goals? We also want to encourage developers to employ a certain percentage of urban apprentices at every construction site and to see the value in developing a trained workforce for the future. We’ve gotten that commitment for three projects taking place now – Capital Cove, the new Blue Cross Blue Shield headquarters, and the J. Walter Wilson building at Brown.
Finally, I’d like to say that Mayor David Cicilline
has given us great leadership and support. He has listed Building
Futures as one of his job initiative programs and has adopted
the language of Building Futures in contracts for school construction.
[The City now has a requirement that 15 percent of the workforce
on all school construction must be apprentices who live in Providence.]
We really appreciate his help in moving this down the field.
On January 24 the workforce training program was one of several organizations profiled on The Today Show in a feature on America’s Promise, which recognizes communities with strong youth programs. Providence was one of 100 communities honored this year and was one of just two cities featured on The Today Show. The Providence youth programs highlighted in the segment were YouthBuild and the Providence After School Alliance. To see the Today Show feature, go to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/22820913#22820913 On January 21, YouthBuild took second place in an event sponsored by The LEAGUE, an interactive web site that encourages community service with friendly competition among schools and academic programs across the country. YouthBuild, which was registered in the secondary school division, was recognized for community service performed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day at the John Hope Settlement House. The YouthBuild students, who are also part-time AmeriCorps members, joined other AmeriCorps programs to paint a mural – depicting King, Rosa Parks and other African-American heroes – in the center’s gymnasium. From January 7 to 21, the LEAGUE asked participating schools
and programs to perform acts of caring, respect and fairness
– expecting nothing in return – in honor of Martin
Luther King Jr. As a result of New Roots’ expansion, community- and faith-based organizations in Providence, Cranston, Warwick, West Warwick, Pawtucket and Central Falls are encouraged to apply. To be eligible, organizations should support, or plan to support, one or more of the following groups: children of men and women who are in prison; people returning to the community from prison; youth in danger of getting involved with violence or gang activity; people moving from public assistance into employment; elders in need; people who are homeless; or people who need intensive substance abuse rehabilitation services. The Request for Proposals, and instructions on applying for grants, can be downloaded from the New Roots web site: www.newrootsprovidence.org. A schedule of upcoming workshops to help organizations apply for these grants can also be found on the site. New Roots to hold workshop on lobbying for
nonprofit organizations Featured speakers include Bob Walsh of The National Education
Association, R.I.; Judy Jones of the Statewide Housing Action
Coalition; and Karen Malcolm of Ocean State Action. Linda Katz
of The Poverty Institute will moderate the discussion.
R2LP seeking applicants
for AmeriCorps program For information and applications, go to the R2LP web site at www.r2lp.org, or call Nazly Guzman at (401) 490-9960.
In February Bruce was one of three guest speakers at a forum on the nation’s sub-prime loan and housing crisis held at Providence’s First Unitarian Church. Other panelists included Nicholas P. Retsinas, director of Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, and Logan Kelly, professor of economics at Bryant University. Retsinas estimated that if the current pace continues, 2 million Americans are likely to lose their homes in the next 18 to 20 months. [top] “Supporting children and families is a complex task,” she said. “Many mothers must return to work within weeks of giving birth. The needs of those children begin as soon as they are born, especially when they are low-income.” If children do not receive high-quality child care until the age of four, she added, “the work of the Pre-K teacher will be that much harder.” Ready to Learn Providence, which has devoted considerable money and energy into the training of early-care providers and educators, “has helped us learn what works and where investments should be made,” noted Richard Spies, chair of the ProvPlan board. “But if we train a teacher who loses a job or a provider who goes out of business, we have no system to build on,” said Joyce Butler, director of R2LP.
“When Joyce loses children or Elizabeth loses them, I get them,” added Dean Esserman, chief of the Providence Police Department and a member of the ProvPlan board. “I’m arresting my children younger and younger. I’m also burying them younger and younger.” Blank believes that in order to meet the needs of working families and take advantage of the many trained professionals already in the field, universal Pre-K should be offered in a diverse delivery system that includes existing child-care settings. She develops that argument in a publication titled “A Center Piece of the PreK Puzzle: Providing State Prekindergarten in Child Care Centers,” which can be accessed on the R2LP web site, www.r2lp.org. Prior to her current position at the National Women’s
Law Center, Blank served 24 years as the director of the Child
Care and Development Division at the Children’s Defense
Fund. She played an instrumental role in the passage of the
Child Care and Development Block Grant and also developed a
comprehensive guide for the implementation of that landmark
legislation. [top] |
|
The
maps tell the story with few words. Dots indicating a high density
of foreclosure notifications now blanket large sections of neighborhoods
throughout the city. Hardest hit over the past 18 months are
neighborhoods with high levels of poverty and where more than
half of the residents are minorities, notes Bruce Boucek, one
of ProvPlan’s urban information specialists. 
“Build Pre-K on a strong foundation,” says
national child-care advocate
A
morning television program and an award for community service
brought YouthBuild Providence some national attention this winter.
New
Roots Providence, a program of The Providence Plan, is currently
accepting applications for its Capacity Building Grants. These
funds are used for activities that strengthen organizations
and increase their ability to serve people in need.
