National foundations are understanding the limitations of what they can do in specific places. They need a local connection that “knows the territory”. In Rhode Island, the Foundation is often just the partner they need.

With every opportunity to partner with a national foundation, we ask ''Is this a good fit?'' ''Are there enough financial and other resources on the table?'' ''Can we identify a local organization that could take the lead?''

Quite often, the answer is ''yes''.

Past Partnerships:

• Starting Points, a statewide initiative that was launched and continues to be funded through a partnership led by the Carnegie Corporation of New York for the purpose of improving the state’s early care and education system.
• Access to Health Care, a project of WRNI and the Foundation to educate and enhance public awareness about Rhode Island’s health-care crisis and its uninsured population; one of 66 projects funded nationally by The Benton Foundation.
• Open Space on the Woonasquatucket Greenway, the local project funded as part of a national initiative of the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund to increase the quality and quantity of urban parks for public use, especially in underserved neighborhoods.
• Fathers Matter, a program co-funded with the Coalition of Community Foundations for Youth, to connect fathers and families and to advance responsible fatherhood.
• Taking Stock, in collaboration with the Annie E. Casey Foundation, an inventory of family support systems in South Providence in conjunction with Casey’s preliminary work in Providence related to their national Development/Neighborhoods Transformation Initiative.
• Barriers to Citizenship, a market research study topic initiated by the Emma Lazarus Fund for the George Soros Foundation and in partnership locally with Citizens Financial Group.

An ongoing partner is The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nation’s largest funder of health-care issues, with which the Foundation has four projects: 

• Providence Smiles, a program to meet the dental needs of Providence schoolchildren and to educate families about dental care; 
• Draw a Breath/Providence School Partnership, a project to provide asthma education and services to families of children attending Providence elementary schools; 
• The Working Uninsured, a project in conjunction with the Rhode Island Departments of Health and of Human Services, to provide working Rhode Islanders with health insurance; and 
• Covering Kids, an effort to in partnership with Kids Count and the Department of Human Services to enroll all children in the state in a health-insurance program.

Present Partnerships:

• Gates
• Family Life Center (Soros)
• Oral Health Access (RWJ)
• Covering Kids (Casey/RWJ)
• HIP (HIP)
• RJC (Rockefeller)
• Equity Action (NFP)