MEDIA RELEASE: August 31, 2000

RI Foundation awards $1.1 million in grants;
focuses on economic/community development

Grants support business development, employment

In its second of three grantmaking sessions for 2000, The Rhode Island Foundation Board of Directors approved 27 grants totaling $1,077,344, largely in the focus area of economic and community development.  With six new endeavors focusing on business development and employment, the Foundation sees itself as venturing into new territory, according to Foundation President Ronald V. Gallo.

“While the Foundation will rarely have the opportunity to underwrite entire business initiatives, there are many opportunities, as evidenced here, to provide support at critical junctures,” Gallo said.

Recipients of business development and employment-focused grants include:

• Center for Women and Enterprise, $75,000, to support the Center’s statewide Foundations for Success program which will provide 60 low-income women with the education, training and other support necessary to start their own small businesses.
• Chamber Education Foundation, $74,000, to develop a Career Mentoring Program for unemployed and under-employed adults from Warwick in its Commerce Academy;
• Central Rhode Island Development Corporation, $50,000, to expand its successful Growth Team Model of job growth for manufacturing firms in the Blackstone Valley;
• Johnson & Wales University, $50,000, to establish the Rhode Island Microenterprise Association which will provide training, technical assistance and improved access to capital to small business owners throughout the state.
• Rhode Island Coalition for Minority Investment, $50,000, to provide expanded technical assistance to minority and disadvantaged small businesses in Rhode Island.
• CareLink, Inc., $30,000, to provide job training opportunities for 30 women in Washington County through a certified nursing assistant (CNA) training program.

Community Development
Projects which work to strengthen communities and neighborhoods include:

• Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), $100,000, to continue to support community development corporations (CDCs) throughout the state to increase their ability to develop housing, create economic development opportunities, and substantively involve communities in self-development.
• Main Street Rhode Island, $75,000 , for continuing support of this Providence-based organization’s statewide efforts to combine the best elements of historic preservation, urban planning and economic development savvy to revitalize Rhode Island downtown districts. 
• The Providence Plan, $50,000, to advance building and neighborhood improvement projects in South Providence.
• Southside Community Land Trust, $40,500, to train community groups from Providence, Newport and Woonsocket to create and operate community gardens.
• Allen Ministries Enriching Neighborhoods (AMEN), $25,000, to support the organization’s community development and revitalization efforts in Providence’s West End.
• Greene Public Library, $15,500, to support a capital campaign for an addition to the library which serves western Coventry, West Greenwich and Foster.

Environment
Projects which support and/or conserve our natural resources include:

• The Providence Plan, $65,000, to create a coalition of the six municipalities (Providence, Glocester, North Smithfield, Smithfield, North Providence and Johnston) that share the Woonasquatucket River with the goal of coordinating efforts to protect and preserve the watershed.
• Save the Bay, $40,000, to increase the capacity of local groups within the Palmer River Watershed to maintain and improve water quality.
• The Apeiron Foundation, $25,000, for the Rhode Island Sustainability Coalition’s energy conservation activities.
• South Kingstown Land Trust, $20,000, for third year support of the South Kingstown Community Partnership.

Policy Development/Advocacy
Projects which focus on public policy and advocacy issues are:

• Grow Smart Rhode Island, $53,800, to support this two-year-old organization’s efforts to promote planned growth as the state’s population shifts from urban to suburban.
• Progreso Latino, $30,000, for fourth-year support of the statewide United Campaign for Permanent Jobs which educates the public and private sectors on temporary employment issues, and advocates for Latino and other workers.

Cultural Issues and Historic Preservation
Projects which support preservation efforts in the state include:

• National Trust for Historic Preservation, $25,000, to enable Rhode Island preservation advocates to attend the National Preservation Conference which will be held in Providence in October 2001.
• Preservation Society of Pawtucket, $20,000, for third-year support for the salary of an executive director and efforts to build community support through education and outreach activities.
• Jamestown Historical Society, $15,000, to help restore the 213-year-old Jamestown Windmill.

Other Grants
Completing the myriad of projects approved by the Foundation board are the following:

• Executive Service Corps, $25,000, to support the operating costs of this Boston-based organization’s Rhode Island office which will provide low-cost consulting services to nonprofit organizations in Rhode Island.
• Youth in Action, $18,000, for third-year operating support for this grassroots organization to develop leadership and community service skills in Providence youth.

In the focus area of Children & Families, which received $1.4 million in funding at the April Board meeting, the Foundation awarded $21,944 to Women & Infants Hospital for continuing support of Teen LINK, an initiative designed to integrate specialized substance abuse prevention, identification, and treatment services with primary health care for pregnant “at-risk young women.

In the focus area of Education, for which most grants will be reviewed in December, $28,600 was awarded to the Rhode Island Committee for the Humanities to explore ways the organization can better serve Rhode Islanders, and $25,000 to the New England Aquarium for an educational exhibit about the Narragansett Bay at its Exploration Center in Newport.

The final grant, in the new Arts focus area, for which most grants also will be reviewed in December, was awarded in the amount of $30,000 to the International Gallery for Heritage and Culture for its network of arts enrichment programs in Providence, Central Falls and Pawtucket.