ONE Neighborhood Builders unveil Central Providence roadmap

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — ONE Neighborhood Builders and Central Providence Opportunities unveiled the Central Providence Roadmap during a community event Monday.

Officials said the roadmap is the first comprehensive, community-built collective impact plan focused on the nine neighborhoods in in the 02909 and 02998 zip codes.

More than 60 community members, civic leaders and residents of Central Providence contributed to the roadmap, officials said.

“Too many of our neighbors in Central Providence have been held back because of community-level conditions that are rooted in structural racism,” said Jennifer Hawkins, ONE Neighborhood Builders President.

“These barriers can deny families access to quality education, affordable housing, good jobs, and adequate health care. Residents and organizations have been working for decades to remove these barriers,” she continued.

Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos said the roadmap will operate on three pillars:

1. Meeting foundational needs
2. Supporting mobility drivers
3. Building power and capacity

Officials said under those pillars, they hope to ensure ongoing conditions across the community.

Those conditions are as follows:

• A common agenda; Partners share a vision for change that includes a common understanding of challenges and a coordinated approach to take action.
• Mutually reinforcing activities; Each partner leads activities specific to their expertise, while also aligning with and supporting others in the network.
• Shared measurement; Partners track outcomes in the same manner and engaging in learning, evaluation and accountability.
• Continuous communication; With an emphasis on trust, respect and transparency, partners commit to building and maintaining relationships and sharing information.
• Strong backbone; One entity coordinates the larger group — providing focus and detailing resources.

ONE Neighborhood Builders said they will act as that backbone.

Officials said they will release periodic reports on data outlined in the roadmap that will be provided to the community and decision-makers across the city and state.

They said their hope in supplying authorities with transparent and objective data is to help shape economic, health, housing, and education policy for Central Providence.