The organization’s current senior program director, Barbara Fields, has been with LISC for sixteen years. On Wednesday, April 25, she joined other affordable housing advocates and sponsors at the 2nd Annual Celebration of Housing Breakfast and talks to City News about the ways that LISC links affordable housing to the overall development of stronger, healthier neighborhoods.
How does LISC help create affordable housing in RI? And how does this benefit neighbors in our City and State?
LISC’s mission is to work with community-based organizations and other community partners to build strong healthy neighborhoods. Affordable housing is a core part of our work. We have worked with community organizations throughout the city to provide low cost financing and technical know-how to get housing built that serves working families and residents.
For example, we work with Olneyville Housing Corporation to provide high risk financing in the early phases of their development. We help make sure that the housing that gets built complements and connects to other activities in the neighborhoods.
We also invest in building strong community organizations that can continue to serve the various city neighborhoods, and we provide technical training and assistance to groups to help them design and develop homes across the city.
Beyond affordable housing, what other efforts does LISC undertake to serve communities?
About 50 % of our work is in Providence but also we serve communities from Woonsocket to Newport.
We invest in childcare facilities, commercial and retail facilities, for example. We invest in working with community policing. We work with the city to improve recreational opportunities.
We see the neighborhood as our customer as we work with a variety of community partners to make stronger neighborhoods. We broker relationships and build active partnerships. We try to influence policy and increase resources. We work with banks, local corporations, state, federal and local government, community residents to design strategies to build healthy communities.
In your opinion, what makes up a healthy neighborhood?
The physical revitalization of a neighborhood starts with affordable housing. Having a safe affordable home is the starting point for families to go out and contribute to the local economy and for children to access educational and recreational opportunities.
Basically we are embarking on deepening our investments in the community. We are doing this in the following ways:
- To increase family income and wealth through home ownership and skills development
- To connect to the regional economy
- To expand community knowledge and access to educational opportunities
- To build and support healthy environments – which includes public safety, access to green grocers, recreational opportunities, and appropriate transportation.
In the last 3-5 years, what are some of the changes you’ve seen in communities and neighborhoods growing in Providence?
One of the things that we are seeing in housing is the expansion of mixed-use development - seeing ground floor and commercial space with residential space above or next-door.
We are seeing a really comprehensive approach to building our neighborhoods. We are seeing mixed-use done in scale. People are talking about making a difference in the neighborhoods in a multi-use way - by having places to shop, building safe schools and recreational places, and more.
The other change we have is a city government that is working to support this growth across the board. We are seeing a systemic and institutional approach to support these new opportunities. Five years ago, I didn’t have a relationship with city departments. We have relationships across the board now. We build partnerships - that is our strength.
What role do you see LISC playing in the future of our neighborhoods?
Our plan is to highlight our role as an intermediary that brokers relationships and to strengthen and expand our partnerships. I think LISC will deepen its investments in neighborhoods by working to connect the various elements that we believe contribute to strong, healthy and sustainable communities.
The RI LISC office is located at 229 Waterman Street. To learn more about their programs and services, you can visit www.lisc.org/rhode_island.
