R.I. Foundation awards $350K for social services outreach in Kennedy Plaza, Burnside Park

RHODE ISLAND FOUNDATION CEO and President Neil D. Steinberg said, “There is a significant population in need of housing, employment, mental health, substance abuse and other services." The foundation announced Monday that it is giving $350,000 to three social service agencies to expand their work in downtown Providence. / COURTESY RHODE ISLAND FOUNDATION
RHODE ISLAND FOUNDATION CEO and President Neil D. Steinberg said, “There is a significant population in need of housing, employment, mental health, substance abuse and other services." The foundation announced Monday that it is giving $350,000 to three social service agencies to expand their work in downtown Providence. / COURTESY RHODE ISLAND FOUNDATION

PROVIDENCE – Amos House, Crossroads Rhode Island and The Providence Center will share more than $350,000 to increase social services outreach in Kennedy Plaza and Burnside Park, the Rhode Island Foundation said Monday.

“There is a significant population in need of housing, employment, mental health, substance abuse and other services,” Neil D. Steinberg, the foundation’s CEO and president, said in a statement. “We believe that more adequately addressing those needs by linking people to available services will go a long way toward improving the situation. We also know that working to meet those needs is most in line with our mission.”
Panhandling downtown has been cited as an issue by some business leaders, and the focus of discussions between city leaders, the business community and social service agency representatives in recent months.
Steinberg said that the community foundation, thanks to the generosity of its donors, has been meeting the needs of Rhode Island’s communities for 100 years.
“We are able to provide immediate assistance where others cannot, and that is what we have decided to do here,” he added.
Amos House will receive $150,000 to double the number of people it puts to work through its A Hand Up program. The funding will allow 20 people in the program, which puts panhandlers to work cleaning roadways and vacant lots throughout Providence. The funds also will allow the program to expand from two days to three days a week, according to the foundation.
Crossroads RI will receive $125,000 to hire two full-time workers focused on downtown outreach, while The Providence Center will receive $80,000 to place a second, full-time clinician with the Providence Police Department so it can increase its focus on downtown. Clinicians work to divert people from involvement with the criminal justice system to substance abuse and mental health treatment, and community-based services.
The Rhode Island Foundation, with the help of co-funding from the Grace K. and Wesley S. Alpert Foundation, will provide six months’ worth of funding for these programs.
The Downtown Improvement District also is launching a campaign to raise more private contributions from the downtown business community.

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