Thirteen R.I. communities can apply for Working Cities Challenge

Thirteen Rhode Island communities are eligible to participate in the Working Cities Challenge through the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
Thirteen Rhode Island communities are eligible to participate in the Working Cities Challenge through the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

PAWTUCKET – Thirteen communities are eligible to participate in the Working Cities Challenge through the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and receive between $300,000 and $500,000 over a three-year period to implement initiatives to improve the lives of low-income residents.
The announcement was made Tuesday at the Blackstone Valley Visitors Center.
Last year, it was announced that Rhode Island would be the second site for the Working Cities Challenge, following Massachusetts, where Chelsea, Holyoke and Lawrence were selected for their winning proposals.

The 13 eligible Rhode Island communities – Burriville, Central Falls, Cranston, East Providence, Johnston, Newport, North Providence, Pawtucket, Providence, Warwick, West Warwick, Westerly, and Woonsocket – can submit an expression of interest by late April or early May.

Requests for proposals will be accepted in late spring or early summer, with design grants between $10,000 and $20,000 awarded by the end of summer. Winners of design grants then will conduct six months of planning and design work; three implementation grants will be awarded next year.

Additional grant funding may be available and will be disclosed at that time, according to the Fed.
An independent jury will select the winning cities – that jury will not include the Fed.

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Past projects have focused on workforce and neighborhood development, as well as immigrant entrepreneurship, according to the Fed.
Small- to mid-size cities and towns with significant low-income populations were eligible to participate. They also had to have a median family income less than the median for peer Rhode Island cities ($82,603) and high poverty rates – individual and family poverty rates above the median for peer communities, 8.9 percent and 5.9 percent, respectively.
The challenge is not funded by the Federal Reserve, which provides leadership and staff support.
Funding partners for the challenge include the R.I. Commerce Corporation, R.I. Department of Labor and Training, Rhode Island Housing, Rhode Island Foundation, Delta Dental of Rhode Island, Bank of America, Washington Trust Co., AT&T New England, Verizon, Doris Duke Foundation, Kresge Foundation, Living Cities, NeighborWorks America and Local Initiative Support Corp.
A Steering Committee, comprised of representatives from Rhode Island Foundation, Roger Williams University, Commerce RI, R.I. Department of Health, among others, selected the 13 cities eligible to participate.
The Steering Committee will determine the amount of grants available.

“The Boston Fed believes that smaller cities have important assets and great potential to drive regional economies, and views the Working Cities Challenge as an opportunity to demonstrate excellence and change perceptions of such communities,” it said.

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