Media Coverage

By Will Richmond   "The Providence Journal and United Way of Rhode Island have partnered to highlight the state's nonprofits. Each week, a nonprofit identified by the United Way will be spotlighted in the Providence Sunday Journal, and the United Way will share how they support that organization. This week, we feature One Neighborhood Builders, which develops "affordable housing and engages neighbors across Greater Providence to cultivate safe, healthy, and vibrant communities." We asked Vice President of Resource Development & Communications Kyle McKendall to tell us more about the organization. What is One Neighborhood Builders' mission and vision? As a nonprofit community…

By Jusolyn Flower, Published November 14, 2024   "PAWTUCKET, R.I. (WPRI) — Rhode Island officials announced additional grant funding Thursday to support infrastructure improvements for affordable housing projects statewide. The Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank and Department of Housing awarded $2.8 million to five communities as part of efforts to tackle the ongoing housing crisis. “Developing housing projects often requires upgrades to municipal infrastructure, including site preparation, stormwater management, sidewalks, and wastewater utilities,” William Fazioli, Executive Director of R.I. Infrastructure Bank, said.     East Providence received $480,000 to support the Center City Apartments, which will transform three blighted acres into 144…

By Wheeler Cowperthwaite, Published September 26, 2024   "PROVIDENCE – Jennifer Hawkins stands on King Street in Providence. To one side are a series of income-restricted housing units her organization built, King Street Commons, a result of a new direction she took. To the other side is a former factory that, around the same time, was turned into apartments. When Hawkins started as the CEO of One Neighborhood Builders in 2017, she reoriented the nonprofit, especially to focus on building apartments at single sites, rather than the previous tactic of scattered buildings in a neighborhood. The King Street development was one of the first…

By Ian Donnis, Published September 3, 2024   "Standing on Broad Street in Cumberland, Jennifer Hawkins looks up at the former St. Patrick’s Church. Hawkins leads the nonprofit developer ONE Neighborhood Builders, which is renovating the vacant church building and turning it into housing. ONE Neighborhood Builders originally planned to build 44 low- and moderate-income apartments, but that number has increased thanks to a state law that took effect at the start of this year that lowered the number of parking spaces required for a project of this size. Plans for the development, known as Steeple and Stone, initially called…

By Ryan Doherty, Published August 2, 2024 For years, the 15,700-square-foot lot on Bowdoin Street in Providence’s Olneyville neighborhood sat empty and strewn with garbage after a fatal fire destroyed several buildings on the property in early 2018. Then came the cranes. In 2022, nonprofit affordable housing developer ONE Neighborhood Builders completed construction on an eight-unit, $2.2 million apartment house on the parcel. But most of the construction didn’t take place in Providence. The units were built in Pennsylvania before being transported to Bowdoin Street.   One of the driving factors to start considering alternate forms of construction are costs,”…

By Jennifer Hawkins, Published August 2, 2024 Over the last decade, I’ve seen our organization grow into one of the most dynamic and impactful affordable-housing developers and community-development organizations in the region. To get us here, I challenged myself and my team to think more like private-sector leaders. I believe that’s something more nonprofit executives need to embrace.   We develop, manage and sell affordable housing; we lead a Health Equity Zone; we support business development through a community-controlled loan fund; and we leverage our practical experience to contribute to policy change and regulatory reform. We expanded into each area…

By WRPO, Produced July 31, 2024 Jen Hawkins joins Cortney Nicolato to discuss the challenges the affordable housing industry faces in Rhode Island. Jen highlights on the importance of having a department of housing at the state level, creating a smoother path for permitting projects at the municipal level, and her expectations for the next Housing Secretary. Plus, Cortney and Jen discuss the outlook for the proposed $120 million  housing bond and updates on the Center City Apartments development in East Providence.   Click Here to listen to the full interview

By Warwick Beacon, Published July 11, 2024 The Warwick Boys and Girls Clubs is among community organizations recently recognized by the Rhode Island Department of Human Services for facilitating outreach to the community about the DHS’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called food stamps. Other organizations recognized included the Center for Southeast Asians, the Genesis Center, One Neighborhood Builders, Connect for Health/Lifespan (The Miriam Hospital), United Way/211, United Way Rhode Island, Senior and Disabilities and The Boys & Girls Clubs of Providence, East Providence, Pawtucket, Northern Rhode Island and Newport County. Outreach conducted by these organizations involved assisting community members…

By Ashley Bendiksen, Published July 11, 2024   PROVIDENCE — Across Rhode Island, fourteen “health equity zones,” or “HEZs,” are engaging residents and stakeholders to improve the social, environmental, and economic conditions of their communities. These HEZs are part of Rhode Island’s Health Equity Zone Initiative, created in 2015 under the Rhode Island Department of Public Health (RIDOH). The program, which takes an innovative approach to public health, is now recognized as a national best practice with several states actively replicating the program. However, the McKee Administration’s fiscal year 2025 budget did not include any of the $3.5 million needed…

By PBN Staff, Published July 1, 2024   PROVIDENCE – Jennifer Hawkins, who has led One Neighborhood Builders since 2017, will leave the nonprofit at the end of September, the agency announced Monday.  “Jennifer has been the visionary and champion of ONE Neighborhood Builders, advancing the organization’s mission in ways that many could not have imagined,” said Lorraine Lalli, chairwoman of the board of directors and associate dean of student life and operations at Roger Williams University School of Law. “We are immensely grateful for her constant drive to disrupt the status quo and present creative solutions to some of our state’s…

By Mike Rego, Published July 2, 2024 Hawkins has held both positions since May 2017. She has worked for the organization for nearly 11 years, previously serving as the Associate Executive Director. “Jennifer has been the visionary and champion of ONE Neighborhood Builders, advancing the organization’s mission in ways that many could not have imagined,” said Lorraine Lalli, the organization's board chair, who is also Associate Dean of Student Life and Operations at Roger Williams University School of Law. Lalli continued, “We are immensely grateful for her constant drive to disrupt the status quo and present creative solutions to some…

By James Bessette, Published July 2, 2024 PROVIDENCE – Four business professionals from multiple sectors have been appointed to serve on ONE Neighborhood Builders’ board of directors to help lead the community construction development nonprofit. Sam Azar, founder and CEO of Ascend Impact Advisors, is one new member joining the board. The organization says Azar’s experience includes being a manager in Deloitte Consulting’s strategy and operations practice, where he advised federal government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.   Read the full article here

By Robert McMahon, Published July 1, 2024   Rhode Island is in the midst of a brutal housing crisis—the worst since post-World War II. The median asking price of a single-family home in May was $525,000. About 150,000 households in RI—about one-third of all households in the state—are cost-burdened (spending more than 30% of their income on housing).  The median rent in Providence in 2023 was $2002/month. The rate of production of new housing units in RI is one of the lowest in the nation.  Permits for housing units in RI in 2023 were about one-fifth of what they were…

By Gino DeAngelis Published June 28, 2024 PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Mayor Brett Smiley, Sen. Jack Reed, and House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi joined nonprofit ONE Neighborhood Builders to break ground on a new affordable housing development in Providence. “The key to addressing the ongoing housing crisis impacting Providence and communities across the nation is to support the development of new housing units at every price point in every neighborhood,” Smiley said.   Read the full article here

By Erin Coogan Published June 28, 2024   Federal Hill, known for its iconic Italian eateries and close proximity to the city center, will soon become home to a brand-new affordable housing development. "This is an important completion of on of the most important avenues in our city," began Providence Mayor, Brett Smiley. Breaking ground at 434 Atwells Ave., the 39-unit apartment complex is a project nearly three years in the making. "We're trying to fight against the stigma that affordable housing isn't attractive or that it has to be only in certain areas, said Jennifer Hawkins, President and CEO…

By Dan McGowan, Published July 2,2024   One of Rhode Island’s most important problem solvers when it comes to addressing the state’s housing crisis is stepping away her job. Jennifer Hawkins, who has led ONE Neighborhood Builders for nearly 11 years, announced Monday that she is stepping down as president and CEO of the nonprofit at the end of September. I asked Hawkins to tell us a little more about her decision and what she sees as the key challenges ahead as Rhode Island attempts to build more housing for people at all income levels. Q: ONE Neighborhood Builders is now one of…

By Katie Castellani Published June 28, 2024 PROVIDENCE – State and local leaders gathered Friday to break ground on ONE Neighborhood Builders’ affordable housing development in Federal Hill. The project, dubbed The Avenue, is ONE Neighborhood Builders largest housing development yet with 85 affordable housing units and a more than $32 million investment. The project will combine 39 newly constructed apartments at 434 Atwells Avenue and the preservation and “re-syndication” of 46 affordable apartments, previously known as Elmwood Neighborhood Revitalization II, throughout 13 buildings in the Elmwood neighborhood. “This crowd requires no convincing that Rhode Island needs to ramp up its…

By Wheeler Cowperthwaite Published on July 1, 2024   PROVIDENCE − A long-vacant lot at the corner of Atwells Avenue and Knight Street, across from the towering Church of the Holy Ghost, is on its way to becoming 39 income-restricted apartments. Nonprofit developer ONE Neighborhood Builders ceremonially broke ground on the site Friday during a brief pause in the construction that started a month prior. When construction is complete, the mix of apartments with between one and three bedrooms will house an estimated 70 people. Empty lots are often viewed as missing teeth in a neighborhood, but the lot, right before Atwells crosses…

By Wheeler Cowperthwaite Published on May 7, 2024 As the state faces a crushing housing crisis, Providence has the steepest rent increases in the country and the price of a single-family home is up 50% since the onset of the pandemic, why is there fierce opposition to new housing in Rhode Island? Fear. That was the answer Boston real estate developer Adelaide Grady gave during a real estate symposium put on by Roger Williams University last week. Grady is leading a 2,699-unit mixed-income housing project in Boston called Bunker Hill. Underneath the normal objections – density, wastewater, short-term rentals, traffic – there is the true problem. One Neighborhood Builders…

May 1, 2024 by Ian Steele EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — A group of New England Patriots were in Riverside Wednesday to help a group of young adults aging out of foster care to move into their first apartments. The Patriots Foundation alongside Foster Forward, One Neighborhood Builders, and Bob’s Discount Furniture teamed up for the event as part of the first day of Foster Care Awareness month. Quarterback Jacoby Brissett was there to help the former foster adults move into new, fully furnished buildings.   Read/watch the full story on ABC6.com, here.