News Coverage

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…

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…

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.

By Katie Castellani-04/26/2024 In 2015, Rhode Island pioneered the Health Equity Zone Initiative, a community-focused program meant to help fill gaps in health care. But now the initiative’s future is hazy as it’s facing a funding gap. The initiative is facilitated by the R.I. Department of Health, with the support of the R.I. Executive Office of Health and Human Services, and has expanded to include 15 health equity zones throughout the state. Each zone represents a different geographic area and is anchored by a backbone organization that serves as an administrative hub. Health equity zones are tasked with identifying their community’s…

The construction of 144 income-restricted housing units in East Providence will receive no help from the city after three of five City Council members declared the $40,000-a-year tax reduction was too much for the city to afford.