By Stephen Ide
ONE Neighborhood Builders
About two dozen people joined today’s Fresh Friday’s session about community organizing efforts in Providence. Panelists from ONE Neighborhood Builders and the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council shared experiences and strategies about community organizing. Overall, the discussion centered on networking, building leadership, clear communication with the neighborhoods they serve, along with empowering residents and making sure they have a greater say in the development of their community and how resources are used.
Participants included:
- Michelle Ziobrowski, Resident Advisory Council member, ONE Central Providence
- Eloi Rodas, Community Organizer, ONE Central Providence
- María José Gutierrez, New Voices/Nuevas Voces Co-Facilitator, Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council
- Miosotis Alsina, Community Programs Director, Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council
- Pedro Espinal, Olneyville Resilience Hub Manager, Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council
Below is an overview of the session. Please watch the entire Fresh Fridays video above for all the details of what was discussed.
Eloi Rodas, ONE|NB’s community organizer, said that since 2021 ONE|NB has been bringing together various services and organizations, working on a grass-roots level to bring people together and harness collective power.
He highlighted the recent release of the Central Providence Roadmap, which provides a 10-year plan to guide the health and well-being of residents and organizations in the 02908/02909 zip codes and the nine neighborhoods of Central Providence.
He pointed out that ONE|NB convened the Resident Advisory Council in 2021 to amplify voices in the neighborhood. Community organizing, he said, involves slow, behind the scenes work. It requires transparent communication in the community to build trust and recognizing the complexities of community dynamics.
Although he has only been with ONE|NB for a few months, he said it was important for the nonprofit to have a full-time position, and for him it has been an opportunity for formal training and a way of keeping communication open in the neighborhoods they serve.
In response to a question about what a community organizer does day-to-day, Rodas said he participates in many community events and does a lot of calendar planning as he works to understand the dynamics of the neighborhoods, having just immigrated to the United States from Guatemala in May.
Rodas noted community organizing is an organic process and that everyone at the nonprofit, regardless of their title, basically works as a community organizer whenever they engage with the community.
Miosotis Alsina, of the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council, explained their programs focus on networking, building leadership and advocating for environmental justice in the riverfront neighborhoods of Providence. Their programs, she said, address public health, flooding, transportation, pollution, and heat issues.
She mentioned various initiatives, including their Champions of Climate program and a Speakers program, along with other programs.
“You probably remember that sometime in 2010 there was a huge flood and from there our neighborhood was highly impacted,” she said. “And to make sure that residents of all ages in the community are comfortable to speak, we developed this program of climate resilience to help assure that we were able to train and provide different resources to our community. So that’s kind of the heart of the program.”
Alsina introduced María José Gutierrez, who runs the New Voices/Neuvas Voces program at the Council. Gutierrez said the purpose of the program is to bring people together to act. One of the biggest challenges in the neighborhood, she said, is the language barrier. By breaking down that barrier, she said, the New Voices program and the Council have been able to connect with people and get them involved. Gutierrez spoke in Spanish during the Fresh Fridays session and her comments were interpreted by Marianne Ruggiero, of Be Moore Interpreting.
Pedro Espinal, Olneyville Resilience Hub Manager, Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council, noted the importance of keeping people informed during bad weather. He said they work closely with city hall, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and other officials, letting them know how they can get help.
To combat environmental justice in the Olneyville neighborhood of Providence, Espinal said, they need constant communication. While he has only been with the agency for a month, he said the Hub is working to reach residents to inform, educate, and assist them during natural disasters. Residents need at least a 30-day supply of power, natural gas, and water, he said.
Michelle Ziobrowski, a member of the ONE Central Providence Resident Advisory Council, said she joined the Council in 2021. Since then she said she worked directly with the Nine Neighborhood Fund and its participatory budgeting project. Almost 1,200 residents in the 02908/02909 zip codes and another 800 in Pawtucket/Central Falls went to the polls in June to approve a total of almost $1.4 million in projects to help improve the health and well-being of the community. Ziobrowski said she enjoyed the hands-on engagement in her Olneyville neighborhood, going to door-to-door to tell people about the project and even meeting people in the park.
