Media Coverage

By Go Local Providence Business Team, Published January 8, 2025 "Experienced community and economic development leader to head nonprofit affordable housing and community development organization. One Neighborhood Builders (ONB), one of the state’s leading nonprofit affordable housing and community development organizations, announced the selection of Peter H. Chapman as its next President and Chief Executive Officer. Chapman brings over 20 years of executive leadership experience building vibrant communities that strengthen regional economies. He will join the organization on February 3, 2025. He succeeds former president and CEO Jennifer Hawkins, who left the agency in 2024 after nearly a decade. “There…

By Dan McGowan, Published January 10, 2025 "One of the state’s top housing nonprofits has a new leader. One Neighborhood Builders in Providence has named Peter H. Chapman its new president and CEO, replacing Jennifer Hawkins, who recently launched a consulting firm called Farnum Associates. With no end in sight for the state’s housing crisis, I asked Chapman to tell us more about himself and his vision for One Neighborhood Builders. Q: You’ve got big shoes to fill at One Neighborhood Builders. What was it about the organization and the state that made you want to apply for the job? Chapman: That’s for sure!…

By Cate Hanewich December 16, 2024   EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — East Providence officials said the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank donated $480,188 in Housing Infrastructure Grant funding to help create affordable housing in the City. The grant will be used towards the development of Center City Apartments, an affordable housing development by ONE Neighborhood builders. Center City Apartments will renovate a vacant former dorm into a mixed-use community building, creating 144 new apartments, community spaces, offices, and an onsite property management.   Read the Full Article here

By Ethan Hartley "A three-acre affordable housing development located in the heart of downtown East Providence got a financial boost from the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank on Monday. Center City Apartments, a 144-unit, 100% affordable housing development proposed by ONE Neighborhood Builders, will be the beneficiary of a $480,188 Municipal Infrastructure grant awarded to East Providence in order to assist them with preparing a stormwater mitigation plan for the three lots that comprise the development. Located at the currently vacant properties of 330, 350 and 354 Taunton Ave., the development plan formed through a partnership in 2022 between ONE Neighborhood…

By Build Healthy Places Staff November 20, 2024 – Build Healthy Places Network (BHPN), a program of the Public Health Institute is thrilled to announce the five awardees of the Community Innovations for Racial Equity (CIRE) initiative, a program aimed at tackling structural racism and health inequities in disinvested communities. Supported by a generous grant from The Kresge Foundation, these five community development organizations, led by and serving Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, have demonstrated a strong commitment to community-led strategies and racial equity. Each organization will receive a $50,000 grant. The awardees are: Beyond Housing in St. Louis, MO: Beyond…

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