Amos House breaks ground on new building

OFFICIALS, INCLUDING GOV. LINCOLN D. CHAFEE, fourth from right, celebrate the groundbreaking on Dec. 1 of the new Amos House building, a $6 million project. / COURTESY AMOS HOUSE
OFFICIALS, INCLUDING GOV. LINCOLN D. CHAFEE, fourth from right, celebrate the groundbreaking on Dec. 1 of the new Amos House building, a $6 million project. / COURTESY AMOS HOUSE

PROVIDENCE – Amos House broke ground on its new four-story building at 460 Pine St. on Dec. 1, a $6 million project.
The 29,000-square-foot building will feature a new soup kitchen with a larger dining hall, classrooms, community rooms, training centers and consolidated staff offices. It is expected to be completed next year.
Amos House, which was founded in 1976, operates the largest soup kitchen in the state, and assists more than 15,000 people a year who are homeless or in crisis.

The new building will be located directly behind the current soup kitchen. Meals will continue to be served during construction.

“Words cannot express how appreciative I am for our partners, donors, staff and local community and the help they have provided over the past five years to arrive at this moment,” Eileen Hayes, president and CEO of Amos House, said in a statement. “We are deeply grateful to all of our supporters for believing in our vision for a new home for Amos House that will continue to provide hope for those in need.”

The project includes funding from a 2010 Federal Earmark of $730,500. Other sources of funding include a $1 million forgivable loan from Rhode Island Housing and more than $3 million in gifts and pledges from local businesses, foundations and individuals which will be bridged in part by a loan from Boston Community Capital.

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This project utilizes “new markets tax credits” to cover all soft costs associated with the project. The credits for this project have been allocated to Amos House by Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation and Bank of America is the investor in the credits.

The first floor of the building will house the dining hall and kitchen. Up to 20 percent more people at each meal will be seated. The second floor will feature classrooms, a group meeting space and training center. Staff offices will be on the third floor. The full, walk-out basement will serve as a work space for Amos House’s carpentry training program.

Training programs, including Amos Culinary Education, Amos Carpentry Training, the Financial Opportunity Center and Literacy, will be in the new building, allowing their current space to be reverted to additional housing for Amos House’s 90-day Women’s Program.
The new staff office space on the second and third floor will allow Amos House to return the building currently housing social services and development offices back to apartment style supportive housing for families.
The new training space will allow Amos House to accept up to 50 percent more students into the carpentry and culinary training programs, which translates into a larger number of men and women graduating from these programs with the skills they need to gain employment and succeed in today’s workplace.

Staff offices now are spread throughout three buildings, creating ongoing challenges. The consolidation of staff offices through the construction of this new building will allow departments to work together more easily to better provide services to guests and clients.

The new Amos House Building was designed by David Presbrey Architects; the contractor for the project is Ahlborg Construction Corp.

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