PROVIDENCE – Money from a bond referendum approved in 2006 created 215 affordable dwelling units and stimulated millions of dollars in economic impact last year, a report released yesterday says.
In 2006 voters approved $50 million in bonds for affordable housing initiatives. As a result, the state set up Building Homes Rhode Island (BHRI) to distribute the funds. The agency handed out $12.5 million in 2008 to develop 153 apartments and 62 affordable home ownership opportunities in 11 Rhode Island communities.
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The projects ranged from funding a $2.5 million development in Barrington for 47 affordable units to a $39,710 grant to Habit for Humanity to complete a home in Charlestown.
“Not only have these developments served to enrich the lives of the individuals and families who will call them home, but they are also generating jobs in our homebuilding sector, as well as tax revenue and economic activity for the communities where they are built,” said Nellie M. Gorbea, executive director of HousingWorks RI, a coalition of organizations that advocates for affordable housing. “This program is an economic generator. The proof – of the $50 million approved in 2006, the $25 million of BHRI funds invested to date has leveraged $230 million in private and federal dollars – nine times the initial investment. At a time when communities across Rhode Island are struggling to make ends meet, these funds provide a welcome and much-needed financial return.”
The recent projects are in addition to the 345 units in 19 communities created in 2007 under the program. Combined with the 2008 projects, the initiative has provided money to 22 of Rhode Island’s 39 cities and towns. The program has funded the creation of both rental units and homes, with the largest concentration in Providence, where it helped create 78 rental units and 24 homeownership units.
The R.I. Housing Resources Commission, which administrators the program, plans to provide an additional $12.5 million in grants during 2009.
