$1 million to help build facilities in Providence
The YMCA of Greater Providence’s Village of Promise capital campaign is on the receiving end of the Citizens Bank Foundation’s largest grant in the state. The Y was awarded $1 million on March 7.
According to Dave Monti, board chair of the YMCA of Greater Providence, no new YMCA facilities have been built in Rhode Island for 25 years. With the help of Citizens’ contribution, construction on a new facility at 333 Adelaide Ave. in Providence is slated to begin June 18.
Beyond Cash Donations: How New Forms of Giving Are Transforming Not-for-Profit Accounting
Evolving Funding Landscape for Not-for-Profits Not-for-profit organizations are being asked to do more with less,…
Learn More
The grant will underwrite the creation of the Citizens Bank Family Learning Center, said Joseph MarcAurele, Citizens Bank president and CEO. The facility will include a technology lab and meeting room and is part of the plans for the 17-acre parcel located in the “Reservoir Avenue” triangle. The donation will also cover an extensive program curriculum including financial literacy skills, ESL and GED classes and literacy building programs for English- and Spanish-speaking children and adults.
“Citizens continues to have a significant and ongoing commitment to Providence … this (donation) reinforces our deep roots here,” MarcAurele told a crowd that included Providence Mayor David Cicilline, U.S. senators Lincoln Chafee and Jack Reed and U.S. Congressman Jim Langevin.
“This facility will offer so much to the residents of these neighborhoods,” said Robert T. Gormley, vice chairman of the Citizens Financial Group. The new facility aims to serve a growing demand for services for residents of the Elmwood, Reservoir, South Side and West End neighborhoods – the “Reservoir Triangle.”
Plans for the new YMCA include a school-age child-care and youth area, computer center, education rooms, a family area, fitness and aerobics rooms, family lockers, multi-purpose space, café, full-sized sports field and gymnasium. Future construction will add a pool, more locker space and an expanded child-care center.
The goal of the capital campaign is $10 million, which has reached $5.9 million with the Citizens donation. The Kresge Foundation has pledged another $900,000 to the campaign if $4.25 million in new gifts is made by the end of 2005.
Grace Gonzalez, a program participant and volunteer for the Y, said there is a need for a new facility in the “triangle” neighborhood.
“This section of town represents a very diverse community,” Gonzalez said. “This is a very difficult place for us to live because it’s difficult to connect services. And all year-round I see kids playing in the street because they have nowhere to go.”
The Y will provide a community center and a place for the children to play. “The kids are already excited about it,” she said.
Reed, who secured $300,000 in HUD funding for the new Y, said the construction project is part of a larger endeavor that began when the Y moved out of its Broad Street location and Crossroads Rhode Island moved in, giving the homeless services organization more space. The move also opened the former Crossroads location on Union Street to development, Reed added.
“This kind of quality of life economic development depends on places like the Y,” Cicilline said. “It’s a place that engages residents in (the community).”
The city of Providence donated the $3.5 million parcel of land for the project.
When completed, the new YMCA will offer after-school programs in English, reading and math for youth and teens. General equivalency degree and ESL programs will be offered for families, and training in new technology will be designed for all age groups.
