One Neighborhood Builders reduces staffing. Central Providence Unidos responds.

This week, Central Providence Unidos sent out notification that team members and other key staff, will be terminated from One Neighborhood Builders. On ONB’s website they are identified as: “A place-based, comprehensive initiative increasing economic mobility and health equity in Central Providence.”

We asked ONB for a statement and have included that of Peter Chapman, ONB President and Chair, below the first, from CPU’s Executive Committee:

We are deeply distressed to learn that the entire backbone team of Central Providence Unidos (CPU) at One Neighborhood Builders (ONB) – along with other key staff – was notified of their near-immediate termination.

For more than a decade, CPU (formerly Central Providence Opportunities: A Health Equity Zone) has convened hundreds of residents and dozens of organizations across the nine neighborhoods of 02908 and 02909 to address the conditions driving health and economic disparities as part of the state’s Health Equity Zone Network.

Recognizing that Rhode Island’s housing crisis is inseparable from broader economic and social inequities, ONB built on decades of community organizing in Central Providence to advance an innovative community development model with proven, transformative impact.

CPU’s work – serving residents, coordinating partners, and driving systems change to improve health and economic equity statewide – has earned national recognition from the Urban Institute, Race Forward, NeighborWorks America, and others, and has brought millions of dollars of investment into Central Providence communities, including through the Nine Neighborhood Fund.

This work toward a more dignified, safe, and just Central Providence is needed now more than ever. While Central Providence Unidos has been housed at One Neighborhood Builders up until this point, it is governed by an Executive Committee made up of 17 community leaders and comprises dozens of organizations. In the coming weeks, the Central Providence Unidos Executive Committee will determine how to reposition the initiative and identify a path forward to ensure that this trusted, community-rooted work continues.

Jennifer Recinos, a former member of CPU’s Resident Advisory Council and current member of the Executive Committee, shared: “CPU gave community members a place to convene and to problem-solve around issues that often felt beyond our control. It educated us on housing, job security, water quality, access to quality education, and many other challenges facing Central Providence. It equipped us with the tools to realize that we collectively hold the power to create change in our communities, and that we can hold organizations and politicians accountable for the work they claim to do. With years of groundwork already laid, it is devastating to hear that this team – one so deeply dedicated to this community – was let go at one of the most critical moments in our history.”

Santa Payano, member of the Resident Advisory Council since 2023, shared: “As lifesaving programs like SNAP and Medicaid are being attacked on a federal level, Central Providence needs the work that CPU does more than ever. CPU connects residents to the resources, information, and opportunities we need to thrive. Without this work, our neighbors will suffer from feeling increasingly isolated, devalued, and not offered a seat at the table when decisions are being made about our neighborhoods. Central Providence Unidos goes beyond just keeping us informed – we are creating economic and health equity, and our work is driven by people with lived experience.

“In Central Providence, our diversity is our strength, but our unity is our power. Projects such as the Nine Neighborhood Fund participatory budgeting initiative brought neighbors from all walks of life together and showed them that they had a voice and were able to uplift what projects mattered to them. I saw firsthand how thankful they were for receiving water filters, one of the winning projects. So many of us feel that it doesn’t matter if we vote, because things will never change on a federal level. But this time, the community got to share what they needed, were listened to, and got to see real action and real results. What’s more powerful than that?”

From Wole Akinbi, President,  Smith Hill Partners’ Initiative  (SHPI) and Central Providence Unidos Executive Committee member: “The Central Providence Unidos (CPU) team has been the centerpiece for community collaboration across the 9 different neighborhoods in Central Providence. We all have our own unique cultures and identities as individual neighborhoods, but the CPU team has kept us connected and unified as a larger and more effective Central Providence. With the disbandment of the CPU team, we will revert back to working in silos without the benefit of CPU’s guidance. They were the bridge between the communities they served, and all branches of government in our state!”

For questions or inquiries, please contact:

centralprovidenceunidos@gmail.com

The statement was sent by Shelby Mack, 7 Resident Advisors, and 8 Strategic Advisors

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One Neighborhood Builders, founded in 1988, has established itself as a community development leader in Rhode Island. We develop affordable housing and engage neighbors across Greater Providence to cultivate safe, healthy, and vibrant communities.

RINewsToday asked One Neighborhood Builders for a response – it is printed here, in full:

One Neighborhood Builders acknowledges and appreciates the concerns expressed by the Central Providence Unidos (CPU) Executive Committee and other stakeholders within the 02908 and 02909 zip codes, regarding ONB’s need to reduce CPU staffing. The Central Providence Unidos team has played an important role in unifying neighborhoods, strengthening resident leadership, and advancing meaningful activities in the community, and ONB leadership fully understands the significance of that work and the relationships built along the way.