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Hi. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is councilor Miguel Sanchez. I am calling the public hearing of the special committee on ways and means to order. The time is 05:38, Monday, June 8.
Thank you so much to everyone who's here to participate in the process. Before we get started, just wanna recognize all my colleagues that are here. We have vice chair Taylor to the right of me. We have committee member Shelly Peterson below me. And then next door, we have counselors Graves and Davidson who are committee members.
And then also wanna recognize count majority leader Espinal for being here. Chairwoman Harris, chairman Oscar Vargas, thank you so much. Of course, our lovely city solicitor to the left of me and our wonderful clerks. Thank you so much. So, yeah, we're gonna get this hearing started.
If anyone wants to partake in the conversation, please sign up. There's a sheet right here. I also wanna recognize our finance team. We have Crystal and Sarah, a very crucial part of this process. Thank you for being here.
Thank you. So the first person who's gonna present is Michelle Wilcox, CEO of Cross Road.
Thank you. Thanks. Good evening. Members of the council, very happy to be here. Thank you for your continued partnership with Crossroads.
I'm here to express support of the proposed budget and in particular appreciation and support for the $129,350 grant in the ongoing investment in Crossroads Rhode Island and the people that we serve in Providence. As you probably know, Crossroads has been serving Rhode Islanders for more than a hundred and thirty years. We're the state's leading provider of housing and related services for people experiencing homelessness. Last year, we provided housing and housing related services to nearly 4,800 men, women, and children across the state, and we manage more than 375 apartments throughout the state, many of which are in Providence. Providence and the state as a whole continue to face a severe housing crisis.
The biggest challenge is not a lack willingness to help people, it's a lack of housing options. And the people coming to Crossroads today are often having increasingly complex needs including chronic health conditions, behavioral health challenges, and histories of trauma. And stable housing absolutely remains the foundation for addressing all of those challenges. City funding helps ensure that vulnerable Providence residents can access housing, shelter, case management, and supportive services. And the city's investment really demonstrates demonstrates that addressing homelessness requires strong partnerships between local government, nonprofits, health care providers, and the community.
At a time when many nonprofit organizations face uncertainty around federal funding, these local partnerships are really more important than ever. Crossroads is not only responding to homelessness, we're helping create permanent solutions. As you know, last December, we completed construction of apartments, the largest permanent supportive housing in New England. We created a 176 new homes for our neighbors experiencing homelessness. Later this year, we'll complete construction on the health and housing apartments.
This is an innovative development that will provide 35 permanent supportive apartments for medically vulnerable people experiencing homelessness in the city. Together with future investments, we hope to create a total of 300 new permanent supportive apartments in Providence with these projects. So in closing, I wanna thank the council again for your support and the administration for recognizing the important role that community nonprofits play in the city, and thank you for your ongoing support of Crossroads Rhode Island. Thank you.
Thank you, and and thank you to Crossroads Earth, and thank you for our residents. Thank you. Next up, we have and please correct me if I mispronounce any of the names. Vanessa from Amos House, we have Cali Marojo Bentley. Feel like the last name maybe.
Think Very close. Thank you. Very close. Hi. Good evening, everyone.
My name is Kalimara Ojekri. I'm the chief program officer in the house, and I want to talk a little bit about the hand up program. So the city support of the hand up program allows us to continue to connect with some of our most vulnerable neighbors, provide them with paid opportunities, and beautify and clean up areas of the city with a focus on our home base, which is the South Side community. We are working folks who are experiencing homelessness, have little to no income, and many who are also struggling with behavioral health issues or addiction, sometimes both and more. Folks are receiving critical assistance from a hand up of basic needs items, accessing shelter, health care, including behavioral health supports, obtaining bio documents, accessing benefits, etcetera.
So through this program, we're able to also provide an experience where folks can learn new skills, such as tree care, farming, and landscaping, to explore what it might take to pursue employment and to interact with their own community in a new way. Participants are picking up thousands of gallons of trash a year from our city's sidewalks and lots and take a lot of pride in what they do. And I imagine that some folks here in this room have seen our crews out and about and in action. So, you know, we're on Elmwood. We're in Onyville.
We're in Trinity Square. You might have seen us on Huntington Avenue, which has been a long term project for us. And this year, crew crews were able to assist with snow removal efforts, shoveling around critical walkways during this unprecedented winter too. It is simply amazing what folks can do and what they can accomplish when working together towards a common goal. We see that every day in our work with hand up crew.
And so in that spirit, we look forward to what we hope will be a continued partnership with the city and working with our most vulnerable neighbors. Just
Just real real quickly, Kelly. I know we've met in the past, and we've talked. And I wanna thank you for everything that you do and all the people in Warty. I know when you're out there, I take pictures and and blast you all over social media to thank you for I really truly appreciate it. So there's gonna be a resident's awardee.
I'm keeping all our awards clean. So I wanna thank you and and all your proof. I know it's hot days and rainy days, and it's not easy out there. And there's a lot of garbage, and you guys do a lot. So I just wanna, before you leave, say thank you very much.
We appreciate it. Thank you very much. And and and thank you for for hosting us for cookouts too. We appreciate that as well. Next
up, we have Suzanne I'm gonna actually pronounce her last name, but I think you know who we are.
Suzanne Bernadette. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today, counselors. My name is Suzanne Burnaby, and I am the executive director of the Downtown Providence Park Network. And I'm the resident of Ward 2, and I'm here to support the mayor's budget. DPPN is a nonprofit organization that was established in 2023 with a mission to activate, connect, and enhance public spaces in downtown and along the waterways of Providence to spark civic pride, fuel economic vitality, attract visitors, and showcase the city as a world class destination.
We work with the parks extending from the Point Street Bridge and District Park along the Riverwalk to Waterplace Park, including Burnside And Biltmore Parks. We work in partnership with the parks department and the one ninety five district who manage the day to day operations of the parks to activate and enhance these spaces, filling in gaps in the spirit of creativity, collaboration, and connection. In our first three years, DPPN launched the Winter Lumina Festival, reignited the Burnside Concert Series, and led the Wayfinding project, which links the downtown parks with the beautiful Ritzy Brad design banners you now see throughout downtown, and a web app that details the history of each of the 200 unique locations. We're now working in partnership with Providence Parks, Providence Art Culture Tourism, and the Providence Tourism Council on the reopening of the kiosk at Dulcimer Park, which reopens on Wednesday. Can join us from two to four, and that space will now feature outdoor game tables, including ping pong, foosball, and chess, plus coffee, drinks, and ice cream for sale in the kiosk.
To support the ongoing efforts in Biltmore Park, DPPN will be hosting a Wednesday night music series and a Tuesday night chess club starting in the late summer and extending into the fall. All of our programming is free and open to the public and rooted in the belief and that our shared public spaces provide an opportunity for connection even in divided times. We are deeply grateful to the city of Providence for the ongoing support of DPPN and to mayor Smiley for including the grant in his budget. These funds are essential to ability to achieve our vision to cultivate a sense of belonging, build traditions, and drive community well-being through the energy and participation of the people who use the parks daily. We ask for your support for the budget to continue this work.
Thank you, chairman. Suzanne, I just wanted to thank you for your work. I mean, you have really just dove in head first. It seems like you've already been
with us for a long time, and so thank you for moving all
of this work forward. Everybody seems to downtown parks. We love spending time in them, and just sort of grateful for your dedication to making these spaces accessible and super fun for everybody. Thank you.
Thank you so much for welcoming me. It's been great. Thank you.
Thank you. Next up, we have Emily Desquois.
For victims of crime. Every day, GOAT team members respond alongside our law enforcement partners at Providence Police to incidents of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, and other traumatic events affecting young people and their families. By pairing trauma between social social service professionals with law enforcement, we ensure that compassionate trauma informed responses are offered to all families. In my role, I have sat with parents who have lost children to gun violence, survivors of domestic violence navigating the court system, and young people harmed by those they trusted most. I have consistently been humbled by to support the Brown community as well as our law enforcement partners who were tirelessly working to investigate the incident.
In the weeks and months afterwards, we remained present, providing psychological first aid and ongoing support
Thank you, Emily. Of course, thank you to to you and and the rest of your team for all the work we've for our most vulnerable residents in times of crisis. Thank you. We really appreciate that. Thank you.
Next up, we have Amber Heard.
Am a lifelong resident of Providence, Rhode Island,
daily community that I didn't have. I'm here to ask for your continued support of this program
Next up is Cheryl Spates. If anyone has come after we started, if you wanna present before the committee, there's sign up sheets in the white table right by the doors right here.
Good afternoon, and thank
you for this opportunity to speak. At the first, I'm Sheryl Space and I'm the executive director of the Community Library of Providence. And at the first public budget hearing, I testified that with level funding from the city and the loss of ARPA funds that the community libraries would need to reduce staffing and move to two nights and two mornings per week for Mount Pleasant, Rochambeau, and Knight Memorial Libraries. These are the hours the libraries had before COVID, and it caused a lot of confusion. People would experience locked doors on many mornings and evenings when they expected the library to be open and as well as causing a lack of access to meeting spaces and programs.
The demand for evening programs in space is huge, especially at the Mount Pleasant and Rochambeau libraries. For an additional 80,000 of funding or an approximately 2% increase, CLPDD could hire enough staff to have each library open three nights a week, prioritizing the busiest times. Evenings are filled with community meetings and programs, maker space workshops, concerts, GED, ESL, and citizenship classes and book discussions. Last week, the Mount Pleasant Youth Services Staff co hosted a meet me at the library with the William Debate Elementary School librarian. Approximately 75 students and their families attended with 17 people getting their first library card, and children could be overheard asking their parents to bring them back.
I understand that the city's budget is extraordinarily tight this year, and we are very grateful to have received level funding. But I must make the request for some additional funding if it is at all possible. If the library is level funded, this will be our second year in a row without increased operational support. And as I said, we will have to reduce hours at Rochambeau and Mount Pleasant. We've already had to reduce hours at the Knight Memorial Library.
CLPBD works nonstop year round to raise funds through grants, foundations, and generous individuals, but the city provides our essential bedrock funding, which is amplified through the 25% match we get through state grant made. I said this on May 4, but it bears repeating. The library is so grateful to know that the city's capital improvement plan includes for the first time $2,500,000 to fund critical upgrades to our libraries. The difference this this support makes cannot cannot be overstated, and hopefully, this investment will save money for the libraries going forward. So I ask you for your support, and I thank you for your support in including essential operating support for the libraries so that we can remain open and accessible to all of our neighbors.
Thank you, Cheryl. Definitely not getting ahead of myself because it is confirmed already, but I'm proud to share that once the council even sees the amendments just ask, we'll be there because we do value you know, we obviously value everything that comes before us. But this specific ask that, you know, we'll maintain it's not expanding program. Obviously, that that that's the goal is to expand, you know, rec program park stuff, obviously, library educational opportunities. But as you recognize, as we all recognize, our budgets are are difficult every year.
But we cannot, you know, go back to our constituents, and and, you know, the right thing to do is to maintain that programming. So once amendments are released, which will probably be Wednesday, we'll meet again, Cheryl, you'll you'll see us asking. Thank you and your team for everything that that you guys do for for our libraries. Oh my goodness. Thank you.
