Mayor Taveras Launches Groundbreaking Green & Healthy Homes Initiative

Minority contractors will perform work to help Providence residents lower energy bills and remediate lead, mold and other health risks and safety hazards.

Mayor Angel Taveras today joined with members of Rhode Island's Congressional delegation, Obama Administration officials and community leaders to announce the launch of the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative™ Providence Neighborhood Innovation Pilot - a program to provide 125 houses in the city's Olneyville and Valley neighborhoods with free weatherization, and health-and-safety assessments and upgrades. Minority contractors will perform work on the 125 houses included in the Pilot.

"The City of Providence will conduct comprehensive health-and-safety audits and retrofits on 125 homes, and work with the families who live in the homes to make sure they save energy, save money and live healthier. This Pilot is a shining example of how we can come together to find innovative new ways to address pressing housing and health concerns in our city and put our citizens back to work," said Mayor Taveras, speaking at a press conference at the corner of Health and Huron Streets to announce the launch of the Pilot.

With support from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Energy and national and local foundations, GHHI replaces stand-alone programs with a comprehensive strategy to improve health, economic and social outcomes through an integrated housing intervention framework.

The GHHI Pilot is designed to holistically address housing needs by helping residents to lower their energy and water bills, and remediate lead, mold and other home-based health risks and safety hazards. As a result, homeowners and residents are expected to increase their property values, reduce their greenhouse emissions, become healthier, and save money on energy and medical bills. The Pilot will track its results to quantify the savings and other positive results of this unique approach.

Funding for the program includes $850,000 in U.S. Department of Energy State Energy Partnership Funds made available via the State of Rhode Island's Office of Energy Resources; up to $840,000 in U.S. Housing and Urban Development Lead Hazard Control Program; and $142,750 in philanthropic funding from the Open Society Foundations, made available by the Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning.

"This program is a smart investment. It gives local residents the opportunity to apply to have their homes assessed for health hazards as well as energy inefficiencies. It will help rehabilitate and retrofit homes in need so that children and families can afford to live in health and safety," said Senator Reed, a national leader in the fight to create "green and healthy" housing, and a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee whose support was instrumental in securing the federal funds to support the pilot.

"This innovative project will help Rhode Islanders save money on their energy bills and improve their health," said Whitehouse, who as Rhode Island Attorney General fought to protect residents from the health hazards associated with lead paint. "It is also a model for effective partnerships between government, local businesses and the community. I am proud that Providence is at the leading edge of this effort."

"The Green and Healthy Homes Initiative is an innovative, smart public-private partnership that will put Rhode Islanders to work creating more energy efficient, safer, and healthier homes in Providence. This initiative will create education and training opportunities for Providence residents, provide business opportunities for minority contractors and help families save money on utilities," said U.S. Congressman David Cicilline.

"This program is a win for the struggling families who will lower their heat and healthcare costs, as well as for the economy as it supports local companies and allows the energy savings to be spent in other ways," said Congressman Langevin, who has led of group of 53 Members of Congress in opposition to federal weatherization cuts. "I applaud the City for making this a priority and will continue to fight to make sure our federal budget recognizes the tremendous benefits of weatherization."

The Neighborhood Innovation Pilot resulted from a challenge presented to the City of Providence by the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources, which was seeking to pilot a new and better way to deliver weatherization funding and services to the community. The State Energy Office also determined that minority contractors have not been employed in weatherization work to the degree they should, and the pilot has been designed to provide minority contractors with experience and licenses to perform comprehensive green and healthy home retrofits.

"This comprehensive initiative will provide much-needed training and employment opportunities for minority contractors," Governor Chafee said. "I am proud to have so many agencies, organizations, and leaders participating in this pilot to provide safe, healthy, and affordable living to Providence residents. I am hopeful this Pilot will redefine how local, state, and federal resources can be collectively invested to deliver services and create jobs for those who have the greatest need. I applaud the efforts of the City of Providence to improve the quality of life for residents and to provide opportunities for employment in the community."

In April, on Earth Day, Mayor Taveras became the first mayor in the country to sign the Green and Healthy Homes Compact. The Compact is an agreement between the City of Providence, the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources, the Rhode Island Department of Health, The Rhode Island Foundation, and the Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning to bring the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative to the City of Providence. The Pilot would not have been possible without the support and guidance provided by these partners.

"GHHI is forging a cost-effective approach to creating safer, greener and healthier homes in the communities of greatest need and providing new opportunities for residents of those communities to build the skills they need to be part of the green economy," said Ruth Ann Norton, executive director of the Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning and GHHI. "Through this coordinated partnership and government innovation, we have the ability to generate tremendous local impact to model how we can improve state and federal systems of housing-based program delivery while ensuring children have better health outcomes."

Funds for technical assistance and coordination in Providence are being provided via a recently awarded $70,000 grant from The Rhode Island Foundation to the Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning, which has established a satellite office in Olneyville to support the initiative in Providence, and in other Northeastern cities.

"As illustrated in this groundbreaking project, philanthropy partnered with visionary and effective leadership can provide critical leverage and inspire innovation. The Rhode Island Foundation applauds the hard work of the Steering committee to advance this initiative. It will help the families who live in these homes and the contractors engaged to perform the work," said Jennifer Pereira, grant programs officer at The Rhode Island Foundation.

HUD Lead Hazard Control funds are part of a larger 3-year, $3.1 million HUD Lead Hazard Control grant that was awarded to the City of Providence this past February as part of a competitive grant competition. Funds for technical assistance and local coordination have been raised by the Coalition to End Childhood Lead poisoning as part of their efforts to advance the initiative nationally and in Providence.

Seventy six thousand dollars for the training of contractors is being provided by Building Futures, a Providence-based nonprofit that helps the commercial construction industry meet its current and future needs for skilled labor, while creating career opportunities for low-income urban residents.

"As the state's construction industry partnership, Building Futures wants to ensure that small local contractors will provide the holistic and comprehensive home interventions in accordance with the GHHI model," said Building Futures Director Andrew Cortes. "Economic and community development must become one process to create genuine sustainability - for our residents, our local contractors and our community. We are proud to help achieve the full range of impacts this Pilot program represents."

"As a small business owner who lives just five minutes from this very spot, this Pilot program provides two great opportunities for me. First, this will help Sustainable Energy Solutions to build and grow our business and provides an opportunity to better develop our skills and experience. Second, this program allows me to help my neighbors in Providence by making their homes more energy efficient, healthy and safe," said Greg Barker of Sustainable Energy Solutions, one of the contractors that will receive work under the Pilot.

The Pilot application is open to homeowners and residents of one, two and three-unit homes in the Olneyville/Valley target neighborhood in the City of Providence with at least one household unit that meets 80% of federal median income or below.

Homeowners and residents who live in the target community and are interested in applying or would like more information should contact the Childhood Lead Action Project:

English: (401) 785-1310 ext 301
Spanish: (401) 785-1310 ext 204