Smith Hill News February, 2010
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Smith Hill Community Development Corporation and all of many community partners are gearing up for an incredible spring.
We hope you can take a few minutes to read or scan this newsletter for items of interest. We actually have the enviable situation this month of having too many positive things to report to fit it all - so March's update should be equally as full and interesting. Many of you are already intimately involved with one or more of these initiatives, but we are always looking for more energetic people with great ideas to deepen and expand upon the work.
Thank you for your continued support and feel free to contact us or any of our partners in order to get involved.
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Home Ownership Opportunities
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First-Time Home Buyer's Class
Smith Hill CDC is proud to co-sponsor a six-week Home Buyer's class
with the Housing Network at Capitol Square at Smith Hill, located at
231 Douglas Ave., beginning on Tuesday, March 2. These are classes are a
requirement of most first-time home ownership programs. The price is only
$50. If you are interested, please call The Housing Network at 521-1461 to reserve your spot
now. Space is limited.
41 Pekin St.
Rehabilitation of 41 Pekin St. is moving along and on pace to be completed by May. This home will feature a townhouse style, four-bedroom, one and half bath unit and a two-bedroom rental unit. Priced at $139,000, the rental unit would cover a large portion of the monthly bills.
Capitol Square at Smith Hill
Capitol Square condominium units are back on the market and we are pleased to report that in little over a week, we already have two units under contract! These three-bedroom, new construction condos begin at $119,000.
We are also marketing the commercial units aggressively. We are hoping to have them all filled by the summer with businesses that add value to our neighborhood.
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Community News & Events
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Rec Night Stakeholder Meeting
On January 28th, SHCDC and our key partners, The Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence (ISPN), Providence College and the Providence Parks and Recreation Department, hosted a stakeholders meeting for the Rec Night initiative. Rec Night is currently a recreational program that targets local youth with the goals of expanding their opportunities and increasing community connectedness. The meeting was attended by over twenty community members, who represented many diverse organizations, local volunteers and program participants. We are always looking for more volunteers! To learn more click here.
Davis Park Farmers' Market
Elmhurst Clean & Green is again spearheading the Davis Park Farmers' Market. This year the market will expand in many ways. The goal is to begin weekly markets after July 4th and to increase the number of vendors, with the focus on attracting local vendors. If you are a local vendor or know any that may be interested, please email a quick run down of your ideas and/or questions.
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Grants
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RI Foundation Strategic Plan Grant
We are pleased to announce that we have received a Strategic Planning grant from The Rhode Island Foundation. This grant will allow us to engage our entire organization in the work of crafting our short and long-term housing and community-oriented goals. As part of this plan, we will also be asking for community input and we will host some community events. We are excited about this work as the overall goal is to increase our organization's effectiveness. We hope to announce a schedule of activities soon!
HousEART
We have two exciting things to report about our unique HousEART project that took place this summer. First, Smith Hill resident and 16 Bernon St. HousEARTist, Lydia Stein, has received a grant from the Rhode Island State Council of the Arts to bring HousEART to other Providence neighborhoods. This incredible opportunity will engage teams of artists and community residents in a series of temporary public art displays directly on some of the most blighted houses in the city. We are currently seeking appropriate houses for the work. If your organization is interested, please contact Ms. Stein here.
In other exciting HousEART news, Ms. Stein's 16 Bernon St. work was nominated for a 2009 New England Art Award by the prestigious New England Journal of Aesthetic Research,
in the category of "Public Exposure Art" which includes public
performance, sculpture, street art, etc... This regional competition is
further evidence that the HousEART community-based, public art project
has been successful.
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Library News
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Smith Hill Library and the PCL
In one of the most positive statistics to originate from the recent transfer of library management to the Providence Community Library (PCL), library usage has increased significantly at our neighborhood libraries!
Circulation statistics for PCL libraries in September show an increase of 15%
over the previous September, the October statistics indicate a 27% increase over
the previous October, and the November statistics are up a phenomenal 32%
increase over the previous November.
The PCL is hosting a Gala Event at Knight Memorial Library on
March 26th to raise money for the support of all nine libraries. The
event celebrates libraries, books and art, and it has attracted a host committee
of many prominent RI writers including, among others, Paula Vogel, Keith
Waldrop, Natalie Babbitt, Anne Hood, Peter Kramer, and Sam Kurzweil. Invitations
are going into the mail around the 18th and will also be available at the
libraries. The tickets for this event are $125 each. Even if the price of this event is a little too steep, the PCL is always happy to get smaller donations, and there are donation envelopes at
all nine libraries.
The Providence Community Libraries (all the neighborhood libraries except Central) are in the first year of new management. The new organization is community-based and a truly democratic institution.
Please get involved!
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Smith Hill Community Development Corporation 47 Goddard St. Providence, RI 521-0159 www.smithhillcdc.org
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