Community Groups in Providence Blast Withholding by City of Federal Funds

Community Groups in Providence Blast Withholding by City of Federal Funds

Community groups in Providence are questioning why they have yet to get their federal funding through Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) -- and City Councilors are questioning the role of politics in keeping the assistance from the groups that need it.  

"It's beyond frustrating," said James Monteiro with the BIlly Taylor House in Mt. Hope, which has a $75,000 CDBG grant pending for construction on the house.  According to Monteiro, Gilbane construction -- as well as an architect -- have offered to donate both their time and services.  

"They want it to go out to bid?  We've got Gilbane generously offering to do it for free, and they want us to put it out to bid?  The amount of red tape that requires, when we've got this ready to go...I'm just shaking my head," said Monteiro, of not getting the CDBG funds to start the project.  "I know there are federal rules to go by, but they need to figure out a way to help make this happen.  We've got needs now, not months from now." 

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Providence City Councilman Kevin Jackson said that the process for nonprofits to obtain CDBG funds, which are administered through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, has now become "entirely too complicated." 

"When they went from paperwork to online forms, it was supposed to simplify things, but they just assume everyone has the skills to navigate a complicated process," said Jackson. "I don't think they realize there are circumstances that need to be accounted for, as in this case.  No one's going to come up with a lower bid.  As far as I'm concerned, we want these types of things -- these private-public partnerships -- and it's next to impossible."

"We are in conversations with both non-profits regarding these projects. As stewards of federal funds, we have to perform our due diligence to ensure that all federal and local regulations/policies are met. All expenses must meet federal and local procurement standards, which typically involves competitive bidding," said Dawn Bergantino with the City of Providence.  

Bigger Issues

AS220 Artistic Director Bert Crenca said that the organization has been waiting months for the last round of CDBG funding -- and that he questioned how smaller organizations could even navigate the process at all.  

"It's somewhere between $100,000 and $200,000," said Crenca of what the organization has been waiting for since the last cycle. "A lot of what's going on has to do I'm sure with the City being responsible to the [federal government]. We've been jumping through about 4000 hoops to get the funding, which is critical for us.  We serve a population that includes artists, youth, kids from the training school, people who need these services right now.  We were just recognizes with a national award for the word we do."

"I don't think what's going on is unique to our city -- there's clearly a history of ward politics and how these were handled in the past.  So it's a question now of how you interpret it moving forward.  We're a large organization.  While it's been challenging, we do have the capacity to handle what they're asking for.  But for smaller groups, it's punishing, if they're not equipped to take on this effort."

Councilman Jackson noted that he knows that in Mt. Hope, the Billy Taylor House has been waiting close to a year for its CDBG funding.  

"The city itself is low-income.  Our federal [free] lunch program, they say that Providence qualifies universally -- every kids who brings in an applications gets free lunch," said Jackson.  "And here we are with these programs, and they're saying the kids need to bring in their tax returns?  As far as I know, none of these programs are serving a wealthy populations.  Our needs are clearly demonstrated, but the red tape makes things next to impossible."

"We're trying to combat the violence out there on the streets," said Jackson.  "And these are the types of roadblocks we're facing in trying to serve the very communities that need help the most."
Citing Politics

"What we've seen is a major overreaction for issues caused in the past," said City Councilman Luis Aponte.  "There's been a problem with the current administration, since Gary Bliss left.  Caitlin Frumerie, who replaced him, has been able to do with a Republican Congress even has been unable to do, and that's to render CDBG funds unusable."  

"There's a ripple effect here," said Aponte.  "Not only do groups need these CDBG funds a lot of times to secure other funding sources, but there's a construction dollars, jobs at stake as well."