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Committee advances Providence HUD entitlement budget; splits $50,000 Ward 9 neighborhood award
Summary
The Providence City Council committee approved a substituted ordinance advancing the city's 2025–26 HUD entitlement grant budget and passed an amendment reallocating a $50,000 Ward 9 neighborhood investment award into two $25,000 grants.
The Providence City Council Committee on Urban Development and Renewal Planning on Monday approved a substituted ordinance to advance the city’s 2025–26 HUD entitlement grant budget and voted to amend a Ward 9 neighborhood investment allocation, splitting a $50,000 facility-improvement award into two $25,000 grants.
Alisa McDermott, director of Housing and Community Development in the Department of Housing and Human Services, told the committee that “this budget is the first year of investment under our new 2025 to 2029 consolidated plan” and that staff shaped the draft to prioritize critical services and housing interventions.
McDermott said the department received nearly 100 proposals, totaling about $20.5 million in requests — including roughly $12.3 million in CDBG requests — while operating under a federal continuing resolution that leaves funding levels projected to remain flat. She said the ordinance includes a contingency provision to allow pro rata adjustments once federal allocations are announced, which staff expect in mid‑May.
The committee and staff emphasized priorities in the draft: food access, childcare, homelessness prevention, refugee supports, and facility and housing projects that address operational barriers such as fire safety and flood mitigation and that create new affordable units for lowest‑income residents. McDermott acknowledged staff support from Kyle Delgado and Robert Baptista in assembling the project list.
On the neighborhood investment strategy line for Ward 9, the committee approved an amendment to change a single $50,000 facility‑improvement award listed for the Rhode Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce into two awards: $25,000 for the Rhode Island Indian Council and $25,000 for Urban Ventures. Councilwoman Vargas moved the amendment; Councilwoman Briggs seconded the motion, which the committee approved by voice vote.
After approving the substitution and the amendment, the committee approved the ordinance as amended (motion moved by Councilwoman Vargas and seconded by Councilwoman Graves) and agreed to have the committee sponsor the ordinance for the full‑council docket. Staff said they expect to finalize the ordinance in time for the May 9 submission deadline to HUD and will adjust award amounts pro rata if the final federal allocation differs from the department’s estimate.
The ordinance covers the city’s entitlement programs (CDBG, HOME, ESG and HOPWA) and, if adopted by the full council and submitted to HUD, will set the city’s investment priorities and project list for program year 2025–26.
