"People said no one would ever move back, that the city would be better off with vacant lots."

So says Joseph Garlick, executive director of the Woonsocket Neighborhood Development Corporation (WNDC), of the rundown, abandoned buildings that once plagued the Constitution Hill section of Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

One of the oldest sections of the former textile mill city, Constitution Hill was a vibrant neighborhood until about 10 years ago, when economic and banking-industry woes hit the area hard. The neighborhood declined so much that many residents favored demolishing its deserted buildings.

However, beginning some five years ago and continuing still, Constitution Hill has metamorphosed into a mecca of affordable new apartments and houses with an adjacent community center open to the entire city.

More than two dozen buildings have been converted into 90 apartments and two single-family homes, all of which have been rented or sold to very low- or low-income households. Today, the waiting list for the area's 2,000-square-foot apartments is 150 to 200 names long.

A Series of Steps
WNDC, a nonprofit housing agency, kicked off the revitalization when the city gave it three abandoned buildings in 1994. The only provision? That WNDC pay off the properties' $20,000 in back taxes. The agency had a plan.

In 1995, WNDC won a $320,000 grant and a $510,000 subsidized advance through the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston's Affordable Housing Program (AHP). Then-member Rhode Island Hospital Trust applied for the funding on behalf of WNDC. City and state funding agencies contributed another $1.7 million and over $1 million in tax credits.

With this initial round of funding, WNDC turned 18 long-abandoned buildings into 44 apartments, which were rented to 19 very low-income and 25 low-income households.

Today, WNDC is heading into the home- stretch of an $11.8 million urban renewal that has created some of Woonsocket's most sought-after addresses. Within the next year, its residential phase will close with the construction of three duplexes and one single-family home.

The final phase of the revitalization is the addition of commercial space. Using state grants, WNDC will convert a vacant, historic school into the Hope Street Commerce Center, which will include a day-care center for 50 children and office space for a handful of start-ups. The center is expected to open by the end of this summer.

An Unqualified Success
WNDC's efforts have drawn people back to Constitution Hill to live, work, and play, and Mr. Garlick says, "it's impossible to measure how many benefit from the revitalization." Some 300 people now live in the neighborhood's below-market-rate housing, but the entire city enjoys its success.

About 75 youths drop in for after-school activities, and another 25 children attend nursery school, at Constitution Hill's new Chaplin-Perez Center for Community Progress. Over the next several months, an artist-in-residence will help neighborhood children create a pictorial and written history of the Woonsocket area.

Meanwhile, residents of Constitution Hill earn some $2 million per year, much of which they spend locally. The city is also benefiting from $150,000 in tax revenue generated by the project. WNDC has paid the back taxes on the properties and is waiving tax exemptions for which it is eligible.

An Exemplary Partnership
For the past three years, Citizens Bank of Rhode Island has helped WNDC continue to redevelop Constitution Hill.

In 1996, the member underwrote a successful AHP application for a $60,000 grant to help fund the construction costs of the homeowner units.

One year later, the member applied for Constitution Hill's third AHP grant — this one a $250,000 award — and second AHP subsidized advance — for $166,800 — to fund renovation costs associated with the final residential phase of the initiative.

Finally, in 1999, Citizens provided WNDC with a low-cost construction loan, which was funded by a discounted advance through the Bank's former Community Investment Program. (Click here to learn more about the Bank's new discounted Community Development advances.)

Citizens' significant support of the ambitious initiative has not gone unnoticed.

In 1999, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston gave WNDC a $3,500 Community Development Award for its innovative approach to building a vibrant neighborhood. The annual awards recognize superior projects undertaken jointly by nonprofit community groups and member banks. While the grants go to the nonprofits, the awards honor the creativity and hard work of all responsible for the project's success.

This article appeared originally in the Bank's Tools for Housing and Community Economic Development, Issue 15, Fall 2000.