Origin & Funders

Origin:

Rhode Island Housing started HousingWorks as a campaign to educate the public and the business community about a rapidly emerging economic development problem: the lack of affordable housing options for the state’s workforce. At roughly the same time, The Rhode Island Foundation and the United Way of Rhode Island noticed that affordable housing had become a large and increasingly urgent issue for many of their grant recipients. The two funding agencies convened a coalition of stakeholders to search for solutions. The Rhode Island Housing initiative and the interests of The Rhode Island Foundation and the United Way of Rhode Island converged and HousingWorks RI, in its current form, was born.

In 2006, HousingWorks RI led the campaign to pass Question 9, the $50 million affordable housing bond. On Election Day, Question 9 was approved by more than 66 percent of Rhode Island voters.

The bond received the support of the majority of voters in every city and town in the state. Support cut across urban, suburban, and rural boundaries—from 82 percent support in Providence, to 65 percent in Barrington and 59 percent in Burrillville.