HousingWorks RI - Building Homes Rhode Island

The Program: Building Homes RI

On Election Day 2006, Question 9 - the $50 million affordable housing bond - was approved by more than 66% of voters. Check back here for updates on the program, now called Building Homes Rhode Island.

November 2007: One-year status report
One year ago, Rhode Island voters approved -- by a two-to-one margin -- a bond referendum to provide $50 million over four years to create affordable apartments and starter homes for Rhode Islanders. Implementation of the bond-funded program, now known as Building Homes Rhode Island, began almost immediately and is now well underway. Read more in this HousingWorks RI issue brief.

July 27, 2007: $10 million awarded
The Housing Resources Commission today announced that it had awarded $10 million to 20 affordable housing developments under the Building Homes Rhode Island program. The funding, for developments in 17 different cities and towns, is the first to be issued as a result of the $50 million affordable housing bond approved by voters last November. The developments include both rental and homeownership units. Read the press release, or see the funded projects.

May 14, 2007: Request for proposals elicits overwhelming response
Rhode Island’s Housing Resources Commission (HRC) has received an overwhelming response to its Request for Proposals for affordable housing developments under the Building Homes Rhode Island program. The RFP drew nearly 60 applicants seeking more than $40 million (against available first-year funds of $12.5 million) to build 936 homeownership and rental units. Read more...

March 19, 2007: Applications available!
The Housing Resources Commission (HRC) has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Building Homes Rhode Island program. Applications are due April 27. Read the RFP and download application materials at the HRC's website.

February 13, 2007: HRC reviewing comments
The Housing Resources Commission (HRC) held two public hearings last week on its proposed regulations for Building Homes Rhode Island, the $50 million bond program. The HRC is now reviewing and preparing responses to the comments it received.

January 10, 2007: Draft regs for $50 million bond program posted
The Housing Resources Commission (HRC) invites you to comment on its draft regulations for the $50 million bond program, now called Building Homes Rhode Island. The notice and proposed regulations are posted online.

The HRC is hosting public hearings on the regulations on February 8 at 12:00 noon and 6:00 p.m. at the Cranston Public Library, 140 Sockanossett Cross Road. Written comments can be submitted to Noreen Shawcross, Chief of Housing and Community Development, Housing Resources Commission, One Capitol Hill, Providence, RI 02908.

November 8, 2006: Rhode Island voters overwhelmingly approve Question 9!
Rhode Island voters have now spoken, and they overwhelmingly said YES to Question 9. The $50 million housing bond passed on Tuesday with 66% of the statewide vote. Voters in every single Rhode Island community approved Question 9.

According to our research, this is the largest margin of victory for an affordable housing bond ever in the country. (Another victory: California voters on Tuesday passed a $2.85 billion bond for housing with 57% of the vote.)

The results come after many months of hard campaigning and many years of laying the groundwork.

Since August, we traveled the state, collecting more than 50 Stories, erecting billboards on Rhode Island's major highways, hitting the airwaves, holding regional events from Newport to Lincoln, setting up lawn signs, and talking to voters. For a final push, over 120 volunteers were stationed at polling places in most of Rhode Island's cities and towns on Election Day.

To the very end, the Vote Yes On 9 campaign received exceptional media coverage and endorsements from local media outlets across the state. Just last week, pro-9 editorials ran in the Barrington Times, Bristol Phoenix, Coventry Courier, Cranston Herald, East Side Monthly, Newport Daily News, Providence Phoenix, Sakonnet Times, and Warwick Daily Times.

Thank you to everyone who was a part of this campaign. Thank you for volunteering, sharing your story, writing a letter to the editor, inviting us into your workplace or home, and talking up Question 9 with family, friends, and co-workers.

$50 million is not enough to end Rhode Island's housing crisis. But Question 9 - the work that went into its passage, the reception it received across the state - will bring us a giant step closer to quality, affordable homes for all Rhode Islanders.

Thank you, Rhode Island!