"The House of Hope started in 1990. We were the answer to a community problem. We realized we had homeless people here in Warwick - mostly families at that time.

At that time, it was very easy to bring someone into our shelter, have them stay for three or four months, have them save their money, and give them some budgeting and basic life skills. They'd have enough money to be able to move out. They'd have a security deposit and first month's rent, and they could find an affordable rental unit.

Over time, it was harder and harder for people to leave, no matter how successful they were with us. We decided we needed to do something about that, so we chose to start building our own affordable housing here in the city.

The real estate market has jumped so drastically, particularly in the past few years, and the rental market is just out of sight for any lower income person, and that includes people who are working at a regular rate.

At House of Hope, we purchase homes and rehab them and sell them at a much lower rate than what we purchased them for. We’re seeing families that are really becoming part of the community who come and give back. They come and help us, they bring other people to us who they also know would be successful. We’ve got people going to work for the first time in years who are becoming healthy, volunteering themselves in the community. It’s just been a wonderful thing to see community being built right here in our city."