Two nonprofits serving Newport County will share $130,000 in Rhode Island Foundation grants, one to expand access to locally grown food and the other to train police officers responding to behavioral health crises, according to the foundation.
Aquidneck Community Table received $65,000 for The Table: A Food + Community Hub, a year-round space in Middletown on the Newport border. The hub is intended to expand access to fresh, locally grown food while creating economic opportunities for growers, fishers, food makers and entrepreneurs, according to the foundation.
“The Table represents what’s possible when we invest in local food and in one another,” Rose Jones, the organization’s executive director, said in a statement. “This space will better connect people to fresh food, educational opportunities, wellness programming and local food producers and makers.”
Jones said the hub will host markets, food distribution, educational programming and wellness activities.
Crisis Intervention Teams of R.I., based in Middletown, received $65,000 to work with police departments in Newport, Middletown, Portsmouth, Tiverton, Jamestown and Little Compton on how they respond to calls involving people in behavioral health crises.
Crisis intervention team programs connect people in crisis with officers who have completed at least 40 hours of specialized training, covering how to recognize behavioral health conditions, de-escalation techniques and connecting people to care and community resources, according to the foundation.
“De-escalation and diversion to care lead to better outcomes for law enforcement, communities, and, most importantly, people experiencing behavioral health crises,” Caitlin Gomes, the organization’s executive director, said in a statement.
The two awards are part of more than $5 million the foundation distributed to nonprofits statewide under its new Five-Year Action Plan, which set five community priorities: civic and cultural life, climate action and sustainability, education and student success, healthy and strong communities, and housing and economic mobility.
“This funding is the result of the more than one year of community outreach and research that went into creating a comprehensive framework for addressing the demanding challenges our state faces,” said David N. Cicilline, the foundation’s president and CEO. “We are making strategic investments in programs that have the potential to make a real difference in the lives of Rhode Islanders who are confronted with increasingly difficult decisions as the cost of food, housing, healthcare and other basic needs rises.”
The full list of recipients is posted at rifoundation.org/recentgrantees.
