More than a dozen local nonprofits are among the organizations that will share nearly $400,000 in grants from the Rhode Island Foundation to fund community-based projects in Newport County. The work including supporting a public market, sponsoring festivals and expanding library resources.
“In a time when division seems to rule, it’s never been more important to support work that brings people together. Our hope is that every one of these projects will strengthen the bonds that bind us together as neighbors and as Rhode Islanders,” said David N. Cicilline, the Foundation’s president and CEO.
In Newport County, the Foundation is funding proposals by 14 nonprofits. The maximum grant was $10,000. Most of the work is expected to be complete before the end of the year.
“These grants will support places to gather, offer experiences that bring us together and launch new collaborations that will build community connections throughout the region,” said Cicilline.
Aquidneck Community Table received $9,100 to support a free public market in Newport’s North End.
“Newport’s North End is a richly diverse and thriving community,” said Rose Jones, executive director. “It is also a place where we see some of the highest rates of food insecurity on Aquidneck Island. Our goal with this free “share” market is to work collaboratively with our partners to connect all local people to local foods – and ultimately, to promote healthy families and communities.”
Bike Newport received $10,000 to promote traffic safety training at its new Traffic Garden facility on Hillside Avenue near Miantonomi Park. The organization will provide a series of family-friendly placemaking events at the site, including a recurring schedule of Traffic Garden program sessions facilitated by staff and volunteers.
“We will engage children of all ages and their families in the utilization of the Traffic Garden to create fun outdoor exercise, bicycle-safety learning and community building. We are deeply invested in responding to the community’s expressed desire to improve access to bicycle equipment, education and rides to build safe and healthy biking into their daily lives. Like our Bike Library and Pump Track, the Traffic Garden holds promise to attract families with children from across the island and beyond to promote community building and fun bike-safety learning,” said Bari Freeman, executive director.
Conexion Latina Newport received $5,000 to add mini-workshops in Latin dance, Latino music and other Latino arts- and culture-related experiences to its Festival Latino Sept. 21 at the Great Friends House Lawn.
“While last year’s Festival Latino was focused on bringing the Hispanic community together, this year we plan to put more emphasis on inviting non-Hispanics to join in the celebration, to learn more about their beauty and culture, participate in the activities and truly build a holistic understanding of their Hispanic neighbors,” said Rebekah Gomez, executive director.
Friends of the Jamestown Philomenian Library received $10,000 to purchase furniture to expand its capacity to host community events. Because the new facility now has four dedicated meeting spaces, additional furniture will enable the library to accommodate the increased demand from local groups.
“Community response to our expanded and refreshed facility has been extremely positive, including greatly increased demand for use of our meeting spaces by civic, social, educational, nonprofit and other community groups. When planning for the updated building, we did not anticipate that community response would lead to new and greater furniture needs. In particular, we have experienced unanticipated demand for use of our two largest spaces,” said Ted Baldwin, the group’s treasurer and incoming president.
The Little Compton Community Center received $3,500 to support its Fair Market Fridge initiative, which provides low-cost healthy meals prepared at the center.
“As the cost of living has increased, Little Compton has not been spared. In recent years, not only have prices increased, but conveniences within our town have disappeared. We no longer have a gas station or full-service restaurant. Prices at our general store have become unaffordable for the working class or those living on a fixed income,” said Amy Mooney, executive director.
Newport Classical received $4,000 to support its free, year-round Community Concerts Series, which brings open-air, classical music concerts to community-centered gathering places across Aquidneck Island in a casual and family-friendly way. The next two concerts are scheduled with the Fulton Chamber Players Sept. 8 at Newport Craft Brewing and with Bridge & Wolak on Oct. 6 at Newport Classical Recital Hall.
“These events are opportunities for Newport residents of all backgrounds to come together and celebrate community through the power of music. We are committed to ensuring that engaging and inspiring classical music experiences are inclusive and easily accessible to all members of the community by inviting them to enjoy free performances within their neighborhood,” said Gillian Fox, executive director.
Newport Live received $7,500 to bring South African and AfroLatin performers and educational programs to Rhode Island. The organization will continue to collaborate with Conexion Latina, the Newport NAACP, Newport Mental Health, the Dr. Martin Luther Kings Jr. Community Center, Newport Partnership for Families and Lucy’s Hearth among other local nonprofits in providing time before our concerts to give voice to their organizations and to ensure the wider community is aware of the events.
“With our mission of celebrating diverse artists in unique venues, we are engaging a more diverse, more curious audience and exposing them to artists they may not otherwise experience. Artists we present more closely connect and reflect the BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ experiences of many of Newport’s residents and continue to grow our audience,” said Richard Lynn, executive director.
Newport Middle Passage Port Marker Project received $5,000 for stipends to four local students to study the subject of African American Newport and to lead a process of discovery for ways to teach it. They will film interviews with researchers about their discoveries from research and from talking with current African American residents from different generations about their life experiences. The four students will share stories in the videos with other young people. During tours of historic sites, the youth leaders will test out ideas for effective programs, finally presenting them to Middle Passage and the Newport Historical Society.
“We expect this process to build goal-setting, collaboration and group decision-making among youth participants as they discover how they, too, are part of Newport’s history, to enhance our work honoring the lives of the captive Africans who perished in the Middle Passage journey and the slave trade and to celebrate the economic and cultural contributions of the survivors and their descendants, who helped build Newport and America,” said Victoria Johnson, co-founder and co-chair of the board.
Rhode Island Slave History Medallions in Newport received $10,000 to support its 75-minute, guided “Newport Black History Walking Tour: Lost Stories of Resistance and Freedom.” The tour of the organization’s medallion locations and other key sites in the city’s Historic District offers the untold, but documented histories of Black and Indigenous people from the colonial era to modern times.
“Over many years as a Black-led organization with a BIPOC history mission, we’ve observed that members of the local Black community do not view downtown Newport as a welcoming or shared public space. We’ve found that many Black adults, families and youth who grew up locally never venture into downtown to visit the historic Washington Square area with the Colony House, wharves or historic district,” said Charles Roberts, founder and executive director. “The goal of our tour is to remedy that situation.”
The other organizations receiving grants include the Jamestown Historical Society, the Jamestown Ukraine Relief Project, the Newport Art Museum, Newport Gulls and Newport Pride. For the complete list of grant recipients, visit rifoundation.org/community.
The Rhode Island Foundation is the largest and most comprehensive funder of nonprofit organizations in Rhode Island. Through civic leadership, fundraising and grant-making activities, often in partnership with individuals and organizations, the Foundation is helping improve the lives of all Rhode Islanders. For more information, visit rifoundation.org.
