PROVIDENCE, RI — Governor Dan McKee and the Rhode Island Department of Housing on Feb 17th, announced grant awards to eight municipalities totaling approximately $1.1 million through the Municipal Fellows Program. This program places early-career professionals in roles focused on planning, zoning, and housing development, to support municipal efforts to increase housing production as well as grow the pipeline of planners in the state.

"My administration has made historic investments in housing development and preservation. Continued progress on housing goals depends on action at the local level,” said Governor Dan McKee. “With the Municipal Fellows program, we are directly supporting municipalities to move projects forward and address local barriers to housing production.”

“Addressing Rhode Island’s housing crisis requires an all-hands-on-deck approach. We need municipalities to be our partners in creating more housing, and we also need more professionals in the planning field so that our cities and towns can strategically address zoning and development,” said House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi. “The Municipal Fellows program addresses both of these objectives and the end result will benefit our entire state.”

“Addressing Rhode Island’s housing crisis requires a comprehensive and collaborative approach. These grant awards, and the fellowships they will support, represent the kind of action necessary to bolster our efforts and ensure our communities have the tools necessary to meet our housing needs," said Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio.

Following in-depth discussions with municipal leaders, the Department of Housing identified key challenges to housing production, including staffing shortages at the local level which impact review process timelines and capacity to address local zoning issues. In response, the Department, in collaboration with its partners, launched the Municipal Fellows program as part of a series of municipal supports.

“Our municipalities play a critical role in addressing the housing crisis,” said Rhode Island Department of Housing Secretary Deborah Goddard. “The Department has engaged in conversations with all 39 cities and towns, as well as the League of Cities and Towns. It is clear that municipal leaders are eager to grow housing opportunities but often face barriers. In many conversations, we heard that staff capacity to engage in planning is a problem. That’s where the municipal fellows program comes in: putting new capacity right into cities and towns to move projects forward.”

Fellows are funded for nearly two years and are focused on planning and development activities within the municipality. Awardees include:

Newport — $154,000

Coventry — $154,000

Cranston —$147,000

Foster — $147,000

Johnston — $147,000

Westerly — $147,000

Lincoln — $147,000

Cumberland — $103,459

“Our Fellow, Diego, possesses ability, interest, and professionalism that are most impressive,” said Shawn Lacey, Westerly Town Manager. “His desire and ability to learn the fundamentals of planning in the public sector is apparent. We look forward to his contribution, with his architectural and urban planning skills, to the Town’s’ evolving affordable housing policy and the creation of a strategic production plan for the next decade.”

To date, Coventry, Cranston, Newport, Johnston, Lincoln, and Westerly have successfully hired fellows, with the remaining municipalities making significant progress in their hiring efforts.

The Municipal Fellows program is part of a series of municipal supports created by the Department of Housing and other partners. Additional municipal supports include the recently announced $2.8 million in municipal infrastructure grants, led by the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank in partnership with the Department of Housing, to enhance municipal infrastructure and support the development of affordable housing across the state.

The Municipal Fellows program is funded by State Fiscal Recovery Funds. 

For more information on all Department of Housing programs, please visit www.housing.ri.gov.