https://digitalcommons.providence.edu/psp470_2023/1005/thumbnail.jp

Perez, Nallely M

Smock, Luisa J

Wilson, Kenneth R

English

DigitalCommons@Providence

Interview with Jean LambTue, Jul 18, 2023 1:32PM • 22:50SUMMARY KEYWORDScdc, work, community, executive director, moved, highlights, smithville, smith, organization, role, space, pandemic, tenants, started, second floor, vision, housing, years, question, neighborSPEAKERSS3, S1, S2, S400:00I guess. So the first thing I'm going to ask you to do is just introduce yourself.00:06Sure. Hi, I'm Jean lamb. I'm the Executive Director of the Smith Hill Community Development Corporation, and have been employed by them twice, once in 2000. For four years till 2004, and then again in 2012, to current time00:26can I have you speak about your role and your experience. So tell us anything from beginning to the end, whenever some people00:36so I came to Smith and CDC first in 2000, at the request of Ebru bio, who was the executive director at the time, he was a board president of the Smithville, CDC and then became executive director. He was also an architect teacher at Rhode Island School of Design. There I was a secretary and was born with my role. And he knew or entrusted that I had a talent to come work for him at the CDC. So he invited me to be an assistant director. And I came on in 2000, as the SR director to add new power and help develop the first tax credit deal, the Low Income Housing Tax Credit deal, and also supported me his role of doing the administration of the law office. And he also did homeowners ships that were modular homes, which was an interesting, we also during that time, had applied for grants to get the youth rap program going. And in 2004, we completed the 26 units called visions, which was the Low Income Housing Tax Credit. Before I left to explore another position at another organization, another nonprofit that worked with homeless individuals, I went there with my van learned development skills, and worked for a number of years at that organization. In 2008, family members became ill, and I quit work to care for them and went back to school and got my degree in social work and gerontology. 50 years old. When I was completing my degree, the current Executive Director, Francis Smith, that was in 2012, had asked me to come back to the organization to work with him, because he needed a development person. So I came back in 2012. Francis was also at that same time diagnosed with a terminal illness. And I took over as Interim Executive Director, working in 2014. Then in 2015, he passed away, and I became acting executive director. And then the board hired me after that, after a certain time, when I became executive director in 2015. Till now, and in my role as executive director, because we're such a small organization, I've really taken on the role or my03:22internal03:24vision for to be an executive director of a small grassroots organization was I never asked anybody to do something I wouldn't do myself. So we really took this all hands on approach to everything we did. So as an executive director, many, many, you know, higher level executive directors in those roles, really do administrative stuff and manage teams. If I needed to enter the door, for up to a tenant, who did that, if I needed to help work on it, we did it, whatever was needed. I really would just take off, but my main role was to to run the organization carried forth the Mission Control, not control the board, but work with the board to make sure that we have projects in the pipeline, to manage staff and to help develop properties.04:24Max, what inspired you to do that? I'm very curious.04:31Sure. So when I when I went to Catholic school, my wife and we did community service work but they called the apostolic work because of the Catholic school and a little bit of possibly giving. And I always wanted to be teacher never became a teacher ever just didn't work. You know, did my life and then When Ed asked me to do this, and I started, really, I came back to what I loved when I was a kid. And I just love helping people. And warehousing became an important part of my soul was I actually was homeless. I had two small children. It's not something I tell a lot of people, but I was an abused woman. I had two small children. And I left my home with a car. And that was it. And I was homeless. And I fortunately had the fortitude to reach out and help myself. I was able to get assistance through the State, I was able to find a partner, who had supported my family, and had a good network around me. I ended up buying my first home all by myself, right, working part time and just raising my two children. And I think when I started doing this kind of work, I wanted, what I was able to do for other people to have that kind of just don't know how to access resources. So let's be, let's be back with them.06:22So, moving on to the next question that's kind of related to what we just said. How was the CDC affected by the pandemic, so just tell us how it became a testing center in Hungary, so we were not implemented.06:38When the pandemic occurred, we're pretty much a hands on people walk in, ask for resources, we will tenants all the time. That came to a complete kibosh, there was one more pandemic where there was no housing being developed, right? People, contractors, were not working, you know, the whole time, it just stopped, right, everybody was at home. So in order to address the needs of the community, which is in our mission, we pivoted away from housing development, and started becoming a resource for the community for testing, vaccines, offering financial assistance, personal protection, equipment, and just education, offering stuff to the children. And it just helped, where we couldn't, we couldn't do what our mission said, create affordable housing. But we help the community. So we just pivoted, which, with that is there's no revenue coming in for that. So there was a good two years. And also, at that time, tenants were affected, so they weren't paying their rents. So there's a it's a double edged sword there, right? It's you're getting no revenue from developing and no rental income. And there were resources that you could apply for. So you know how to write grants to get money to help survive the organization.08:16resume, you can go into as much detail as you can. What were the real challenges behind getting funding for certain projects?08:29The challenge? So we wrote a lot of grants, always it was just what you did in order to as a nonprofit, that's what you did you write grants, you research grants. And when you write when somebody writes a paper, when you're writing a research paper, right, you have to pick up the bullet about it's like you know what you have, and that's what ready the brand is all about. So you have to be able to hit the targets and the brands. But that's not really what you asked, What was the obstacle? The obstacles were think a lot of people trying to go for the same amount of money and us not having the capacity, or the funders would say we did not have the capacity to carry it through and to make a project going forward.09:32The next question, why did the CDC keep moving headquarters? And what are their very visions for the future of the center?09:43That's an interesting question. So why did we keep moving? So I was involved in all the moves. So that's a really great question. So when I came on, we were over on Smith's We were on the second floor. And we were not handicap accessible. That was when that full India add. ADA came upon, right. So if we were on the second floor, it was a tiny it was in a hole. So I think that was probably why they wanted to physically move the stuff by ourselves to it. We didn't hire company don't know if you want to cut and then we do. So I forget what she was tackling. And yeah. And then she can just, I'll give her10:41for the next question. Why did the CDC moving headquarters, and were there very visions for the future.10:54So we moved several times. First time we moved was in 2003. And I was actually here for all of the moves. We moved from 206 Smith Street to 47. God Street. And I think the main reason why there was a move from 2006 was the there was no handicap accessibility. So because we would get infected with funding, we had to comply with ADA, rules and regulations. And we moved to 47, Goddard Street, and we put a handicap ramp in the back of the building, and widen the doors. So anybody with a wheelchair can access our office. So that was in 2002, I think 2002. And then we worked 47 got it for a very long time. I left in 2004. And I know that the office had expanded because we would do a Youth Rep program. So we moved. So that's talking about changing our division, we moved part of the office up to the second floor as well. So now we did not only occupy the first floor for the seventh, we now occupied the second floor and 47 allow on the first floor to be more conducive to human space. Again, still handicap accessible. So when I came back in 2012, Cap Square was finishing its completion. That's 231. Douglas. That was when the recession for that is when the recession occurred. And there were 13 condos that were for sale in six commercial spaces. They weren't selling they weren't being occupied, and it was a financial burden on the CDC. So in order to bring life and get more marketing, we moved our office from 47 yarder to 231 Douglas. And we occupied all four spaces with one space be an admin, one being an executive space, one being a community room, because there's no community center in Smithville. And the other we partner with Providence College for the Providence College GNS, which we're now setting. The reason for that was to promote Smithville, CDC, and to really break that would begin housed within the community. As the previous board had thought, and if you look at our logo, our logo was changed from just this would be a really interesting thing is it show on our first logo, we change the logo to all of our blocks. And in the blocks is our house, which was 47 gardens. So we will just amongst the community, and next board and executive set, let's change it we will be back on stream. So in 2016, CBC continued to be in financial dire straits, and we lost 231 Douglas in a foreclosure. So we had to move our office space again. And we looked around, we walked around the community and wanting to stay still on the main street. And that's where we found office space at 400 Smith Street. I don't think that any of those moves other than what I mentioned briefly. I think they all combined as to why we moved each time. So going into the community, living and breathing within that community having a youth program, but then coming back out onto the mainstream to promote ourselves Think it was all part of survival, to just say, we hear15:10you think the SEC has grown in a different way from the founders hadn't intended?15:18And again, take time, because we know these these questions are very tough to15:27stay true to the mission. Is that keeping up? Yeah,15:35yeah, I think it looks really good. But we'll be able to add an edit out. Yeah.15:44I believe that all 31 years of remain true to the mission of providing affordable housing in the community, we've expanded on the vision to include housing options and supportive services, because we felt it was the mean. I think the original intention of the board back in 1992, was when it's separated from kapsalis centers, was that the center was going to continue doing all the services, the center closed. So, I mean, I don't really know the year but the center close and that will be an interesting date to look at. But I think that's probably when the CDC started picking up all those ancillary services of helping people. I know my personal approach to it was helping taking the holistic approach to the person making sure that the person has all their needs addressed, not just giving them a key and saying, Okay, here you go, just give me your rent once a month, we really wanted to make sure that they were part of a community I grew up in, I grew up in problems. I knew my neighbors endlessly. I rode my bike everywhere. And it's something I wanted for Smith Hill was to have that neighbor, would you say community but your neighbor, like get out and meet your neighbor? Let's have picnics, or let's not take next but let's meet at the playground and just be out once that the vision wasn't there when they started it? And you know, we just found documents that maybe will speak to that and thinking row because the center closed. It wasn't just housing. And maybe we would have been different. Like professor if we were just housing? Would it have been different?17:59Do you have any highlights of the CDC and its impacts on the community throughout18:03the years? Yes, there's been lots of highlights. Youth rap. I think just having the kids having a place to go after school. That was positive reinforcement. And again, I go back to that thing we're getting to the neighbor a lot. They have to work two or three jobs. And the kids have to go a whole nother high highlight. So definitely youth rap was a huge thing can we lose track? Our 25th anniversary, celebrating our 25th anniversary, highlighting what we did, you know that was all the other like different programming to think of another that's a tough one because I'm proud of everything that we've done. You know highlight homeownership, and somebody says, gosh, you know, I never thought I could do this. Thank you. Also highlights to me that someone says to me, thank you for what you've done. I've done it without the support of your organization. Time in progress, always coming up with something innovative You think to say good. Stewardship was really wonderful. Giving the kids jobs, a little bit of money.20:25You tell us any highlights of the CDC and its impacts on communities throughout the years?20:33Sure.20:35I think the highlights are the plethora of housing options. Because we've offered not only rental we will offer homeownership landlord opportunities. Condos, commercial space, we've really touched on all the different aspects. I also think the programs that are supported the youth, which would be the youth wrap program and the stewardship program. Personally, I would say that my time is, every day that I that was a highlight for me, that I could serve a community that really loves itself.21:25So wrapping up is perhaps one more question. How are you feeling with everything coming?21:34And you can be as21:35is as you need to be right? Because you have gone through so much.21:43It's a lot of work. Very emotional. I had days where I can't wait for it to be done. And others where I say, what would I do that Smith? I'm gonna miss it. It's very bittersweet for me. It makes me sad that it's under my tenure. Sometimes I feel like it's could have been my, under my leadership. And I don't think it is, but still as a. Again, I'll go back to the beginning of our conversations, right? It was raised Catholic and non Catholics full of guilt. Right. I know we've done amazing work. And I just hope that someday I'm able to come back to the community and that there's somebody else to do the kind of work that we did and that the community continues to flourish.22:46Alright. Thank you. Thank you.		Transcribed by https://otter.ai- 1 -

Interview with Jean Lamb

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Interview with Jean Lamb

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