Taking aim at coronavirus in 10 Providence neighborhoods
PROVIDENCE — A Providence-based community-development organization announced Monday that it has initiated a coronavirus response effort to assist residents of some of the hardest-hit zip codes in the state.
ONE Neighborhood Builders, which develops affordable housing units and works to address the root causes of health disparities in the city, is focusing its efforts in 10 central Providence neighborhoods spanning three zip codes — 02904, 02908 and 02909.
Community health workers employed by ONE Neighborhood Builders and its partner organizations will reach residents over the phone or in-person at testing sites to help connect them with resources and provide information on testing and contact tracing, according to Jennifer Hawkins, executive director of the organization.
The 02909 and 02908 zip codes have registered the most confirmed cases of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, of any other zip code in the state, according to the Rhode Island Department of Health. There are 2,013 cases in 02909 and 1,468 cases in 02908. The 02904 zip code has the sixth highest number of cases in the state with 959.
Hawkins said these neighborhoods are disproportionately impacted for a variety of reasons, including their abundance of high-density housing, low median income and large population of essential workers.
“Due to high-rent relative to low-wages, many residents are forced to live in overcrowded housing which results in the inability to safely quarantine; low-income residents are often fulfilling essential worker positions that do not allow them to work from home, and/or do not offer adequate paid sick time;” Hawkins said in a statement, “and we know that if a person has chronic disease, they have a higher risk of suffering a severe case of an infectious disease, and our neighborhoods have high rates of hypertension, diabetes, and asthma.”
Ana Herrera, a 44-year-old who lives within the 02909 zip code, said she along with her husband and two children fell ill with COVID-19 in early April.
Speaking in Spanish, Herrera said she believes her husband brought the virus home from his job at a factory in Lincoln. Despite their best efforts to take precautions — her husband would take his shoes off at the door and disinfect them with vinegar before coming inside and heading straight to the basement to put his clothes in the laundry — the whole family was sick within days of her husband exhibiting symptoms.
Herrera underwent treatment for breast cancer last year and her son has asthma.
“We spent almost three weeks in that fight where we felt sick,” she said.
But, Herrera said it was remaining calm and drinking lots of homemade tea that helped her family through.
“We are here and that’s what’s important,” she said.
Olneyville, a neighborhood in Providence’s 02909 zip code, has a median family income of $32,228 compared with the city as a whole, which is $49,743, according to data from ONE Neighborhood Builders. About 33% of neighborhood residents live in poverty, compared with 26% of city residents, and about 14% of residents own homes compared with 35% citywide. The most prominent language spoken in Olneyville is Spanish.
The mission of community health workers will be to assist residents with accessing testing in their communities, encourage them to keep their contact-tracing journals and connect them with essential supplies and services they may need if they have to quarantine, Hawkins said.
ONE Neighborhood Builders will sub-contract with other community-based organizations, including the Smith Hill Community Development Corporation, the Providence Housing Authority and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Providence, among others.
“We believe that the work that we do around addressing the root causes for health disparities is where we can be most impactful,” Hawkins said.
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