Governor McKee Announces Round Two of Community Learning Center Grants

Published on Tuesday, July 02, 2024

PROVIDENCE, RI – Governor McKee has announced round two of Rhode Island’s Community Learning Centers Municipal Grant program, awarding a total of $26.9 million planned for Central Falls, Charlestown, Coventry, Exeter, Lincoln, North Providence, and Woonsocket.

“The community learning centers create centralized, convenient spaces for all ages to participate in education, employment, and wellness programs,” said Governor Dan McKee. “Their mission supports my top goals of improving educational outcomes, raising incomes, and building a healthier state for all Rhode Islanders.”

A key component of the Administration’s Learn365RI Initiative, the grants support capital costs for the learning centers and are funded by the American Rescue Plan Act’s Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund. Municipalities can tailor each project to their community’s needs and are required to offer a minimum of five years’ worth of programming designed to improve education outcomes, support employment opportunities, and provide health monitoring.

  • Central Falls will receive $8,985,198 to renovate the former Ralph Holden Community Center to serve as El Centro, a multilingual cost-free center offering afterschool programming, workforce development, and health-related supports.
  • Coventry will receive $4,304,000 to convert one-third of the Town Hall Annex into programming space for workforce development, health monitoring, and educational support.  
  • Charlestown will receive $654,597 to renovate the Cross Mills Public Library to increase space for studying, programming, and publicly available technology.
  • Exeter will receive $802,000 to purchase and convert a property on Ten Rod Road into a learning center serving youth, seniors, and the larger Exeter community.  
  • Lincoln will receive $2,000,000 to construct a new Lincoln Learning Center attached to the Lincoln Centralized Rescue Center. The 2,400-square-foot learning center will include a multi-station computer lab as well as workforce, education, and health monitoring programs. 
  • North Providence will receive $3,160,894 to conduct renovations to the North Providence Union Free Library that will create workshop space, job training, education opportunities, and telemedicine programming. 
  • Woonsocket will receive $6,990,500 to build a multipurpose community center at Cass Park, with programming that enables work, education, and health monitoring, and both indoor settings and outdoor spaces for events and activities.  

Community Learning Center projects must be completed—with Certificates of Occupancy and Beneficial Use—by October 31, 2026, and all U.S. Treasury-required programs must be operational within the center no later than December 31, 2026. 

This project was supported, in whole or in part, by federal award number CPFFN0169 awarded to the State of Rhode Island by the U.S. Department of Treasury. 

Click here for information on the state’s Community Learning Center Municipal grants awarded in April.