Celebrating a Year of Supportive Housing at Rockville Mill
Rockville Mill, Hopkinton, RI
At Marathon, we believe housing is a basic human right. We’re expanding our Marathon Development arm to put our skills and experience to work rapidly rehabilitating historic buildings into affordable supportive housing.
One of Marathon’s best success stories just celebrated its anniversary. Rockville Mill in Hopkinton, RI had sat empty for years until we worked with government agencies, community leaders, and local support groups to renovate it into supportive housing in a matter of months.
“I was especially proud that we were able to deliver the project ahead of schedule and open its doors before the holidays,” said Harry Angevine, Maration CEO. “We were able to get families - some of whom were literally living out of their cars - into their new homes right before the real winter cold set in.”
The Boston Globe recently profiled our work on Rockville Mill as a case study for how to get supportive housing right:
The building was previously vacant and in receivership until Marathon Construction purchased and rehabbed it for housing. Marathon, a Boston-based developer, identified House of Hope as a service provider and brought them into the project. Lafleur was one of the first residents to move in about a year ago, with her son, who will be 4 in March. And she’s now nearly 3 years clean.
“I didn’t want to live before. It was so tough to even wake up for the day. You just want to die. And it’s a vicious cycle,” she said. “My son saved my life. But having our own home has kept me straight.”
The building that Lafleur and her son are living in has 12 other units filled with families who had previously been couch surfing or living in cars, shelters, or on the streets. A well regarded supportive services provider program comes with wrap-around services, according to Adrianne Kinsey, a case manager, to help the families become stable mentally and physically, offering help with transportation and support for children in school.
Rockville Mill’s 13 units may not sound like much - but at opening, that meant 36 people formerly experiencing homelessness had a place to live. Advocates told the Globe that 584 victims of domestic violence were served in a single day in September, yet 58% of their requests for emergency shelter or housing were unmet. Every person we transition from emergency shelter to permanent supportive housing opens up a bed for someone in crisis.
This case study also shows that supportive housing doesn’t need to be in a densely-populated area - rural areas are also in dire need of affordable housing. While Hopkinton is far from Rhode Island’s population centers, its 13 units filled up fast with people who lived nearby or had family in that area.
We’ll continue doing our part to help Rhode Island meet its goal of adding 500 units of supportive housing to functionally end homelessness. Our Copley Chambers project at 206 Broad Street in Providence, a mixed-use property including a total of 26 affordable units, was one of 23 affordable housing projects recently awarded a grant through Building Homes Rhode Island (BHRI) program.
In Rhode Island and across the region, we’ll keep looking for opportunities to team up to deliver the new, affordable housing that our struggling families so desperately need.
