Providence's reparation program awards $1.5M in grants. Here's who is getting the money.

PROVIDENCE − The United Way has awarded $1.5 million across 15 organizations from a pot of reparations money allocated by the City of Providence from federal stimulus funds .

All but one of the 15 groups picked (122 applied) by the United Way, which is administering the funds, will receive the maximum amount of $100,000 split over two years.

Mayor Brett Smiley previously stuck to his predecessor's $10-million outlay from federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.

During a news conference announcing the awards on Wednesday, City Councilor Mary Kay Harris lauded the fund allocations and cited a program similar to Building Futures , one of the awardees, for helping her to become a welder.

No strings attached to the money

Building Futures, a program that trains people for apprenticeships in building trades, hosted the news conference for the announcement. The group will receive a total of $100,000 to supplement its Inside program, which takes place in the state's minimum-security prison.

That program is funded by a $900,000 Department of Justice grant, but the reparations will pay for things that the Department of Justice money can't be used for, such as rental assistance for people recently released from prison, work clothing, supportive services and stipends.

"There's a long list of things it will help," Building Futures spokeswoman Rachel Miller said. She is also the Providence City Council president.

'Traumatic': How Route 195 uprooted the Cape Verdean community in Providence's Fox Point

The program, and the extra funding, allows Building Futures to ease the transition for its recently incarcerated students, she said.

"On someone's release, we're able to say, 'Building Futures should be your first phone call,'" Miller said.

That was true for Lemar Wilburn, who spoke during the program. For the first eight years of the 13 years he served in prison, he was a self-described "knucklehead." Incarcerated at 18, he was released on parole in June at age 32, after serving part of a 35-year sentence for the murder of Princeton Miller Jr. in May 2011 .

Released on a Wednesday, he was at the Building Futures program and working in the pre-apprenticeship program the following Monday. He hopes to become a carpenter, the skill he was learning while in the minimum-security facility. Shortly after his release, he received his first-ever paycheck.

'Urban renewal:' How the Providence Preservation Society will atone for 'racist practices'

"If I didn't find it, I don't know what I would do," he said.

Which groups received reparations?

Of the 15 groups, all but one received the maximum, $50,000 each year for two years. The Center for Indigenous Peoples Rights was awarded $29,300 a year, the amount it requested.

The exact programs or activities being funded:

• Building Futures for its program to train incarcerated people get into trades apprenticeships upon release
• Center for Indigenous Peoples Rights for its "Young Advocates" program
• Center for Women & Enterprise for "training and skills-building programs for women of color and low-income business owners"
• College Unbound for prison education program
• DARE for its tenant and homeowner association
• Justice Assistance for "Habitat for Justice" program
• Manton Avenue Project for its playwright program, serving students in the 3rd grade through high school
• Mini Entrepreneurs of Rhode Island for its annual fair, summer camps, pop-up events and after-school programming
• Olneyville Neighborhood Association for its multilingual education program for adult literacy, Barrio Digital technology literacy program, Driving Privilege Cards Program
• Providence Promise for "Family Engagement Program, Youth Engagement Program, Early Scholarship Program to benefit multicultural and multilingual families"
• Providence Revolving Fund for "programs to assist with home repairs/acquisitions for LMI residents, and support of BIPOC and women-owned businesses"
• RI Black Business Association for "business Development, Certification and Leadership/Career Development Programs"
• Rhode Island Black Heritage Society for its "BirthRite RI" program
• Sojourner House for its Affordable housing development initiative focusing on survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking
• Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council for its Nuevo Voces leadership program

Where has the rest of the money gone?

So far, $5.5 million has been allocated and $4.5 million has been spent, including $300,000 for two programs at the Dirt Palace and millions to various United Way programs .

Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Providence Journal subscription . Here's our latest offer .

Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at wcowperthwaite@providencejournal.com or follow him on Twitter @WheelerReporter .

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence's reparation program awards $1.5M in grants. Here's who is getting the money.