7 state nonprofits share $500,000 in grants
PROVIDENCE (AP) — Seven nonprofit organizations are sharing more than $500,000 in grants from the Rhode Island Health and Educational Building Corp. to help them complete major projects so they can offer better and expanded services during COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, officials said Wednesday.
The nonprofits include health, education, and community service organizations that provide vital services, yet have been hit hard by the pandemic.
“These grants will help schools serve more students, mental health providers to serve more patients, nursing homes to better serve their residents, and expand access to dental care for low-income Rhode Islanders,” RIHEBC board Chair Joseph Dewhirst said in a statement.
Thrive Behavioral Health Inc. will use a grant of more than $94,000 to turn unused space in Warwick into five therapeutic session offices and three group rooms.
“The need for behavioral health care services for our community’s youth and their families has outgrown our capacity to provide these essential services,” Thrive’s President and CEO Dan Kubas-Meyer said. “If undetected or left untreated, early behavioral problems in children, adolescents, and young adults can develop into more serious mental health conditions that can impact not just their wellbeing, but their learning and academic achievement.”
VIRUS NUMBERS
The Rhode Island Department of Health confirmed more than 450 additional coronavirus cases Wednesday as well as another 11 virus-related fatalities.
Of the 456 additional cases, 375 were people who tested positive for the first time on Tuesday, and 81 were added to previous days’ totals.
There have now been almost 125,000 confirmed cases and 2,487 deaths in the state.
The latest seven-day average positivity rate in Rhode Island is 1.96%, down from 2.71% on Feb. 9. State health departments are calculating positivity rate differently across the country, but for Rhode Island the AP calculates the rate by dividing new cases by test encounters using data from The COVID Tracking Project.
The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Rhode Island continues to decline, down from about 463 on Feb. 9 to 313 on Tuesday, according to The COVID Tracking Project.
Almost 154,000 people have received a first vaccine dose in Rhode Island, while more than 64,000 people have been fully vaccinated, according to the latest Department of Health data.