Interview with Carrie Zaslow

The Providence Revolving Fund was established in 1980, as an independent non-profit corporation, with the mission of preserving historic buildings and places of cultural significance by providing lending and services to promote equitable neighborhood revitalization.

Carrie Zaslow has been its Executive Director since 2018. Prior to that, she was the Program Officer at RI's LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation), leading several high-profile community development initiatives. Carrie began her career at the Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights, where she was the Fair Housing Education and Outreach Project Manager. She was later named Director of the Homeownership Connection, a division of the Housing Network of RI. Carrie has a Bachelor's from Northern Michigan University and a Master's from RISD. Carrie is the Vice Chair of the New England Foundation for the Arts and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Providence Foundation and the Providence Preservation Society. 

1. The Revolving Fund recently announced they were awarded $1.8 million in federal funds to address affordable rental housing.  How will the funds be used?

We are very proud to have been awarded funds through the CDFI Equitable Recovery Program.  We are using a two-pronged approach to address housing affordability and stability. We strive to stimulate equitable community revitalization that reflects neighborhood values and promotes access to housing and economic opportunity for all. The funds will allow us to provide a range of financial and technical assistance to owners of historic homes in and out of Historic Districts, who have been excluded from accessing credit because of systemic discrimination and historic redlining. The program is aimed at helping homeowners maintain and remain in their biggest asset.   Our long-term vision is for these same homeowners to build intergenerational wealth through home improvement and increased property values.  Additionally, we will be able to expand our lending for multifamily development projects that have a historic preservation component and prioritize a true mix of incomes.  

2. How does the Revolving Fund intend to focus its investment?  What criteria are used in deciding which projects to prioritize?

We currently operate three loan funds.  Our Neighborhood Loan Fund which provides loans for the repair of homes over 50 years old.  That program is available in Metro Providence (Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, East Providence).  We prioritize direct outreach in neighborhoods that have an aging housing stock and where homeowners have faced barriers to getting a home repair loan. The area’s predominantly older housing stock presents challenges for upkeep, leaving many homes neglected. Limited resources, pandemic job losses, and inflation resulted in many LMI homeowners barely keeping their homes. Although housing values soared during the pandemic, these owners have barriers to unlocking their home’s capital for necessary repairs. Traditional loan denial rates in Providence are 1.3x higher for Blacks and 1.7x higher for Hispanics than for white owners. Credit scores, debt-to-income ratio, and collateral are cited as the reasons for denial (NCRC 2021). In LMI neighborhoods, deferred repairs have resulted in both owner-occupied and rental units becoming substandard in quality, unhealthy, and potentially unsafe. If forced out it’s likely they will never be able to reenter the housing market. 

The Opportunity Investment Fund drives investments to projects that include historic preservation with affordable housing, arts, workforce training, and/or economic development.  This is a statewide program; we look for projects that include resident led neighborhood transformation.  This includes the Millrace project in Woonsocket that combines the historic preservation of the National Register Mill building with an outdoor performance space, a community kitchen and affordable housing for a mix of incomes including extremely low income households; or Teatro ECAS, New England only Spanish Language theater company’s new home in the adaptive reuse of a historic building on Valley Street in Providence.   

Additionally, we have a micro-business loan fund that provides loans of $500-$5,000 in Providence along commercial corridors. This program began during the pandemic and has continued as a tool to preserve these Corridors that are the hearts of their neighborhoods. They are where people shop, where they work and where they meet their neighbors.  

3. The Revolving Fund has had an extraordinary impact on Providence and its historic neighborhoods over the last 40 years.  Which project or program are you most proud of?

I have a fundamental belief that everyone should be able to live in neighborhoods that are safe, that have performing schools, that have recreation and fresh food available, where residents can thrive, and that honors the history and culture of the neighborhood.  I am most proud of the role we play in Providence in addressing holistic community transformation. We are able to provide affordable home repair loans that help address the wealth gap for people of color and thwart displacement, while we protect the historic and cultural architecture of Providence neighborhoods. The work we do is hard, often decades in the making, but it is also immensely satisfying—especially when you speak with the neighborhood residents, and you meet the family that finally has repaired their historic home up to code, lead safe and they can finally take a deep breath.

4. What do you see as the biggest challenge and opportunity for historic preservation in Providence in the next five years?

The biggest challenge facing historic preservation in the next five years…costs.  Plain and simple, the cost of materials continues to rise.  As preservationists, we will have to work to find creative solutions to helping homeowners and developers alike with finding ways to maintain their properties.  A recently released study on housing in Rhode Island sponsored by the Rhode Island Foundation, LISC and BCBS of RI; pointed to the age of Rhode Island’s housing stock and the potential loss of needed units of housing when properties are forced to defer maintenance.  This recognition is key to our field coming together with innovative solutions.  This could include everything from homeowner historic tax credits to a HistoricCorps for entering into the Historic Preservation Field.  We are in a moment where we can think big.