Providence Downtown Improvement District (RI) Selects Block by Block

January 15, 2005

After an intensive selection process the Providence Foundation, which provides guidance for the Providence Downtown Improvement District, has chosen Block by Block to serve as its provider of supplemental cleaning and safety for the newly formed district.

On February 26 th Block by Block will begin providing supplemental cleaning and safety services to the residents, workers and visitors of Downtown Providence. The team of eight Safety Guides and eleven Clean Team members will be easily spotted by downtown workers, residents or visitors in their bright yellow uniforms emblazon with the Providence Downtown Improvement District logos. The Safety Guides provide a visible uniformed presence, deter unwanted criminal behavior and reports suspicious activity to local police while patrolling downtown on foot or bicycle. The Clean Team's duties include tasks that make the streets and alleys of downtown Providence cleaner to include litter removal, weed abatement, removing graffiti and graffiti tags from the public right of ways and any other special cleaning or landscaping projects.

In addition to making Providence 's city center safer and cleaner the team will be responsible for serving as the knowledgeable representatives of Downtown Providence by promoting downtown to the general public. In order to prepare the team for their ambassadorial duties the team members will receive training from several agencies involved in delivering services in the downtown environment to include the Providence Police Department, Coalition for the Homeless, Providence Convention and Visitors Bureau and Rhode Island Transit Authority.

The Providence Downtown Improvement District is an organization that has been recently established to help improve the environment of Downtown Providence, Rhode Island. The Improvement District was organized on behalf of downtown merchants and is overseen by the Downtown Providence District Management Authority.

For more information visit www.downtownprovidence.org