Renovation work at Jonnycake Center for Hope’s fire-damaged property at 54/56 Kersey Road is part of the nonprofit’s new federal affordable-housing award. The project comes as tenants face unsafe conditions: Christine Taylor said her children have been afraid in their home after a state inspection found lead dust levels twice the recommended threshold, and an encampment nearby became a site of common drug activity.
The Jonnycake Center for Hope has received $500,000 in federal funds for affordable-housing efforts in South Kingstown, according to IndependentRI.com. Senator Jack Reed earmarked the money for the center’s affordable-housing work in southern Rhode Island, and the grant was announced at a press conference on Monday. Part of the funding will go toward renovating the Kersey Road building.
Taylor works as a housing support specialist at Thundermist Health Center, helping people facing homelessness, housing instability and unsafe living conditions. She said the shortage of safe, affordable housing leaves families across South Kingstown and surrounding communities with few options; when better housing is unaffordable, people may remain in unsuitable homes.
A Program Built Around Families With Children
The Kersey Road funding follows the center's earlier push into family housing. The organization previously launched a newly renovated family-housing program, with its first three renovated or newly created units intended for three families with a combined 13 children, per WPRI. The center had hoped to create as many as 19 new affordable homes for local families by 2025, the station reported.
Kate Brewster, a social worker with the center, said at the time that stable housing underpins nearly everything else in a family's life. “A safe and stable place to live is fundamental to everything else in life: our health, education, work,” Brewster said, according to the same report. South Kingstown's affordability problem is not new — the town has for years had a shortage of apartments serving households earning less than the area median income, independentri.com has reported.
Town Council Tied Earlier Funds to Affordable Units
The Kersey Road property has already been the subject of local government action. In October 2024, South Kingstown's town council considered reallocating $200,000 in ARPA funds previously awarded to the Jonnycake Center from 54/56 Kersey Road to 44/46 Kersey Road, according to a South Kingstown town council agenda. That shift was predicated on the creation of two deed-restricted affordable rental-housing units.
What Is Known About Kersey Road Plans
IndependentRI reported that a 2021 fire at 56 Kersey Road led Jonnycake to plan replacing nine units with 12 three- and four-bedroom units. That report documents a plan, not completed construction, and does not establish the property’s current status or what approvals are in place for renovation. The Town of South Kingstown lists an Affordable Housing Production Plan among the documents maintained by its Affordable Housing Collaborative Committee, but the listing alone does not specify housing needs, production targets or progress.
The broader numbers behind South Kingstown's housing squeeze are stark. HousingWorks RI has reported that buying a median-priced single-family home in South Kingstown requires an annual household income of $216,241, compared with $206,997 in North Kingstown and $280,756 in Narragansett. The organization's 2026 Housing Fact Book analysis found that affordably buying a home required income above $100,000 in every Rhode Island community, as the article notes.
A Statewide Squeeze on Renters and Buyers
The pressure isn't confined to South County. About one-third of Rhode Island households — 148,766 in all — spend more than 30% of their income on housing, according to Rhode Island Current. A household is generally considered cost burdened once it crosses that 30% threshold, per HousingWorks RI. Since 2018, the outlet reported, wages statewide have risen less than 30% while housing costs have climbed more than 60%.
There are signs of new construction responding to the demand. The state issued permits for 3,778 housing units in 2025, up 34% from the previous year, Rhode Island Current reported. Permits for buildings with at least two units rose 60% to 2,698, while permits for accessory dwelling units increased 76% to 287, according to the same report.
A Larger Overhaul Planned for Public Housing
South Kingstown's housing authority is pursuing its own large-scale fix. The authority wants to replace all 52 family housing units at two of its sites, Champagne Heights and Fournier Estates, independentri.com has reported. The first phase would construct 40 new family apartments on vacant land at Champagne Heights, with the overall $18 million project potentially yielding 115 apartments across both sites once complete.
The area median income for a family of four in South Kingstown is $106,000, while the average home purchase price locally runs between $450,000 and $500,000, according to independentri.com's earlier reporting. For families like Taylor's, those figures help explain why a $500,000 federal grant and a renovated building on Kersey Road carry outsized weight in a town where affordable options remain scarce.
