Project HEALTH Summer Institute

by Emma Anselin

I believe that you can only come to know and understand a place if you have walked it. A friend who returned from study abroad once told me that she would always feel closer to Prague than to Providence, because she had spent her time in that foreign city weaving through back alleys and markets and neighborhoods. Her insight really struck me. I rarely make the time to wander and wonder about Providence. It is deeply saddening that I could leave Brown without forging a personal connection to the surrounding urban environment. 

This past weekend, I walked to Federal Hill with a group of friends for a birthday dinner. The walk took us through downtown Providence and across the highway, which roars and churns like an impenetrable barrier. The blocks that immediately surround the highway seem deserted. There are a lot of empty corporate buildings on one side of the divide, and boarded-up warehouses on the other. Was there once a neighborhood, a community, here? I’m sure that many Providence residents could tap the collective memory of the city and answer that question. I cannot. 

There is a cobblestone square in Federal Hill, complete with a sculptured fountain, that can transport your imagination to a European plaza. It serves as a hub for a network of bustling Italian restaurants and boutiques. When my parents visit, I take them to Federal Hill to indulge in food outside the sphere of Thayer Street. I think of this community as a world far beyond college hill, and I give myself a pat on the back whenever I venture there. Yet I know this neighborhood entirely through the energy of its restaurants, rather than the energy of the people who live or work there. 

The only time that I ventured beyond the strip of Italian cuisine in Federal Hill was for a Project HEALTH event, in which Sophia and I photographed neighborhoods with affordable housing. We only had to walk one block to leave behind the neon facades and enter a quiet residential area. Project HEALTH has given me the opportunity to get acquainted with the side of Providence that families witness, love, and struggle with. Clients have graciously shared with me the memories, emotions, and experiences that shape their knowledge of this city. I think that the Summer Institute will allow I and other volunteers to connect to the Providence community on a new dimension – through the organizations that tap into the political and economic structures of this city. I hope that this summer will yield plenty of time for walking, for learning, and for finding a sense of belonging in Providence. These experiences can further lay the foundation for us to work together with Providence residents to create change.