McKee, Town, Break Ground on $4.3M Coventry Community Learning Center

COVENTRY, RI — Gov. Dan McKee met Coventry officials at the Town Hall Annex, 1675 Flat River Road, Tuesday morning to break ground on the $4.3 million Coventry Community Learning Center offering workforce development, education support, health monitoring, mental and dental care.

The  federal funding for Gov. McKee’s Community Learning Center Municipal Grant program draws on $81.5 million in federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act was passed by Congress in 2021 without a single Republican vote in the Senate or House. The measure, President Joe Biden’s first legislative victory weeks after taking office despite the Jan. 8 insurrection that four Rhode Islanders were charged for their part in, delivered $1,400 stimulus checks, extended unemployment benefits and sent billions to local and state governments to weather the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nineteen communities received a total of $81.5 million to build community centers. In 2024, twelve communities  received grants from that fund. Another seven, Coventry included, have received a total of $26 million this year. The funding will pay to convert one-third of the Town Hall Annex into programming space for the Coventry Community Learning Center, which will house the services, including workforce development and education support. “Our community learning center initiative will allow cities and towns to create dedicated hubs that will drive positive change in education, workforce development, and health These centers will directly support our three goals for Rhode Island: improving educational outcomes, raising incomes, and building a healthier state,” McKee said in announcing the program in 2024.

Coventry Community Learning Center: Workforce Development

Workforce development, according to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, promotes employment by addressing the needs of both job seekers and employers, helping individuals obtain jobs and thrive in the workplace, while meeting the hiring demands of businesses.

“Adding spaces to train and learn, improving access to the internet, and providing in-person counseling and support for educational and workforce development initiatives should have a material effect on postsecondary attainment of degrees and credentials that are absolutely necessary for life-long success. Building and delivering these services at the municipal level helps to meet people where they are, and I commend all of the cities and towns who are participating in the community learning centers program,” said Dr. Shannon Gilkey, Rhode Island’s postsecondary commissioner, when the program was announced.

Coventry Community Learning Center: Library Services

Lauren Walker, Coventry Public Library director, said the ibrary will have dedicated programming space in the Community Learning Center.

Part of this will be a new space for the Literacy Volunteers of Kent County (LVKC,) a non-profit organization housed in the Coventry Public Library with a nationally recognized Adult Literacy Program that has been serving the Rhode Island community since 1980. LVKC trains volunteers to tutor adults with limited English literacy skills to help them function more effectively in their homes, workplaces, and communities. The LVKC space in the Community Learning Center will be used for tutor training workshops, meetings, tutor and student meet-up events, and more.

The rest of the library’s space in the Community Learning Center will be used for educational library programming for all ages such as book clubs, crafts, lectures, computer classes, and wellness programs.

“Currently, the Coventry Public Library’s biggest challenge is our limited programming space, so we are looking forward to the completion of the Community Learning Center and the opportunity to expand our programming,” Walker said.

Community Learning Center projects must be completed—with Certificates of Occupancy and Beneficial Use—by October 31, 2026, and all U.S. Treasury-required programs must be operational within the center no later than December 31, 2026. Coventry Human Services Director Bob Robillard says the project is expected to be complete by October. He said the town has also posted a Coventry Community Learning Center Survey to learn what else the community would like them to add to the services they’ll provide there.

Related: Magaziner Shares Plans Curbing Energy & Food Costs