EffectEffect typeEffect directionLevel of analysisMeasurement quality
Nearly 1,200 voted, 923 in personBehavior or practice changePositiveCommunityVerified
Over 200 voters aged 13 to 17Behavior or practice changePositiveCommunityVerified
22.7% of eligible voters rarely vote locallyBehavior or practice changePositiveCommunityVerified
Delegates more comfortable with speaking, budgets, documentsCapacity builtPositiveIndividualVerified
Participants' definition of health widenedMental model emergedPositiveIndividualTestified
Eight projects funded, seven delivered by October 2025Material or project outcomePositiveCommunityVerified
Two accessible composting toilets at Merino ParkMaterial or project outcomePositiveCommunityVerified
2,000 households got lead-removing water filtersMaterial or project outcomePositiveCommunityClaimed
56 students certified in peer mental health supportCapacity builtPositiveIndividualClaimed
97 youth played soccer, 75 bikes given, 50+ in life skillsMaterial or project outcomePositiveIndividual, CommunityClaimed
Two community orchards plantedMaterial or project outcomePositiveCommunityClaimed
Over 2,200 residents took part in funded programsMaterial or project outcomePositiveCommunityClaimed
Bus stops last to finish; press reports them builtMaterial or project outcomeMixed or unintendedCommunityClaimed
Program participants felt more connected, able to change thingsRelationships and trustPositiveIndividual, CommunityVerified
Committee members gained confidence, stayed involvedCapacity builtPositiveIndividualTestified
New ties among residents, nonprofits and agenciesRelationships and trustPositiveInterpersonal, CommunityTestified
Money went to small grassroots groups, not usual granteesBehavior or practice changePositiveOrganizational, CommunityClaimed
RIPTA and Parks staff plan earlier resident involvementBehavior or practice changePositiveOrganizationalTestified
Medicaid insurers joined a community processRelationships and trustPositiveOrganizationalVerified
First Medicaid-funded PB in the United StatesInstitutional or policy changePositiveSocietalClaimed
Council President sees 'a road map' for city PBNarrative or cultural shiftPositiveSocietalTestified
Elected officials showed up only to say thanksRelationships and trustNegativeInterpersonal, SocietalTestified
No public money secured for a next cycleInstitutional or policy changeNegativeSocietalVerified
Most filter recipients did not know PB paid for itNarrative or cultural shiftMixed or unintendedCommunityVerified
Frustration with City pace; distrust of City persistsRelationships and trustNegativeInterpersonalTestified
Committee members lost track of the wider processRelationships and trustNegativeInterpersonalTestified
Bikes bought at Walmart, not locallyBehavior or practice changeMixed or unintendedCommunityTestified
Participants want PB to continue, 4.55 of 5Narrative or cultural shiftPositiveCommunityClaimed
Convener laid off the whole PB team, left HEZ partnershipInstitutional or policy changeNegativeOrganizational, CommunityVerified
Residents' trust in the convener brokenRelationships and trustNegativeCommunity, InterpersonalTestified
Maker’s note · curator

Headline numbers: over 300 ideas (347 per Ocean State Media), 20 on the ballot, nearly 1,200 voters by the convener's and state's count (923 in person, 264 online, more than 200 aged 13 to 17; Ocean State Media says more than 1,300), eight winners at $1,000,000, seven delivered by October 2025 and the bus stops promised by the end of 2025 and reported built by March 2026. Delivered: two ADA-accessible urine-diverting composting toilets at Merino Park plus stewards keeping Donigian and Davis Park bathrooms open 20 hours a week for two seasons; 2,000 households given a dispenser and three lead-certified filters with outreach at over 50 sites; 16 peer mental health sessions in Spanish and English with 56 students completing; 10 life skills sessions for over 50 youth; two community orchards in Olneyville and Smith Hill; 97 young people in soccer (goal 25); 75 bikes and repair kits (goal 50); over 2,200 program participants in total per the case study's web page. Measurement is honest but uneven: turnout and demographics come from the state's surveys; project counts from implementer reports; participant satisfaction from implementer surveys (100 filter recipients, 57 soccer families, 65 bike families); the relational and institutional effects from 25 interviews that the case study itself says are prone to self-report and selection bias. Two findings cut against the story: the state evaluation found no significant skill gains among Steering Committee members, only delegates; and 63 percent of filter recipients did not know PB had paid for their filter (61 percent of soccer families did know). The case study's central verdict is that implementation stayed community-led because a flexible nonprofit coordinator ran it, and that the same coordinator was stretched, under-communicated, and could have handed more to residents. The press adds the ending: Ocean State Media reports that the day after the Council President said the fund gave her a road map for city PB, ONE|NB laid off the director and six colleagues, and that the organization then left its RIDOH partnership and returned grants; the Providence Post reports the whole five-person HEZ team gone, four board members resigned, the Executive Committee and Resident Advisory Council never consulted, and a Steering Committee member saying 'the trust is gone'. Turnout of nearly 1,200 is out of more than 84,000 residents.

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