Dennis Roy, President and CEO of East Bay Community Action Program (EBCAP), has announced his plans to retire in late 2022. Jim Vincent, Chair of EBCAP’s Board of Directors, is leading a national search for his successor. No definitive date for his departure has been set as the agency awaits to conclude its national search for his replacement. Until that time, Roy will continue to lead the organization and help with its leadership transition.
For more than three decades, Roy devoted himself to being a champion of the marginalized, the underserved, and the most vulnerable residents of Rhode Island’s East Bay region. His career as a leader of community action programs began in 1988 when he was appointed President and CEO of Self Help, Inc. Roy concurrently served as CEO for Self Help and New Visons for Newport County, Inc. from 1997 until 2004 when the two well-established agencies merged to form East Bay Community Action Program. He then made the seamless transition to CEO of EBCAP, which continued serving Newport County as well as East Providence and Bristol County.
In the 18 years as EBCAP’s President and CEO, Roy’s leadership was instrumental in guiding the agency through significant growth and advancement. This included securing $3 million in federal funding (part of a $1.5 billion Health Care Reform appropriation) to build a state-of-the-art health center in Newport’s north end in 2010; and the expansion of services in 2016 when EBCAP merged with East Bay Center, a behavioral health service agency. The result of this merger enabled EBCAP to establish a fully integrated healthcare delivery system that provides patients, clients, and community members direct access to vital primary health, behavioral health, and social support services. Today, thanks to Roy’s vision and initiative, EBCAP provides services in 28 locations to over 30,000 clients and patients annually, employs close to 500 employees, and has an operating budget of $44 million.
As a community action program, EBCAP’s mission is to build strong, resilient communities where the most vulnerable individuals have access to essential health and human services. Due to Roy’s leadership, local communities have come to rely on EBCAP for much-needed support in times of crisis. In 2005, Roy mobilized the EBCAP staff to assist families from New Orleans who were seeking refuge in East Bay communities in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. During the week-long natural gas outage in January 2019, EBCAP joined a collective community response to assist more than 7,400 local residents with emergency services. Most notably, under Roy’s direction, EBCAP supported Rhode Island’s COVID-19 pandemic response and recovery efforts. EBCAP’s health services administered COVID-19 tests and vaccines; its social services division provided emergency food distribution, PPE distribution, test kits, and assistance with RentReliefRI applications; and its early childhood education and youth development programs helped families access remote learning support systems for elementary students and preschoolers as well as helped connect families to much-needed community resources.
“It has been a privilege to work with so many dedicated staff and board members over the years who do their best to serve every member of our community. In addition, it is inspiring to witness the progress that our families make in achieving their goals through our support. Finally, I have had the opportunity to engage with so many community leaders who strive to make a difference in our communities.” -Dennis Roy, EBCAP President and CEO
East Bay Community Action Program is a private, non-profit 501 (c) (3) corporation that provides a wide array of health and human services to the residents of Rhode Island’s East Bay, including the municipalities of East Providence, Barrington, Warren, Bristol, Little Compton, Tiverton, Portsmouth, Middletown, Newport, and Jamestown. For more information about the agency or to learn how you can contribute please visit www.ebcap.org.
