By Steve Klamkin WPRO News

A ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday morning marked the opening of the new, $5 million Amos House soup kitchen and community center on Providence’s South Side.

“Thank you to all of you who stepped up to make this happen… awesome!,” said Ned Handy, the Washington Trust bank president and chairman of the Amos House fundraising campaign.

“When we embarked on this project seven, eight years ago, many people said that we would not do it, that we could not possibly raise $5 million for a soup kitchen on the South Side of Providence” said Eileen Hayes, the President and CEO of the non-profit.

“But guess what? We did it,” Hayes said, to the applause of about 200 supporters who gathered on Pine Street to witness the event. She introduced James Isom, a worker with Ahlborg Construction, which built the 29,000 square foot facility, and who once took advantage of its soup kitchen in the older building next door.

“A friend of mine had asked the other day, “Do these programs really work?”,” Isom said, wearing a hard hat. “If anyone questions whether these programs work, I stand before you as proof, they do work.”

Federal funding toward the construction totaled $730,500, Rhode Island Housing made a $1 million gift, and more than $3 million in gifts and pledges came from local businesses, foundations and individuals. Hayes said she was most proud that Amos House employees themselves donated $45,000 toward the campaign.

The Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation issued $7.51 million in New Market Tax Credits that were purchased by Bank of America. The New Markets Tax Credit Coalition, an industry group describes the credits as being designed to increase the flow of capital to businesses and low income communities by providing a modest tax incentive to private investors.