Homeless in RI: Shelter opens, shelter closes. Memorial Hospital to take 120+ from Motel 6.

Open Doors planning to move shelter from Motel 6 to Memorial Hospital

A building on the campus of Memorial Hospital will become a homeless shelter – once again – to be run by Open Doors. Residents will be moved from the Warwick Motel 6 shelter, as a first priority, with openings then going to people on the CES system. Motel 6 will close as a shelter. Motel 6 has also been run by Open Doors.

The hospital building once served as a family shelter run by Amos House, until a flooding problem closed it. It has been vacant until this time. The building to be used is a distinct three story building near Prospect Street, and not the familiar main hospital structure which is now a shadow of its former self, covered in graffiti with broken windows, and in the process of being boarded up. The $20K for the boarding is being paid by the city, with charge back to the developer, Lockwood.

In a press release sent to RINewsToday Friday evening from Open Doors they thanked Governor McKee, the Department of Housing, and Pawtucket Mayor Grebien for the “collaboration”. The move is planned for some time in March. The shelter will begin with 120 but is expected to grow to larger numbers, according to news reports.

Motel 6 Challenges – The current Motel 6 location has had its challenges. It is located immediately adjacent to a day care center – and also serves to house registered sex offenders – 8 of whom are currently registered as living there on the state required registry. It is assumed they will also be offered the move to Pawtucket. In a conversation about the sex offenders living at the facility, Nick Horton, co-director of Open Doors said, “the staff and residents of our shelters strongly believe that having a place to stay indoors, particularly when it is freezing out, is far safer than being on the streets.”  Horton also noted, “the ways in which we make Motel 6 as safe as we can despite the challenges [include] searches for contraband, wellness checks, a ban on the use of drugs or alcohol in the facility”.

When asked about a comment made by another staff member of Open Doors that “at this point I feel that a new location would be more beneficial than staying here” – Horton said she was thinking “it would be preferable if we could have an even better designed and resourced location for this large shelter”.

Several emails went back and forth pressing Horton about the future of the Motel 6 and the move to Memorial Hospital was never mentioned. Less than a day later, the official announcement came out, and then Open Doors sent out a press release.  When asked why the closure of Motel 6 was not mentioned in our conversation, and also for other information, all Horton said was “Please feel free to call me if you have any questions.”

The press release said, “There are many challenges to housing so many people in such a concentrated environment, even with the resources we have, and so we are always looking for better locations, more resources, and ways we can improve our shelters.  

Shelter gain net zero in short term

This is also the second time a new shelter opened and transferring clients from an existing shelter and then closing that one. A net gain of rooms being zero. Crossroads is currently building a new building which should be completed in 2026 which will house the residents of their existing building who will be moved over, and then that building will be renovated – with a completion date of 3-4 years down the road from now. The new structure will, eventually, double the number of onsite rooms offered by Crossroads.

“We run safe shelters and have a track record of working hard to be good neighbors, and we look forward to meeting the community around the hospital,” said OpenDoors Deputy Director Dina Bruce. “The new location is much better suited to this use – it has more room for providing services, common space, and isn’t located next to an active commercial motel. We are also very hopeful this will be a more financially sustainable operation. We estimate that this project will cost a million to a million and a half dollars less a year than what it would cost to provide the same service at Motel 6, and we are very thankful for all the support we have received to make this possible.”

Open Doors, originally a small program whose mission was to assist people coming out of the justice system re-acclimate to the community, has grown. They operate an expanded program at the Providence/Pawtucket line at 1139 North Main Street which includes a warming center and a 24/7 drop in – they have recently expanded to an empty building which allows more people to walk in and get services including shower facilities.

Remembering Rico

Horton said, “Several weeks ago, a gentleman named Rico Ramey tragically froze to death near North Main Street in Providence not very far from another one of our facilities. Our hearts go out to his loved ones. We are hoping we can continue to provide life-saving shelter to so many in need at this location going forward, despite the budget shortfall facing this state next year.”

Memorial Hospital’s campus has been tied up in a multi-year legal battle with Michael Mota and Lockwood Development. Mota claimed to own the building, but that may not be a clear issue. The state the Memorial Hospital campus has disintegrated into is shocking when all buildings and landscape are viewed. Memorial is in a residential community and it was not disclosed if neighbors have been consulted about the program.

Memorial had also been set for sale to a group to run a veterans program, which would include residences, medical, social services, and a homeless component. That idea seemed to end as soon as it was announced.