Homeless in RI: Update: Another death in the cold. Echo Village. Shelter list? Pawt. Memorial a maybe

Edits and updates in RED

Homeless man dies outdoors in Fall River

The ongoing issue of homelessness in the city has drawn intense scrutiny from critics and the Fall River City Council since the body of 59-year-old Jaime Cordeiro was discovered Feb. 18 near 89 Globe Mills Ave. On Tuesday night, the matter before the council involved hearing from Steppingstone Inc. in the city’s hunt for answers. 

This was RINewsToday’s Weather on that night:

Mayor Paul Coogan’s administration “has implored Steppingstone Inc. to open their substantial ‘meeting space’ to be used as a warming center,” and offered to staff it with the city’s EMS personnel and police, “but is consistently denied.”

Full story, here: https://www.heraldnews.com/story/news/homelessness/2025/02/26/fall-river-homeless-man-found-dead-discussion-combatting-homelessness/80368495007/

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Echo Village Pallet Shelter update

Opened Feb. 11th – 15 days ago. From House of Hope: “Move-ins began immediately & will continue in phases of 10-15 every week until full. We are already on to phase 3 this week, so another 10-15+ have come in this week. This cadence will speed up or slow down as we get folks settled. Couples are welcome at ECHO, but each individual is assigned their own unit. This is a program design feature based on the interviews I did with providers operating similar projects across the country.

As I stated earlier today in my other message, we are not at full capacity. Every day we are making progress towards full capacity; I guesstimate that we will be full in the next week or so.”

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Emergency Overnight Shelter List

Lots of lists! But no one list – and no one outreach effort to get the information to the people.

We have seen the past two weekends in a crisis situation to provide overnight shelter information to those living on the streets. No one agency is charged with developing this list. Shelters change by the day in the winter (and anticipated so in the summer), hours change, some open and close on a daily basis depending on the weather – or the advocacy efforts. For the past two weeks, RINewsToday gathered the information from multiple sources and sought to circulate it. This meant hours on the phone with fire chiefs and town managers.

The extraordinary contribution of the DaVinci Center opening in Providence made all the difference this year, but it having to close in the last month left no large facility open. We urge Rhode Island to get this together as this weekend approaches with temps anticipated in the teens – and in anticipation of hot summer months. RI Coalition to end Homelessness – the RI EMA, the RI Department of Housing – who is the keeper of the list? Beyond that, what is the outreach effort? It seems to rely, at least in Providence, by well-meaning, compassionate EMS, Fire and Police.

We suggest the list be called “RICO’s LIST”

Homeless in RI: Rico froze to death on North Main St. in Providence – Janice Luongo, Street Sights

NEW: Pawtucket’s Memorial Hospital NOT YET FINALIZED as a homeless shelter

The Valley Breeze reports that the announcement that former Memorial Hospital will be reopening as a homeless shelter are premature, according to Mayor Grebien – he, along with the city’s council claims they do not have a proposal and there are other issues to deal with (https://www.valleybreeze.com/news/officials-talk-of-homeless-shelter-at-memorial-premature/article_0ce20770-ed51-11ef-823b-3fe9b4ad164f.html)

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Homeless Data Dashboard in Code

Governor McKee’s office sent out a press release noting that “the RI Department of Housing launched a dashboard that depicts shelter bed utilization for the prior night as well as the total number of beds in the system”.    

The availability is divided into two categories: individual beds and family units. Per its intended use, each family unit contains multiple beds so families can shelter together.

Emergency hubs and warming shelter beds are not included in this data, as they are open only during severe weather situations.  

Programs are not identified – only given a project ID – and no location or operating entity.

The dashboard is designed to help the state monitor the usage of available shelters. This dashboard is not intended to be a placement tool for individuals experiencing homelessness and should not be viewed as a predictor of real-time or future bed availability. 

All information used to update the dashboard is provided to the State by the Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness and shelter providers.  

It is noted that the Dashboard is updated daily. At this time it has not been updated for data past 3 days ago, February 13th.

According to the Coalition: This dashboard is a high-level shelter capacity tracking tool that depicts shelter bed utilization for the prior night as well as the total number of beds in the system.

The dashboard is available – in interactive form – on the Department of Housing website:   Homelessness Data Dashboard | Department of Housing

Notably, shelter locations coded with no identifying information as to where they are or who runs them. We have a full utilization report that can be matched with the Project ID #s.

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A warm open door in town – the MLK Center and their partners in Newport

(from an op ed to the Newport Daily News from MLK Center’s CEO, Heather Stout):

Beyond Newport’s mansions and stunning coast, communities of people struggle each day to find affordable childcare, housing and to put food on the table. At the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, we proudly serve and empower Newport County residents by alleviating these struggles as best we can. Homelessness is a growing concern. Together with Newport Mental Health and CODAC Behavioral Healthcare, we are in our second year of hosting our Overnight Warming Center, for those who do not have a bed at the McKinney Shelter or another place to sleep. During the winter months, we open our doors to people in need from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., seven days a week.

For most of December, we dedicate our community room, where the Warming Center is facilitated, to Santa’s Workshop providing toys to over 1,300 kids in need. Despite falling temperatures, we are unable to host the Warming Center until after the holidays. Thankfully, Fr. Kevin Beesley and St. John’s Parish opened their doors to those in need of a warm place to sleep until we opened on Dec. 28.

The Warming Center is expensive and intricate to run, requiring highly trained professionals working overnight, prepared to deal with any emergencies or complications. These positions are staffed by our partners at CODAC and Newport Mental Health’s Rhode Island Outreach team. Thanks to support from the Newport Police and Fire Departments, we have safely handled any issues. Because our Breakfast Program begins weekdays at 7:30 a.m., we must clean the space for each morning’s program transition in just 30 minutes. It’s a tight squeeze, but we make it happen.

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Homeless protest against encampment removals at Providence Police Department

(excerpts from Rhode Island Current):

A group of nearly 40 homelessness advocates ​​went to meet with Providence’s police chief Wednesday afternoon to voice concerns over the alleged harassment of unhoused people outside the Mathewson Street United Methodist Church by officers in recent months.

But when they arrived at the city’s public safety complex on Washington Street, an officer inside the building blocked their entry by standing in the entryway. Lt. Patrick Potter then came out to tell the Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project’s (RIHAP) members that he would make some calls.

“They’re doing a lot of talking, but no one’s talking to us,” Black Lives Matter RI PAC Director Harrison Tuttle told the crowd waiting. “And that’s because they’re scared — because they know that when the people respond, they have no answer for their actions.”

But Col. Oscar Perez wasn’t even in the building. Police spokesperson Lindsay Lague said information on the chief’s whereabouts was not available. But wherever he was, he answered a call from Tuttle 20 minutes after the crowd first gathered. Tuttle put the call on speaker for the crowd to hear. “I didn’t even know you guys were coming,” Perez said.

Organizers did not want the Providence Police Department to know about the demonstration ahead of time. RIHAP Director Eric Hirsch told Rhode Island Current the protest was unannounced to try and grab the chief’s attention. “We’ve met with him twice before, but there’s no resulting action to stop what his officers are doing,” Hirsch said. So it was Potter who had to field most of the crowd’s outrage over recent incidents between police and the unhoused reported at the Mathewson Street Church.

A news release issued by RIHAP claims that six months ago, an officer confronted a group standing outside the church, telling them they couldn’t remain on the sidewalk and warning he was “tired of dealing” with them. A month later, another officer allegedly ordered a group sitting across the street from the church to leave.

On Jan. 15, surveillance footage captured officers shining flashlights into a man’s face as he slept in a doorway. On Feb. 12, two officers reportedly searched an unhoused person who was standing on the sidewalk near the church and hurled expletives.

Police continue to allegedly harass unhoused people near the church, Director of Outreach Kevin Simon told Potter. “Police cars are still coming down our street every single day,” Simon said. Potter said officers continue to stop unhoused people near the church “because of behaviors.”

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Advocates claim Providence police officers are violating the state’s Homeless Bill of Rights. The law enacted in 2012 states that unhoused people have the right to use and move freely in public spaces, privacy for their personal property, and the right to equal treatment by all state and municipal agencies.

“Large numbers of officers are not respecting people on the street,” Hirsch said. “They’re treating them as if they’re trash that needs to be removed.”

Protestors associated claim the number of incidents of harassment has risen along with the state’s homelessness crisis. At least 2,442 unhoused people across Rhode Island were counted when volunteers conducted an annual survey in late January 2024 — up 35% over the 2023 count.

Many unhoused Rhode Islanders have no space to shelter. The state’s shelter dashboard notes a total of 1,514 beds available across the entire state, with 96 unused as of Feb. 25.

Providence Police Maj. Roger Aspinall stepped outside and suggested to the crowd that they bring their complaints and evidence to the police department’s Office of Professional Responsibility. He also said that Perez would be willing to accommodate advocates some time in the near future.

The crowd dispersed after about 40 minutes. Hirsch told reporters after the protest concluded that appealing to the Office of Professional Responsibility is one avenue to end alleged harassment, but it’s only a bandage on the larger problem.

“They need to suspend or dismiss those officers who have harassed people,” Hirsch said. “They need to order the police to respect people and understand that they have to be on the street.”

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley’s office said the city is “deeply committed to addressing homelessness through a comprehensive, collaborative approach,” in response to a request for comment.

“Since May 2023, the Smiley Administration has allocated over $6 million to expand shelter beds and transitional housing, creating more than 180 new beds in Providence,” according to a statement from city spokesperson Josh Estrella. “We continue to work closely with contracted outreach teams to connect unhoused individuals to housing, shelter, behavioral health supports, and warming centers during extreme weather.”

Link to story: https://rhodeislandcurrent.com/2025/02/26/outside-providence-police-headquarters-advocates-protest-alleged-harassment-of-homeless-people/?emci=ef454464-ccf3-ef11-90cb-0022482a94f4&emdi=0e3af800-faf4-ef11-90cb-0022482a94f4&ceid=148977

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First “Over 55” Emergency Shelter

Charlesgate Nursing Center reopened its doors as the state’s first emergency temporary homeless shelter for homeless adults aged 55 and older. The shelter will start with 16 beds, aiming to host 40 adults by early March, and will be managed by Amos House, a homelessness support agency.

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Providence Hostel Evicts Homeless

(from ABC6 report)

David O’Connor and Cesar Michie had the right intentions with their efforts, but it got messy and dangerous for Michie, who owns Michie House, a hostel in Providence.

“We are regular people who have cheap rooms, and we are trying to work as much as we can to help our community with all the people that need housing,” Michie said. “But they were doing drugs.”

Michie owns three properties that O’Connor was renting to house homeless people and one of those was Michie House on Central Street. “We have professional people, we have travel nurses, we have people who are in between houses who have regular jobs but are just having a hard time finding housing,” Michie explained.

However, after three weeks of housing and at least $3,000 in damages later, Michie said it’s out of hand and he’s had enough. Michie told residents to leave the hostel over the weekend. “Bloody mattresses, broken TVs, needles, I don’t know how many needles I found in the last month,” Michie said.

According to Michie, he was willing to provide a place to stay for roughly 100 people at first, but quickly realized there was a big drug problem. “We found fentanyl in some of the rooms we were cleaning it was bad, it was very bad,” Michie said. “I feel like I’m traumatized from seeing all these things.”

“That’s the war we need to work on, that’s the real real crisis, because if these people weren’t on drugs, they can be able to work, they would be able to find housing, there’s places like this that will receive, we open our arms,”

Michie said O’Connor still owes him almost $6,000 for rent and damages. ABC6 News spoke with O’Connor, who said he’s trying to rectify the financial issues and made a payment of $2,000 to Michie Wednesday. O’Connor said he thought local or state government would have stepped in by now. Currently, Michie is losing money with his business closed for cleaning and repairs.

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Speaker of the House submits Housing bills

Watch the presentation, here:

Watch, here: https://capitoltvri.cablecast.tv/watch/stream/4?site=1

The bills announced today are:

• Building code: 2025-H 5804, sponsored by Speaker Shekarchi would build upon legislation introduced in last year’s housing package (2024-H 7983B, 2024-S 2990A), which codified the structure of the State Building Code Office and clarified the role of the State Building Code Commissioner. This legislation would provide additional clarity and centralize roles and quorums in order to further streamline the process and centralize the duties of the state officials, employees, commissions, and boards related to building and fire codes and permitting.
• Expansion of electronic permitting: 2025-H 5803, sponsored by Speaker Shekarchi would build upon legislation introduced in last year’s housing package (H-2024 7978A, 2024-S 3036A) to expand the use of electronic permitting for building permits, which is mandated for planning and zoning applications by October of this year. This legislation requires that applications for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council, and the Rhode Island Department of Transportation utilize the e-permitting system by October 2026. 
• Technical amendments to Zoning Enabling Act and Subdivision Act: 2025-H 5794, sponsored by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert E. Craven (D-Dist. 32, North Kingstown) is based on feedback received from the Land Use Commission and various stakeholders, including local cities and towns, developers, advocates, planners and developers. The legislation seeks to clarify the processes set forth in the Zoning Enabling Act and Subdivision Act and to correct issues that are creating unnecessary delays and/or red tape. Additionally, Rhode Island’s Adaptive Reuse law (2023-H 6090A, 2023-S 1035A) is further clarified to encourage projects to continue to convert underutilized or vacant commercial buildings.
• Low and Moderate Housing Act amendments: 2025-H 5801, sponsored by House Commission on Housing Affordability Chairwoman June S. Speakman (D-Dist. 68, Warren, Bristol) furthers the work of the Affordable Housing Commission and implements feedback received by and from the commission. The legislation builds upon substantial amendments made to Rhode Island’s Low and Moderate Housing Act via legislation sponsored by Chair Speakman (2022-H 7949Aaa, 2022-S 3046A) in 2022. This legislation further clarifies standards and findings required for development to remove subjectivity in the process.
• Development of state-owned vacant properties for housing: 2025-H 5802, sponsored by Rep. Thomas E. Noret (D-Dist. 25, Coventry, West Warwick) would leverage data collected by the Commission to Study the Cost and Status of State-Owned Vacant Properties, which was established via a resolution (H-2022 7320Aaa) he sponsored to review state-owned vacant and/or abandoned properties that may be utilized for housing opportunities throughout the state. This legislation establishes a streamlined approval process to be used for such properties.
• Temporary exemptions from the tax levy cap to accommodate new housing: 2025-H 5793, sponsored by House Labor Committee Chairman Arthur J. Corvese (D-Dist. 55, North Providence) was requested by the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns; it would allow an exemption from the local annual maximum tax levy for new construction of housing under certain conditions. The exemption would be contingent upon approval by the municipality and is only allowed where the new housing includes a portion of affordable units, among other criteria.
• Reliance on zoning certificates: 2025-H 5795, sponsored by Rep. Tina Spears (D-Dist. 36, Charlestown, New Shoreham, South Kingstown, Westerly) would allow purchasers to reasonably rely on zoning opinions issued by local officials. Presently, when a current or prospective property owner obtains a zoning certificate, the certificate is for instructive purposes only and not binding; this amendment would remove the non-binding nature of zoning certificates to allow property owners to rely on the municipal determination of the legality of the present use. 
• Village/mixed-use zoning requirements: 2025-H 5800, sponsored by Chairman Craven would require municipalities to provide for village or mixed-use zoning to allow residential use in some or all areas of their commercial zoning districts.
• Higher density development in areas within the urban services boundary: 2025-H 5796, sponsored by Rep. Jason Knight (D-Dist. 67, Barrington, Warren) is designed to encourage higher density development in areas within the urban services boundary. The legislation provides that the city or town shall allow residential uses other than solely single-family units in these areas where public water and sewer are available.
• Attached single family dwelling units: 2025-H 5798, sponsored by Chair Speakman is based on feedback from housing advocates and financial institutions regarding the demand for lower-cost home ownership opportunities, such as townhomes. This legislation encourages municipalities to allow such units where the structures share a party wall and a lot line, but are independent lots. The legislation would allow such type of units where zoning already allows the same density in a vertical style, by way of tenement or other two-, three-, or multi-family structures. 
• Infill/oversized lot subdivisions: 2025-H 5799, sponsored by Rep. Cherie L. Cruz (D-Dist. 58, Pawtucket) is based on feedback presented to the Land Use Commission to take advantage of underutilized land in a community. It would allow oversized lots to be subdivided if the resulting lots are equal to or greater than the lots in the immediate area. Additionally, the legislation would allow administrative modifications of dimensional requirements based on the average dimensional standard of the surrounding structures.
• Co-living housing opportunities: 2025-H 5797, sponsored by House Small Business Committee Chairwoman Carol Hagan McEntee (D-Dist. 33, South Kingstown, Narragansett) would enable municipalities to allow for the use of co-housing arrangements as energy-efficient, low-cost housing options similar to dorms in which there are common spaces, amenities, and facilities, but residents have separate private bedrooms. This housing model has been adopted by other states as a cost-effective option.

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Response to the Speaker’s legislative package by the RI League of Cities & Towns:

“Rhode Island’s cities and towns have made significant progress on the housing front with many developments completed or coming to close completion and several more being approved for construction. We recognize that housing is a barrier for Rhode Islanders across the economic spectrum and has an impact on economic development, which is why municipalities have been focused on striking a balance between new development and the needs of existing residents and businesses. New homes and residents have an impact, one that communities are obligated to meet, which is why we have advocated for consistent aid to communities, revisions to the school funding formula and a new proposal to exempt new housing from the 4.0% annual tax levy cap. At the same time, our members will continue to review legislation raising practical concerns when needed, such as locating housing next to heavy industrial areas industrial areas or the conversion of industrial areas, which in some communities is very limited already. 

We have been working closely with Speaker Shekarchi on housing policy and issues. We are appreciative of his open door and willingness to understand the policy implications and incorporate our feedback. The House’s incorporation of our levy growth cap proposal will be extremely helpful to communities to ensure existing residents don’t bear the brunt of paying for services for new housing developments. We will be reviewing the package of bills presented today, analyzing their impact, and providing constructive feedback where needed.” 

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Letter In Support of Additional Revenue to Help Fight Homelessness to the House Finance Committee – signed by homeless/housing agencies

Rhode Island is experiencing an unprecedented level of homelessness and unfortunately the current budget for next year would result in an approximately 70% reduction in funds for efforts to reduce homelessness. Our organizations, which work to help support the unhoused residents of Rhode Island, are in support of the Governor’s amendments which would avoid the worst of these cuts. The “dedicated homeless fund” is necessary to avoid an increase in homelessness.  Even if these amendments were to pass, the state would still be facing around a 58% cut to these services.

According to public information provided by the Department of Housing, around $37 million dollars has been contracted for homelessness supportive services this year. Right now, we anticipate the Department only having around eleven million dollars in FY 26 without these amendments. We are hoping this committee can provide more details on these numbers when the Department of Housing budget is discussed next month.

Progress has been built upon Governor McKee, the Department of Housing, and the Legislature’s investment of millions of Federal dollars to create and fund a real Department of Housing, and this decision has avoided having three times as many homeless Rhode Islanders as we do now.  The total number of shelter beds increased by 145.5%, from 674 in January 2020 to 1655 in February 2025 with more beds set to open soon.  We hope the State will continue this progress by supporting these additional revenue sources. Specifically, this consists of the additional short term rental tax described in section 44-25-1(c) and the increased conveyance tax in section 42-63.1-3.(h)

These amendments will prevent hundreds of families with children, elderly, and disabled from living on the streets. These individuals come from communities all over the state, from Coventry, to Cumberland, to Warwick, to South County. As community leaders, providers, advocates, and communities directly impacted by homelessness, we stand firmly in opposition to the current cuts. Even with the current level of funding, homelessness has been growing. Unsheltered homelessness increased by 652%, from 71 people to 534 people between 2019 and 2024.

A 70% reduction in shelter funding could mean shutting down over 1,000 shelter beds and cutting other essential programming which prevents homelessness such as outreach to homeless communities and ‘housing problem solving’ services. We anticipate a wave of homelessness this fall if more money is not allocated. Even with these amendments, our state will still likely be forced to cut millions of dollars in services.  That is why we are requesting the state work to introduce additional funding for these services, even beyond the amendment being heard today.  We need twenty million dollars added to this budget, on top of the amendments being heard today, to prevent cuts to these services.

Homelessness has increased primarily due to the increasing cost of housing, causing hundreds of the elderly, families with children, and people that are ill or disabled to become homelessness for the first time.  Supporting homelessness infrastructure and services now will save money on healthcare, police and prison, unemployment and homelessness later because homelessness makes all other health and social needs more costly.

We understand that this is a difficult budget year and the state is facing cuts in many departments. However, there are a number of proposals that we think would be far better than forcing these cuts to services. We would encourage the legislature to seriously consider all options available to provide these critical funds.

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