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Homeless in RI: Executive Order – September’s Street Sights, RI’s publication by and for homeless
Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets
The July Presidential executive order, titled ‘Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets,’ directs federal agencies to prioritize grants for state and local governments that ban homeless encampments and loitering, among other practices. The order also calls on the attorney general to reverse court decisions that limit the government from involuntarily detaining people who are homeless and relocating those experiencing mental illness or addiction issues.
‘From having talked to my colleagues across the country, it’s just horribly scary,’ said Kimberly Simmons, executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness. ‘The Trump-Vance administration does not seem to understand that some of the social ills in our communities are not going to be fixed by putting people in jail or having them illegally moved from their encampments.’
In 2024, Rhode Island received more than $30 million worth of state and local HUD grants.
The executive order directs HUD, as well as the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Transportation, to prioritize doling out those grants to communities that crack down on encampments, squatting, illicit drug use and tracking sex offenders.
The waiting list for shelter beds is expected to worsen with a 56% reduction from last year in state funding for homeless services. Simmons said her team has been working closely with the Rhode Island State Council of Churches to create more cooling and warming centers, as nonprofit organizations help fill the gap.‘There are other options, like eviction policies and how we manage legally going into encampments,’ she said, suggesting policy solutions that don’t require substantial funding. ‘There are things we could do that would benefit the most vulnerable people who are struggling, so I think that’s where we’re going to focus a whole lot of our advocacy and attention.’
Read the full Executive Order HERE
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Street Sights – Rhode Island’s Only Homeless Magazine and Resource Guide
It is RINewsToday’s honor to publish Street Sights – the monthly magazine of this nonprofit organization that shares resources, educates people about housing injustice, acts as an advocacy forum for the sharing of accurate information regarding homelessness, and is a creative outlet through mediums like poetry, and be a voice for the voiceless population individuals in Rhode Island. They serve as a forum for advocates, homeless, and formerly homeless people, students, state officials, and the general public to share accurate and honest information about issues relating to homelessness. Their
goal is to shed light on a subject not often addressed and to some degree, ignored.
Link for the entire newsletter – with major stories from 3 pages, HERE:
Street Sights Sept 2025 Final
