Homeless in RI: Family shelter at Charlesgate, $9.5M , DaVinci Center waiting, Dignity Bus

Photo: Notification in Cranston for encampments in the woods that they had 3 days to vacate before the city cleaned up the area, outside of Chapel View.

New Family Shelter

Charlesgate Nursing Home in Providence, recently closed by its owners, and the center of uproar from the nursing staff who were left without their job, will not become a Family Shelter for those experiencing homelessness.

The RI Department of Housing announced on Friday that the facility will serve up to 57 familiiess with children and will be run by Amos House, with expanded shelter funding for families.

Amos House began has already begun to move the initial 21 families into three floors, using up to 57 individual rooms, of the Charlesgate facility on Randall Street in Providence. The families are being moved from extended-stay hotels.

The Dept. of Housing said that that these emergency shelter operations will be funded in part through the $30 million allocation of American Rescue Plan Act funding Governor McKee proposed for expanding infrastructure to address homelessness.

“We are actively working to expand our shelter system, and this property will enable us to serve
more Rhode Island families going forward,” said Secretary of Housing Stefan Pryor. “We continue to identify properties that may be suitable for shelter – and for permanent housing – across the state.”

Families served by Amos House at Charlesgate will receive wrap-around case management services that connect households to essential benefits along with opportunities related to housing searches, job training, childcare, healthcare, and transportation.

“We have seen a substantial increase in the number of unhoused families who need assistance,”
remarks Eileen Hayes, Amos House CEO. “The move to Charlesgate will allow us to provide shelter to a greater number of families, ensuring that children and parents have safe and supportive housing while we address their long-term needs.”

The Department of Housing is also exploring acquiring the property rather than leasing in the future, which has the potential to result in greater cost efficiency over the long term. The lease is over $70,000 per month.

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$9.5 Million more for Consolidated Homeless Fund Partnership

Also on Friday, Governor McKee announced a $9.5 million Consolidated Homeless Fund (CHF) to address and prevent homelessness. The Fund will be available for operating emergency shelters, conducting homeless outreach, providing case management services, making rent payments through rapid rehousing programs, or pursuing other related projects.

The Rhode Island Department of Housing is joining with the Housing Resources Commission and the cities of Providence, Pawtucket, and Woonsocket to provide approximately $9.4 million in resources for service providers to address homelessness in this state. In 2023, CHF resources funded the operations of 27 Rhode Island non-profit organizations.

“Our ongoing effort to address homelessness in Rhode Island is unwavering,” said Governor McKee. “We invite service providers and communities to bring forth their best approaches and proposals, and we encourage any organization with new ideas to apply.”

The Consolidated Homeless Fund is a partnership through which funding from various state and federal sources are distributed through a unified process to evaluate competitive grant requests. This consolidated approach simplifies and alleviates onerous requirements for service providers to write several funding applications and submit to each of numerous programs or granting entities.

The funding sources for the FY24 RFP include $4.5 million from the RI Housing Resources Commission’s homelessness resources, $1.3 million from Rhode Island’s Title XX Homeless Funds, $700,000 from Rhode Island’s Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funds, $2.3 million from City of Providence’s American Rescue Plan Act funds, $450,000 from Providence’s ESG allocation, $150,000 from the City of Pawtucket’s ESG allocation, and $95,000 from the City of Woonsocket’s ESG allocation.

Additional funding sources may also be awarded through this process, including funds through the recent State Fiscal Recovery Funds recently allocated in the state’s budget for Homelessness Assistance and Homelessness Infrastructure.

“It is critical that we help unsheltered Rhode Islanders find beds in safe indoor spaces – and offer these Rhode Islanders case management in order to resolve other life challenges. This application process will enable service providers to seek and obtain the funds necessary for the operation and expansion of shelters, centers, and other key programs,” said Secretary of Housing Stefan Pryor. “We are grateful to Governor McKee, our federal congressional delegation, and the General Assembly for providing the resources to support these needed services.”

Applications are due by August 3 for most projects and by August 31 for seasonal warming centers and shelters. The program year for the funding will be October 2023 to September 2024.

Every application will be evaluated on the extent to which it adheres to five principles that will guide the decision-making process. These are:

• Reducing unsheltered homelessness with an emphasis on the upcoming winter.
• Emphasizing housing-oriented and permanent solutions
• Offering high-quality, client-oriented app
• https://omny.fm/shows/the-news-with-gene-valicenti/06-30-23-secretary-of-housing-stefon-pryorroaches
• Pursuing sustainability, cost effectiveness, and responsible stewardship of resources
• Contributing to data sharing, and data-driven decision-making

The Department of Housing will conduct several information sessions for organizations interested in applying for these funds, including sessions to be held on Thursday, July 6 at 9:30 a.m. and Wednesday, July 12 at 3:30 p.m. A session for organizations who have not previously been funded by CHF and would be first-time applicants will also be held on Monday, July 10 at 11:30 a.m.To view the RFP and learn more about program eligibility or upcoming information sessions, click here.

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DaVinci Center update

The DaVinci Center issue took a dramatic step this week when a resident of Charles Place, Carol, went to the media – NBC10 did a short report and then she called into Gene Valicenti on WPRO to say she is living in fear of her life. A homeless encampment of several dozen people has been set up behind the center and the housing unit for several months, with all attempts to have the city/state remove the people failed.

Here Carol, in her own words:

Secretary of Housing Stefan Pryor:

Pryor said that a group of people have come together to address the homeless living behind the DaVinci Center – some people are having prescriptions delivered to them there, because that is where they live – others have vouchers for housing if housing can be found – etc. Pryor said the CITY needs to issue notice and they can move people away from the area – but first they need a few weeks to work on the situation. Here is the interview, yesterday:

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Woonsocket – Dignity Bus

The Dignity Bus is getting prepared and will be having a sendoff in Florida to wish it good luck in Rhode Island – with arrival around the middle of July – stay tuned for more information from RINewsToday.com.