Homeless in RI: Haunted by a Hopeless Catch-22 of Homelessness and Drug Abuse – Bernie Beaudreau

by Bernie Beaudreau, community advocate and volunteer – contributing writer

I got a call early on New Year’s Day from a social case worker friend who had heard that I was involved with delivering propane refills to people living outside in tents.  He said there was a couple (Pete and Molly) in a tent behind a commercial strip whose fuel ran out and were freezing in the 20-degree day weather.

Most of the encounters I have had and that I have written about include homeless folks without serious substance issues.  I know there is a significant portion of those living outside whose substance abuse is more of a result than the cause of their homelessness.  These situations are complex, often paired with poor mental health. They need our extra care and attention.

Recently, I have been providing propane delivery service using money donated by a friend as there are no non-profits that are willing to distribute propane after the tragic deaths of several homeless propane users last winter.  I understand.  Even the safest propane burners need close attention to be safely used, but it is the only way people living in tents feel they have to save themselves from freezing to death.  My wife and I delivered a tank to Pete and Molly that a RIHAP member had kindly donated.

I spoke at length with Peter who is 50 years old and his wife Molly who is 43.  They have been homeless for six years, in tents in this same general area where there is a high amount of drug use.  The have been together for years, getting by each day with the help of the euphoric but brief high of crack cocaine.  They feel they need the drug in order to be able to tolerate the mental and physical agony of living outside year-round, homeless.  Pete says it helps them “escape the reality” of their painful situation.

Pete told me it costs them about $20 to $40 per day to supply their addiction.  Pete has a monthly income of $1,200, enough for some food and their drug use, but running short for the cost of fuel, clothing and other needed supplies. Molly has no income.  She shared her very long and sad story, estranged from her mother who is now in senior housing, “disowned” by her two adult sons who live nearby and experiencing a miscarriage while homeless without any hospitalization or medical attention.  She said that she doesn’t eat much.

Molly and Pete expressed to me that they are confident and determined, with counseling help, they would stop using drugs if they could find an apartment.  Pete figures he could have $600 a month (half of his income) to put toward rent, assuming that he and Molly would save that amount each month by quitting their crack addiction.

But $600 a month is not even enough to find a small apartment or a room to rent in Rhode Island unless you can get a subsidized rent voucher, or a deeply subsidized unit which are almost non-existent.  They need permanently supportive housing and voluntary drug rehabilitation services.  Without this, Pete and Molly and so many others living outside hidden in our neighborhoods are in a hopeless catch-22.

This question should haunt us:  What can we, as caring people who are not willing to blame the hundreds of Petes and Mollys living outside for their own misery and suffering, do to help them?  They need housing as a prerequisite for a hopeful program of rehabilitation to work. This is a known fact.  I found the following rational and humane approach to reducing homelessness and drug abuse from a March 2025 report of the Drug Policy Alliance:

“People need better access to care.  Care systems that do exist are inadequate and underfunded. However, harsh enforcement has been the status quo in the U.S. for the past 60 years. But arrests, incarceration, encampment sweeps, involuntary treatment, and drug and mental health courts approaches cost taxpayer money, worsen health outcomes, and undermine public safety.  If we want both thriving individuals and neighborhoods we must:

1) invest in voluntary evidence-based treatment,

2) establish community-based crisis response programs,

3) implement supportive housing programs,

4) reduce criminal penalties for drugs and

5) invest in long-term solutions to public safety.

We can do this in Rhode Island if we have the public will and state government policy to do so.