Homeless in RI: Shelters cold in the cold

Photo: Cranston St. Armory, Amos House

With the bitter cold, and thousands of Rhode Islanders challenged with power outages, and heating outages, we checked in with the homeless shelters – here is an update on how they are faring…some, if not most in older facilities:

Cranston Street Armory

The Armory had close to 200 people seeking shelter, warming, services, and overnight accommodations. Expanded out of their original, small room, into the drill hall, it was obvious that the heating system would be challenged. Various social media posts detailed approximately 25 people were brought over to Harrington Hall in Cranston, and how some people were brought over to the newly opening (next week) couples shelter at 662 Hartford Avenue, which was set to open Monday and is operated by Crossroads, while the Brigadier General of the RI National Guard and staff of the Governor’s office worked to bring in industrial heaters and to shore up at least one window that had been blown in from the 50 mph or more wind gusts. The new housing czar, Stefan Pryor, was called into early service.

A statement from Andrea Palagi, of Governor McKee’s office:
“The Cranston Street Armory was pre-heated in advance of the cold snap. However, due to extreme winds, several windows were broken which led to decreased temperatures in the main drill hall. The Governor has deployed his incoming Housing Secretary, Department of Administration Director, Emergency Management Director and the National Guard to assess and address the situation quickly in partnership with Amos House. The team is fixing the windows and bringing in temporary heaters. They are working with the Fire Marshal to enable overnight use in other areas of the Armory that were not impacted. They are also beginning to enable couples who were already prioritized through the Coordinated Entry System to move to the new shelter on Hartford Ave today. Safety remains everyone’s top priority and we thank the team for coming together quickly to address this issue.”

Andrea Palagi, Communications Director

From Amos House:

Due to high winds blowing out some windows and the facility heat’s inability to keep pace with the extreme cold, temperatures inside the main hall of the [armory] dropped significantly. Individuals were moved to smaller rooms where the heat could be better stabilized and many of the individuals are now in the process of being temporarily relocated to other locations…we have opened additional rooms inside and brought in supplemental electric heaters. We are working hard to provide services to the hundreds of people who need safety in these temperatures…people should still come if they need a place to stay.

Amos House has also asked for donations of items and created a Wish List on Amazon – here is the link to items requested that anyone can purchase for them: AMAZON WISH LIST

In Woonsocket

The Woonsocket Episcopal church building also had heat challenges and people were being evacuated to another building at 66 Social Street. The Milagros Center was sserving the Saturday mid-day meal.

Pawtucket

The temporary shelter was opened in Pawtucket on Main Street in a flurry of activity to be ready for the super-cold conditions. The city agreed to have Black Lives Matter in Pawtucket with Brother Gary manage it until Monday. On Monday plans are to open it up to RFP for a homeless service agency to run. It is unclear if the shelter will close during that time, but most likely it will until it transitions from temporary to a permanent shelter for those in the Pawtucket area, if possible.