“Something’s going to break” – RI Foundation report on Housing finds urgent plan needed

The Rhode Island Foundation has been working on a “comprehensive look at Rhode Island’s housing shortage”. Yesterday, at 6am, they released the plan to the media after presenting it to the state. In the release, they note that “the study IDs options to jump-start the creation of more houses and apartments”, and speaks to long housing development neglect, difficulties in building, construction, zoning, and doing business – and homelessness issues, which are “at a point where we’ve got to make change…otherwise, something is going to break” said Neil Steinberg, President and CEO of the foundation.

The study was co-funded, according to the RI Foundation, for $500,000 with BCBSRI, LISC RI and the Partnership for RI. Boston Consulting Group covered the balance of the cost.

The state was aware of the report since its inception, and the work was done in collaboration with, and in support of, the RI Department of Housing. Going forward, “the Department of Housing will engage stakeholders further around the facts and options in the study and implement next steps in a transparent and accountable manner,” according to the foundation. 

From the Rhode Island Foundation:

Rhode Island has a housing shortage that has led to unprecedented increases in rents and home prices. Homelessness grew in Rhode Island by nearly 50 percent from 2020 to 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s “Point in Time” data. And, according to HousingWorks RI’s 2022 Fact Book, people earning the state’s median household income of $70,305 cannot affordably buy in any Rhode Island city or town. In only one town—Burrillville—are households with the median renter income of $38,339 able to afford the average 2-bedroom rent. 

Governor Dan McKee, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi and Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio earmarked $250 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding for housing to help tackle these challenges. 

As the state’s community foundation, we’ve spent decades monitoring Rhode Island’s housing emergency and supporting on-the-ground community organizations who are working to tackle it. As a proactive next step, the Foundation recently commissioned a study of Rhode Island’s housing environment by the Boston Consulting Group. Today, we’re releasing that study, which includes possible options to jump-start action. 

Under the guidance of a steering committee consisting of funding partners Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, the Partnership for Rhode Island and Rhode Island LISC — and with staff support from the United Way of Rhode Island — the effort engaged a wide range of stakeholders, including key providers and leaders in the homelessness and housing sectors; around housing strategy, development, finance and organizational design across the private, public and social service sectors. The work was done in collaboration with, and in support of, the state Department of Housing. 

Going forward, the Department of Housing will engage stakeholders further around the facts and options in the study and implement next steps in a transparent and accountable manner. In addition, the study will inform, but is separate from, the strategic plan the Department is developing. 

The options and observations contained in Housing Supply and Homelessness in Rhode Island are the result of a significant effort to analyze data and to review best practices. The initiative’s three priority areas were identifying short-term solutions and associated actions to meet the needs of unsheltered Rhode Islanders, catalyzing new housing production, and ensuring long-term organizational alignment and capacity within the state Department of Housing. This fact base will better enable policymakers and housing advocates to develop an immediate action plan on homelessness and to develop a strategy that will spur housing production across the state. 

Now is the time to act. 

Here is the study: