“The Forgotten Souls of Burnside Park”, a follow-up. RI funds $5M more for shelters

The Homeless with physical challenges –

A few weeks ago, RINewsToday did a story focusing on the “new homeless” that have appeared as a group at Burnside Park in downtown Providence. Several people in wheelchairs, using walkers, canes, etc. have gathered at the Park, next to the water fountain and Hasbro children’s playground. They don’t move from the park very often, and have set up areas to store their belongings, and to sleep. In inclement weather they move their belongings to the bus shelters and stay there while it is raining. This moves regular commuters out of the shelters.

The story was done by our writer, Brendan Higgins. Read it here:

The Forgotten Souls of Burnside Park – Brendan Higgins

Following up with the state on specialty housing for the homeless

RINewsToday contacted a variety of departments and agencies to learn about specialty housing and how those at Burnside Park came to be there. Most did not respond.

A conversation with an intake staff member

One of our reporters called a center serving the homeless to “ask for a friend” just to see what we could learn. We learned that it is often a cycle that a person who is homeless will have a medical problem and end up in the hospital, then discharged “out the door” without a plan in place to properly house the patient. We also learned that there is a special list of beds for the homeless with physical issues such as a wheelchair or not being able to use a bunkbed. There is almost never an opening, and on this day there were no openings in all of Rhode Island. When there is a street worker will tell a person on the street in need, but often they do not go.

People with physical disabilities do not want to go to congregate homeless shelters, but will go to an individual, private room such as a hotel room or temporary apartment.

Palette Shelters in a Warehouse

Rhode Island has 20 palette shelters sitting in a warehouse. It was unclear which group purchased them or how they had been paid for. A worker told RINewsToday that the state won’t give out the money to activate the shelters. When asked how long would it take to put them up and occupy them, if they received funds, the response was “give us 4 or 5 days”. Efforts to find out more about the status of “palette shelters” were fruitless, though we are still following up on that. Palette shelters – pop up, private, temporary structures – are being used at the “Mass & Cass” homeless camp effort to get people off the streets in Boston.

Responses we did receive:

The responses we received for requests for more information on the unique needs of the homeless disabled in Providence came after several follow-ups – but some requests – from the providers, themselves, went completely unanswered.

Governor’s Commission on Disabilities:

The Governor’s Commission on Disabilities has long advocated for and is continuing to advocate for creating more affordable, accessible, and supportive housing. There is a lack of housing that is both affordable and accessible to people with mobility limitations. A range of housing options are needed to address the needs of individuals with intellectual and development disabilities, behavioral health, substance use, traumatic injuries, post-traumatic stress disorders, and many more.  Housing without supportive services will not address the larger issue.  Supportive housing must include support services designed to help individuals and families use housing as a platform for health and recovery following a period of homelessness, hospitalization or incarceration or for youth aging out of foster care. Utilization of existing resources: hotels; vacant state and/or municipal buildings, non-profit owned buildings, schools; etc. The Commission urges full funding and implementation of Housing First, especially before we move into the winter months.

Bob Cooper, Executive Secretary, RI Governor’s Commission on Disabilities

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United Way:

“Access to housing remains one of the most urgent issues facing our state. It is a problem that impacts individuals, families, and people with disabilities. Organizations like Crossroads RI are doing their best to provide shelter to the unhoused community, but the bigger challenge is that there is just not enough housing for the people that live in our state. We have taken an important first step with the $250M investment in housing that was part of this year’s state budget be we need to do more.

As a reminder, anyone experience[ing] homelessness or housing insecurity, can contact 2-1-1. Our community resource specialists can assist you in finding resources and our POINT team can provide additional help to older adults and people with disabilities.”

[When asked to address immediate problems ]- We recognize that while new construction may not address immediate needs, it is imperative that we work toward a long-term solution to Rhode Island’s lack of housing (and the root causes behind it), which is a major focus of United Way’s work. The immediate crisis work is being led by organizations such as Crossroads RI and the Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness, to name a couple, and I would hope you’ve reached out to them for perspective/comment.

Cortney Nicolato, President and CEO, United Way of Rhode Island

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Rhode Island Department of Health:

“At the Rhode Island Department of Health, we recognize that health does not start in [the] doctor’s office. It starts in the community. The factors that most significantly impact health are community level factors like education, employment, transportation, and of course, housing. For that reason, we have many programs and partnerships aimed at getting at these underlying, social and environmental determinants of health. One example is our Health Equity Zone initiative. Several Health Equity Zones are exploring the issue of housing, and how it affects the health of individuals and communities. Here is some recent coverage of what the West Warwick Health Equity Zone is doing:

• West Warwick HEZ Wins Grant for Housing Initiative
• Community Event Aims to Break Stigmas of Homelessness, Mental Illness

Joseph Wendelken, RIDOH

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Rhode Island Secretary of Housing:

After numerous attempts for comment from Josh Saal, RI’s newly appointed “housing czar”, he referred our questions to Chris Raia of Duffy & Shanley, a public relations agency that often does work for the state of Rhode Island. When we didn’t get a response in time for deadline our follow up with Saal resulted in a curt response to direct our questions to Raia, and not him. Here is the response from Raia, who also said this message speaks for the Governor’s office:

It is a reality that too many Rhode Islanders today are struggling to access safe and affordable housing, and it’s one the Administration is actively working alongside elected leaders and community advocates in all 39 cities and towns to address. Individuals who are both experiencing homelessness and living with disabilities are certainly a priority in that effort. 

Rhode Island’s FY23 budget includes a generational, $250 million investment in housing, $36.5 million of which will be allocated to address the critical issue of homelessness. Earlier this month, we announced a commitment of $5 million in funding to expand shelter capacity statewide with a focus on trauma-informed shelter in non-congregate settings. 

We are also investing federal and grant funding to offer several additional programs that offer support to this population, including: 

• Medical Respite Pilot program ($920,000 in federal funds), which provides shelter, connection to medical care and wraparound services to individuals who have acute medical or behavioral health needs and are experiencing homelessness; 

• Health Equity Zones – Community Practice on Housing ($209,000 in grant funding), which supports designated Health Equity Zone communities that have a disproportionate number of homeless encampments and/or high levels of individuals and families experiencing homelessness;

• And investments to expand Recovery Housing capacity ($2.25 million in opioid settlement funding).

While our long-term goal is to end homelessness altogether, it is not possible to meet that goal overnight. Through these initiatives and others, our immediate focus is to provide the resources and supports that ensure homelessness is brief and non-recurring.

Rhode Island Secretary of Housing Josh Saal – response given also for “The McKee Administration”

The responses we did NOT receive:

CROSSROADS

AMOS HOUSE

HOUSE OF HOPE

MAE ORGANIZATION FOR THE HOMELESS

RI COALITION TO END HOMELESSNESS

LIFESPAN

CITY OF PROVIDENCE

JOSEPH PAOLINO, JR.

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New funds for homeless shelter capacity:

Six Rhode Island community organizations will receive a total of $3.5 million to add 231 new beds to the statewide homeless shelter capacity. The $3.5 million in funding is the first round of awards from a $5 million solicitation for proposals related to shelter expansion that was distributed to qualified vendors in early September. These six projects will create 231 new beds that will be utilized this winter to better serve individuals and households across the state who are experiencing homelessness.

This is in addition to 64 new beds that were funded earlier this summer through the “Consolidated Homeless Fund”. “Especially as the winter months approach, it is critically important that our community shelters have the capacity to ensure all Rhode Islanders have a safe, warm place to sleep at night,” said Governor Dan McKee. “We thank Rhode Island’s strong network of social service and housing organizations for responding to this solicitation quickly, and for doing the hard work of getting these beds operational.”

“Rhode Island is moving swiftly to protect our unhoused populations through the winter months,” said Lt. Governor Sabina Matos. “This first round of funding will create beds in some of our highest-need communities in every corner of the state. We’re looking forward to using the remainder of these funds to go even further to provide safety and stability to Rhode Islanders experiencing homelessness.”

Organizations and projects that will receive funding in the first round of awards include:

Amos House Family Shelter (Pawtucket): $1,338,655 

Blackstone Valley Advocacy Center (Central Falls): $966,870

Catholic Social Services of Rhode Island (Providence): $20,000

Sojourner House (Providence): $180,899

Thrive Behavior Health (West Warwick): $827,103

Westerly Area Rest Meals (WARM) Center (Westerly): $220,103

“We are pleased to deliver a high-impact level of funding to support fully planned projects less than a month after our request for proposals was distributed,” said Rhode Island Secretary of Housing Josh Saal. “While our long-term goal is to take a comprehensive approach that diverts people from homelessness and ultimately functionally ends homelessness in Rhode Island entirely through the creation of supportive housing, expanding shelter capacity provides much-needed, immediate relief for individuals and families experiencing homelessness today. I thank our partners across the state for giving voice to the voiceless, and the front-line workers for their tireless commitment to the vulnerable populations they serve day in, day out.”

“Having worked closely with the providers and Governor McKee and Secretary Saal, I am encouraged by all who have worked diligently to get to this first step to provide shelter beds for the growing number of unhoused individuals and families in the state,” said Neil D. Steinberg, President and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation, who worked closely with the Governor, Secretary, and housing providers on developing solutions to meet the need. “The Governor’s commitment to quickly continuing this effort will enable the providers to manage shelters for all that need it as the cold weather approaches.”

“Last night, as the weather got chilly enough that many homes turned on their heat, we know of 370 people who slept outside. We are pleased that Governor McKee and Director Saal have moved quickly to disburse funding so shelter beds can be ready before freezing temperatures arrive,” said Caitlin Frumerie, Executive Director, Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless. “We still have a way to go to address this growing crisis, but we will continue to collaborate until no one is living outside. We congratulate the organizations who were awarded funds and thank them for working diligently to expand their services.”

It was unclear of any of the funds released can or will be used for the 20 palette housing units sitting in a warehouse.

This is a developing story

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