Rhode Island releases winter shelter strategy for those experiencing homelessness

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Rhode Island leaders and local faith officials met Friday to outline the plan to shelter the unhoused from freezing temperatures this winter.

“This winter, we are going to be trying new ideas like pop-up hubs for the coldest days of the year and piloting homeless shelters,” said Gov. Dan McKee.

Housing Secretary Stefan Pryor said there are three pillars to the strategy: expansion, prevention, and collaboration.

The first step includes adding shelter beds to meet the growing need, deploying pallet shelters, and creating emergency winter hubs across the state.

Pryor said there will be a 30% increase in beds available this winter.

“In October of 2022, we were had 789 beds,” he said. “We project we will be at 1,370 going into this winter and in the course of this winter.”

The Department of Housing is expected to issue a request next week that would allow funding for stand-up regional winter emergency hubs that would be available overnight. The initiative is a direct approach to keeping people out of the cold after last winter’s extremely frigid temperatures.

In addition, the state is looking to prevent homelessness when possible.

The prevention aspect involves funding toward housing problem solving measures as well as financial support for legal services to prevent evictions.

“The answer to homelessness is housing, that is the bottom line,” said a member of a local faith community.

The collaboration measure involves municipal and faith leaders in helping Rhode Islanders in need of shelter.

Faith leaders are calling on parishes and houses of worship to open their doors to the unhoused.

They are working alongside the Department of Housing to find any possible temporary housing. An example is the expansion of the Emanuel House in Providence, which has 41 available beds.

McKee noted that combating the ongoing homelessness crisis is a long road ahead, but the state is making progress.

“There is no perfect solution to this and if there was, it would be done. If it was easy, it would be done,” he said.

Karen Santilli, CEO of Crossroads Rhode Island, said the agency is ready to do its part in keeping people safe this winter.

“Crossroads is ready to support the state to ensure that individuals and families have access to safe shelter this winter,” she said. “We continue to operate expanded emergency shelters and our housing problem-solving team remains fully committed to helping connect individuals and families experiencing homelessness with the support they need to find housing.”

Crossroads is the state’s leading provider of housing services for those experiencing homelessness.