Advocates rally at Providence City Hall for more compassion for the unhoused

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) –Dozens of protesters gathered at Providence City Hall Wednesday, demanding Mayor Smiley and the city of Providence to stop clearing out homeless encampments without providing housing or shelter options to the unhoused.

The protest was spurred by multiple events, including ​police recently clearing out an encampment on Charles Street in September.

Protesters were also reacting to the story of Michael Neugent, a man who had been living on the Orms Street Interstate 95 overpass, who was recently removed with nowhere to go.

“The excuses they have are lies, one of which is they’re doing it for people’s safety. Was Michael safer wandering around in the middle of the night by himself than he was in a tent? No,” the Interim Director for RIHAP, Eric Hirsch told ABC 6 News.

“And they say oh we’re offering shelter, we’re offering housing — we’re hundreds of shelter beds short of what we need,” Hirsch continued.

Protesters say Neugent was forced to stay at the ACI in Cranston for the past few days while his possessions were thrown in the trash.

Mayor Smiley responded to Wednesday’s protest in a statement which reads:

“Providence has been disproportionately affected by this statewide housing crisis and we’ve responded by providing as many resources as possible to the many people who come to the city looking for help. We have invested $3.4 million in shelter beds over the last year, provided an additional $263,000 to extend the use of current shelter beds and used our city budget to increase funding for local service provider Amos House. Our goal is always to keep unhoused people safe and healthy while finding them permanent housing, which is why at every opportunity we have worked with our local and State partners to facilitate their placement in local shelters and assistance programs.”

But advocates say they’ve tried to reach the mayor about these issues, and not much has changed.

“They’ve said nothing when we demanded that they stop the police raids. They said nothing when we demanded that they find city buildings to put shelter beds in. They did say they were interested in the rapidly deployable shelters, but that was months ago, and we see no concrete action,” Hirsch said.

Protesters spent around two hours at City Hall on Dorrance Street, calling for these changes before leaving around 5 p.m.