With Cranston Street Armory ending operation soon, Pawtucket shelter close to capacity

PAWTUCKET, R.I. (WLNE) — With the Cranston Street Armory in Providence ending operation soon, a 24-hour Pawtucket shelter is reaching its capacity.

“There are so many people that need a place to stay,” said Dina Bruce, OpenDoors program director. “Luckily, we haven’t had to turn anyone away yet, but we will soon.”

Nick Horton, OpenDoors co-executive director, said the building is currently able to take in 50 people at a time. At night, it nearly reaches capacity.

“People are coming from everywhere, from encampments around the state, from being evicted from their apartments, from the Armory,” said Bruce.

While OpenDoors has been able to help so many people, she said they won’t be able to help everyone at the Main Street shelter.

Horton said OpenDoors is working with the state to open other programs to help with relocating the people staying at the armory once it closes.

He said Pawtucket is the only place so far that people know they can go to during the day to get off the streets.

“There just aren’t enough places for people to live right now, and that is with the armory open,” said Horton. “Every community in this state is suffering from the housing crisis, and every community needs to help be part of the solution.”

As of right now, the Cranston Street Armory is set to close this weekend.