PAWTUCKET, RI – Governor Dan McKee, Lt. Governor Sabina Matos and Secretary of Commerce Stefan Pryor were joined by local service providers at the Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness to announce additional immediate measures to serve Rhode Islanders experiencing homelessness. First, the Administration is announcing the expansion of emergency shelter capacity at local homelessness service providers for Rhode Islanders battling homelessness. Additionally, another Quarantine and Isolation (Q&I) facility is opening to serve housing insecure individuals and families who test positive for COVID-19.
"It is crucial that we provide shelter to get Rhode Islanders off the streets – now," said Governor McKee. "Addressing this crisis requires a combination of short-term and long-term initiatives, and today's announcement is an immediate and necessary step to help those experiencing homelessness. The McKee-Matos Administration has made it a priority to provide shelter to housing insecure families and individuals. Thanks to a roughly $5 million investment that we recently made available to our homelessness service providers, we've seen roughly 220 new emergency beds in shelters and hotels come online in the past six weeks alone. But we knew more was needed. I want to thank our partnering agencies, communities, hotels, and service providers for committing to this expansion."
"Thank you to my government colleagues and our community partners for your concentrated collaboration and tremendous dedication to this issue over the past few months," said Lt. Governor Sabina Matos. "These additional beds will be key to alleviating some of the short-term needs of unhoused Rhode Islanders. I look forward to continuing to work towards long-term solutions that will ensure safe, sustainable, and affordable housing for everyone in our State."
"The City thanks the McKee Administration for their willingness to hear the concerns and needs of all the communities being impacted by homelessness," said Pawtucket Mayor Donald R. Grebien. "Individuals and families in Pawtucket and across the State are struggling as services have been taken away over the past couple of years. The extra shelter capacity is a beginning to addressing the current issues. Working together, we look forward to the additional efforts of the McKee Administration."
"The Coalition is grateful for these lifesaving resources and for the shared commitment of state leadership," said Caitlin Frumerie, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness. "We still have a lot more work to do to ensure that each Rhode Islander has a safe warm place to sleep this winter and that all Rhode Islanders have the opportunity to achieve permanent affordable housing."
The expansion is the result of an ongoing effort by the Governor and the Office of Housing and Community Development, which has been actively seeking partners across the state to serve additional Rhode Islanders through non-congregate shelters.
This funding will support four service providers who are stepping up to add 130 additional emergency shelter beds for Rhode Islanders:
- Woonsocket: Community Care Alliance has agreed to add up to 10 hotel vouchers in the Woonsocket area starting this week. - Providence: Open Doors has committed to expanding their current operations to add 15 beds which are now up and running as of this week. - Pawtucket: Amos House will be opening a non-congregate shelter program in Pawtucket at the former Memorial Hospital. We anticipate families will be able to move in starting next week and will have up to 80 beds. This was arranged in close collaboration with the City of Pawtucket, Lockwood Development, and VS USA. - East Providence: House of Hope will add up to 25 beds to provide services utilizing local motel rooms.
The Administration will continue to engage with the Continuum of Care to assess needs for additional emergency shelter needs and is in dialogue with additional sites and providers about potential expansion projects.
In addition to providing emergency shelter beds at various service providers throughout the state, the Administration is also announcing the opening of a new quarantine and isolation facility. Thanks to West Bay CAP and the Episcopal Diocese, a new Q&I facility is slated to re-open today with 20 beds to serve housing insecure Rhode Islanders who test positive for COVID-19 and need to quarantine or isolate. This facility is located in Providence and can accommodate individuals as well as families.
The addition of a Q&I facility enables homeless service providers to restore capacity they lost due to social distancing requirements.
Ahead of today's announcement, on November 1, the McKee-Matos Administration contracted to expand the state's hotel shelter program through the winter months using nearly an additional $4 million. This expansion provides approximately 150 hotel rooms for the hotel shelter program. This project was part of a roughly $5 million investment in Rhode Island's homelessness service providers which allowed roughly 220 new emergency beds in shelters and hotels to come online in the past six weeks alone.
In addition to investing in critical short-term measures, the McKee-Matos Administration has also advanced long-term solutions to Rhode Island's housing crisis. Recently, they announced $31 million in funding to support 23 new housing projects across 13 cities and towns, creating or preserving over 600 units of affordable housing. This was the largest round of awards made through the Building Homes Rhode Island program since the program's inception in 2006.
The Governor and Lt. Governor also made housing a key component of RI Rebounds, their initial American Rescue Plan investment proposal that includes $29 million for housing, which the General Assembly has committed to act on in early January.
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