Housing touches every aspect of our lives, from business and education to health and our local economy.
HousingWorks RI at RWU, Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, Housing Network of Rhode Island, and the Public Housing Association of RI, joined together to communicate the latest news on housing and homelessness in Rhode Island.
Affordable Housing
HUD plan would raise rents for
poor by 20%
June 7, 2018
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Housing Secretary Ben Carson says his latest proposal to raise rents would mean a path toward self-sufficiency for millions of low-income households across the United States by pushing more people to find work. For Ebony Morris and her four small children, it could mean homelessness.
Morris lives in Charleston, South Carolina, where most households receiving federal housing assistance would see rents rise an average 26 percent, according to an analysis done by Center on Budget and Policy Priorities for The Associated Press. Her increase would be nearly double that.
Overall, the analysis shows that in the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, low-income tenants — many of whom have jobs — would have to pay roughly 20 percent more each year for rent under the plan. That’s about six times greater than the growth in average hourly earnings, putting poor workers at an increased risk of homelessness because wages haven’t kept pace with housing expenses
To view the complete article, featured inProvidence Journal, click here.
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Narragansett seeks ways to bolster affordable housing stock
June 02, 2018
NARRAGANSETT — Speaking to a legislative commission earlier this month, Narragansett Town Planner Michael DeLuca described some of the challenges Narragansett and other Washington County communities are facing in attempting to supply more affordable housing.
DeLuca, representing eight towns in Washington County, explained a variety of issues with the current Rhode Island Low and Moderate Income Housing Act, passed in 2004, which mandates that 10 percent of a municipality’s housing stock be designated as affordable housing. Currently, the state only grants that designation to deed-restricted units on government-subsidized properties.
To view the complete article, featured in TheNarragansett Times, click here.
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Gentrification locking some out of
housing market
May 25, 2018
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Several speakers at HousingWorks RI’s forum on gentrification on Friday said they don’t need an academic study to tell them that many longtime city residents are getting priced out of the housing market.
City Council member Luis Aponte said it’s almost impossible to find an apartment in South Providence today because so many houses are being purchased by investors who renovate them and then rent them for ”$650 or $750 a month, per bedroom” to students.
“We see a direct impact,” he said. “It makes the cost of housing for families skyrocket.” Aponte represents Ward 10, which includes the neighborhoods of Lower South Providence and Washington Park.
Aponte said the city’s “meds and eds” — medical and educational institutions — need to do more to address the city’s affordable housing problem. He said every time Brown University buys a new building, it’s a positive for the new jobs it will bring, but it often takes another building off the tax rolls, and puts more pressure on the housing market.
To view the complete article, featured inProvidence Journal, click here.
Homelessness
My Turn: Laura Calenda: Most homeless are working poor
May 29, 2018
The headline on Mark Patinkin’s May 23 column labeled Judy McGill, the 53-year-old woman who has been living with her cats beneath a bridge near the Providence Place mall for the last several months, “The face of homelessness.” But she is not really the “face” of the problem.
Although Ms. McGill’s living arrangements are both visible and compelling, Mr. Patinkin’s account fails to adequately capture the complexity of her situation. Without violating her privacy, suffice to say that she is part of a small subset of about 240 chronically homeless individuals who typically suffer from multiple mental and/or physical disabilities and require intensive intervention.
The vast majority of Rhode Island’s homeless, the “real” face of homelessness in Rhode Island, are the working poor. Approximately 4,000 people experienced homelessness in Rhode Island last year. Here at Crossroads, the largest provider of housing and services to the homeless in Rhode Island, we provided services to 3,300 men, women and children in 2017. As a result of those efforts, I’m proud to report, more than 1,740 people, including 448 families, are no longer homeless.
To view the full article, featured in Providence Journal, click here.
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Child homelessness numbers
second in state
May 24, 2018
Data reporting that Middletown trails only Providence in the number of students who are classified as “homeless” in Rhode Island was a principal topic at the May 17 Middletown School Committee meeting.
The data, which was disseminated by Rhode Island Kids Count, a child advocacy organization founded in 1994, numbered the amount of homeless Middletown students at 115. But Vice-Superintendent Linda Savastano disputed that number.
“We upload our data every single day,” she said. “Most days, when I pull [data], I’m not seeing a number [as high as 115].”
She said that the number is usually less than 100, which includes students in transition or those who were only in the district for a short period.
To view the full article, featured in Newport This Week, click here.
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Mark Patinkin: This is the face
of homelessness
May 22, 2018
A few readers told me last month a woman was living under the Route 95 bridge next to Providence Place mall. I finally checked on Monday, figuring she’d be long gone.
But there she was.
Her name’s Judy McGill and she’s 53. Overhead, vehicles made a sound like hitting potholes every few seconds, but Judy smiled and said, “The noise don’t bother me.”
She’s been here four months, most of it with a boyfriend, but he moved on last week. That broke her heart, but she said it’s OK — at least she has her cats, Ivy and Snow Angel. They’re family to her, and loyal, having stayed with her through winter.
That got me asking how she kept warm.
Judy smiled and said: “A lot of blankets.” She’s made a bed of eight or nine, with a sleeping bag on top. They were donated, as was most of her stuff, from clothes to suitcases to a box of water bottles.
To view the full article, featured in Providence Journal, click here.
Congratulations to Raymond Neirinckx on being awarded the:
THOMAS J. CARROLL OUTSTANDING TEACHER AWARD
The RWU School of Continuing Studies grants an “Outstanding Teacher Award” to a professor in Continuing Studies who has made a significant contribution to Roger Williams University through demonstrated teaching effectiveness to adult students. The award recognizes the contributions made by Thomas J. Carroll, an RWU faculty member who came to the University after a distinguished career in the United States Marine Corps. Mr. Carroll epitomized excellence and set high standards for student academic performance. He was the first recipient of the Board’s Outstanding Teacher Award. Congratulations, Ray!
