RHODE ISLAND: Face of homeless changing
Admissions to Rhode Island's
shelters rose 6 percent in 2004,
and more first-time clients are the working poor, a report
finds
The Providence Journal
BY KAREN LEE ZINER
Journal Staff Writer
Originally published March 22, 2005
People who find themselves homeless in Rhode Island for the first time are more likely to be employed, are slightly more educated and are less likely to have drug and alcohol problems than the chronic homeless, according to a new report.
The number of families seeking shelter jumped 9 percent from the previous year, states the annual report of the Rhode Island Emergency Food and Shelter Board, which covers the fiscal year ending June 30, 2004.
Skyrocketing housing costs and lack of income are the two main reasons given by people who are homeless for their predicament. Domestic violence ranked third.
Other key findings:
Reflecting an all-time high for the third year in a row, 6,020 people entered a Rhode Island emergency shelter during 2003-2004.
The number of families in shelters increased 8 percent to an all-time high of 794.
The number of children in shelters increased by 8 percent to 1,564, the second-highest number ever for the shelters.
Blacks were six times and Native Americans were five times more likely to be in an emergency shelter compared to whites.
The number of shelter nights provided reached an all-time high of 204,770.
"This year's report also indicates how the face of the homeless is changing," said Eric Hirsch, a sociology professor at Providence College and the report's author.
Of the first-time homeless, "18.6 percent were still earning income from a job at the time they entered a shelter and 28 percent had at least some college education," according to the report.
Other report findings include that three-fifths of the homeless clients were experiencing homelessness for the first time. The number who had no permanent place to live for more than a year doubled from 8 percent to 16 percent. Slightly more than half (56 percent) said they made less than $5,000 last year.
As for housing costs -- one of the primary reasons cited for homelessness -- rents for two-bedroom apartments now average more than $1,000 in Rhode Island and would require an annual income of more than $41,000 to be affordable, the report says. But the median household income of Rhode Island's renters is just over $29,000 per year.
The report concludes, however, "that homelessness on this scale in Rhode Island is not inevitable." It cites an existing state comprehensive plan that particularly targets the most intensive users of homeless services.
That plan will attempt to end homelessness through continuing support for the Neighborhood Opportunities Program, which creates subsidized family apartments and permanent supportive housing for single adults.
The plan would also implement homeless prevention efforts "such as transitional rental subsidies and the use of crisis teams that would prevent evictions through landlord/tenant mediation and emergency rental assistance."
Noreen Shawcross, executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, said the plan is "in the initial stages of implementation.
"The Coalition for the Homeless, along with the Corportion for Supportive Housing, is beginning to work on one part of the implementation -- one of the most important parts -- to increase our stock of permanent supportive housing," said Shawcross. "We think that is the key . . ."
Coincidentally, the report was issued on the eve of shelter closings that are planned "very shortly," Shawcross said.
Faith-based shelters, an East Providence municipal shelter and Harrington Hall in Cranston -- which Governor Carcieri opened three years ago on an emergency basis to handle an overflow, "are all scheduled to close in the next few weeks," Shawcross said. "That's somewhat of a crisis."
Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal said yesterday, "We are assessing the need to keep it open, and identifying resources to do so. There is no decision yet but, I would emphasize the fact that in every other instance where the facility was scheduled to be closed, the governor has acted to keep it open."
Meanwhile, the fact that temporary shelters at faith-based communities are still needed three years after they opened as an emergency measure "is evidence that this is a human crisis that we cannot ignore," said David McCreadie, chair of the Food and Shelter Board and executive director of the St. Vincent dePaul Society.
"The housing crisis impacts all Rhode Islanders," said Anthony Maione, president of the United Way of Rhode Island. "This is an issue that demands permanent solutions."
Financing for the report was provided by the state Department of Human Services, the Rhode Island Community Development Block Grant Program, and the United Way of Rhode Island.
The Rhode Island Emergency Food and Shelter Board report is available on the United Way of Rhode Island Web site, www.uwri.org.
Karen Lee Ziner can be reached at kziner@projo.com or 277-7375.