Homeless Advocates Call for Immediate Action
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Rhode Island homelessness advocates say the state has a crisis on its hands with emergency winter shelters closing and virtually all of the state funding for affordable housing disappearing after July 1.
The Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project (RIHAP) and the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless held a rally in downtown Providence Friday, calling for the state to take action before another member of homeless community dies.
Last week, the critical need for more options for the homeless was only exacerbated following the death of a homeless man in Pawtucket.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTWhy Is This Acceptable?
John Joyce, co-founder of RIHAP, said it is unacceptable for anyone to die on the streets.
“Why is this acceptable?” Joyce asked the crowd. “The state should take responsibility and provide for all its residents! We are here today to say loud and clear that we demand long-term solutions but we need immediate short-term fixes before someone else dies.”
97 Percent Slash In Funding
Sadly, it could get worse. According to Jim Ryczek, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, 97 percent of state funding for affordable housing runs out on July 1. With federal funding for many programs being slashed, Ryczek said the state really needs to step up.
Ryczek said not receiving help from the state would be “devastating.”
“I like to say that it’s a crisis once, but a shameful act the next time,” he said.
General Assembly Listening
Thankfully, General Assembly leadership appears to be listening. Ryczek said the Assembly has been briefed about the problem and they are allowing advocates to continue to talk about it. He said elected officials have to understand how much the community could be affected.
“A 97 percent drop off is no acceptable,” he said.
“I am unwilling to believe that we as a state are saying it is acceptable for our residents to die on our streets,” he said during the rally. “We need to take all the wonderful energy and compassion generated this winter among the non-profit, business and philanthropic communities and couple it with resources from the state to solve both the short-term problem of the emergency shelter issue and the long-term problem of lack of affordable housing in our state.”
Staggering Numbers
During the rally, advocates held life-size cardboard cutouts of people, which represented the more than 4,000 Rhode Islanders that experienced homelessness in 2010. The idea was to express that folks from all walks of life are experiencing homeless, especially in a state that has seen housing prices rise quicker than any state other than Hawaii in the nation.
The overall message of the day: The state cannot afford to slash funding to affordable housing programs.
“No human being should take their last breaths of life on a grate, on a sidewalk, on the streets, not in the United States, and certainly not in Rhode Island,” said Sheryl Marshall, Program Director of ACCESS-RI. “The system failed this man, failed his family who knew him as a brother and as an uncle.”
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