PROVIDENCE — Advocates for the poor and the high school students who slept overnight at Cathedral Square said a drive to make housing more affordable is essential to stem the rising tide of homelessness in Rhode Island.
Jim Ryczek, executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, disclosed that $7 million in the Ocean State's federal stimulus money is earmarked for homeless prevention. He said most of the money would give people cash assistance and provide housing.
But Ryczek said it is a necessity for the state to invest in viable affordable-housing apartments and units.
The number of homeless people has risen from 559 in July 2007 to 947 last month and the number of children without homes has increased from 167 to 194 during the same time period, according to the homeless coalition.
There were an estimated 1,558 children under age 18 living in the Ocean State's shelter system in 2006-2007, compared to 2005-2006 when there were an estimated 1,378, according to the Rhode Island Emergency Shelter Information Project.
"I think that we're definitely going to make an impact and trying to send out a message that we're trying to be in their shoes and tell people this is a big problem and we need to fix it," said Kateland Dittig, a senior at La Salle Academy after the sleep out.
The East Greenwich resident added, "We're only here one night and we can go back home and there are people out there that have to do this every single night. We just need to find help for them. We see people on the street and we can't just pass them on the side — Jesus was with the lost and the low. We need to see them (homeless) as ourselves."
Dittig and the 112 students from La Salle Academy, St. Raphael Academy, Bishop Hendricken High School, The Prout School and Mount St. Charles Academy sent petitions to the General Assembly and asked the legislature to include money for the Neighborhood Opportunities Program.
The Neighborhood Opportunities Program provides money for housing for homeless Rhode Islanders and affordable housing for low-income residents. It has been financed by $7.5 million by the state for the past three fiscal years, and has created more than 1,100 homes since 2001, according to the homeless coalition and Rhode Island Housing.
Meanwhile, Noreen Shawcross, chief of the Rhode Island Office of Housing and Community Development, said the state "is working closely with the Department of Corrections to prevent homelessness" by identifying housing resources.
"Our goal is for services to help people move into housing," Shawcross said.
Emily Clary, the director of campus ministry at Mount St. Charles Academy braved the cold and spent the night outside at Cathedral Square with her students despite being eight months pregnant. "A lot of people were telling me don't sleep out, you don't need to do this but I felt like I had to. There are so many women out there and it's incredibly difficult sleeping on the ground, being uncomfortable and rolling over," Clary said.
"I can't imagine having to do this nightly. I know so many women have to. I feel blessed I can provide a good future for my child and not knowing where your food is going to come from is terrifying," she said.
Maggie Meany, vice president of operations at Amos House, said her agency "has two programs to get men and women back on their feet." The Providence agency has the state's largest soup kitchen and works one-on-one with residents in its transitional housing program, said Meany. Amos House focuses on culinary arts, catering and carpentry in its 90-day program.
A study on homelessness released last year by Eric Hirsch, a professor of sociology at Providence College, emphasizes two key factors which have led to homelessness in the last 25 years. An increase in income inequality and the failure of the federal government to create or subsidize affordable housing.
Hirsch lists the federal government's Section 8 program, which provides vouchers to use in private rental units, as a failure.
There is a lack of sufficient vouchers to meet the need and long or closed waiting lists for Section 8 certificates nationally and in the Ocean State.
Foreclosures have risen from .42 percent in September 2005 to 3.18 percent in September last year, according to Rhode Island Housing.
Rhode Island ranks 10th in the United States in foreclosed properties. About half of the foreclosures have occurred in the "Renaissance City," according to the housing agency.
Brenda Clement, executive director for the Housing Action Coalition, said, "It's a myth people think that foreclosures are suddenly leading to affordable housing and the sad part is most tenants are forced to leave foreclosed properties. Foreclosures have created an affordable-housing shortage and there are hundreds of units off-line."
