The Woonsocket Community Partnership Task Force on Housing and Homelessness releases their action plan
The Woonsocket Community Partnership Task Force on Housing and Homelessness releases their action plan
The Action Plan focuses on eight goals, each listing essential partners and a timeline for completion...
Following up on a 15-page report on the State of affordable housing and homelessness in Woonsocket, released earlier this month, the Woonsocket Community-Partnership Task Force on Housing and Homelessness released its Action Plan today. The Task Force is chaired by City Council Vice-President Valerie Gonzalez and includes 22 members representing social service agencies, State and local housing and health agencies, public safety officials, the faith community, the City government, and residents.
“Every person deserves a roof over their head when they go to bed at night,” said Mayor Chris Beauchamp. “We have families with children, seniors, and veterans outside right now, and we need to do something to help. This action plan is a commitment to provide immediate relief and create sustainable solutions that empower individuals and address this crisis. Together, we can end homelessness and ensure that everyone has the opportunity to thrive.”
“The tangle of factors that have put people on the street or in shelters or left them just barely hanging on is the same in Houston and Newark, Chattanooga, Minneapolis, San Diego, and Providence as it is here,” said Bruce Daigle during the October 3rd press conference announcing Wonsocket’s new Housing and Homelessness Report. Daigle authored that report and was instrumental in putting together the Action Plan. “In those communities and others, people have come together and developed strategies that have worked, saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and strengthening their communities. We hope to do the same here.
“I’m hopeful [the action plan] will bear much fruit,” continued Daigle at that press conference, “for I believe it is God’s work we are doing, and our cooperation in that work will bring graces and blessings we can scarcely imagine.”
You can access the complete Action Plan here.
The Action Plan focuses on eight goals, each listing essential partners and a timeline for completion:
Move those who are unsheltered off the streets and into transitional housing.
Complete Neighborworks’ rehabilitation of the Holy Family Convent building;
Re-open the Dignity Bus before the winter;
Support the Community Care Alliance’s transitional shelter program expansion;
Assess potential, requirements, and locations for use of ‘Rest Pads’ and other single-occupant shelters;
Prioritize homelessness in the Woonsocket Housing Authority (WHA)’s application process and Resident Selection Plan;
Cooperate with the Diocese of Providence in its rehabilitation of the Holy Family Rectory building; and,
Work with the WHA to maximize the effectiveness of its voucher program.
Construct new affordable housing for ownership or rent.
Support NeighborWorks’ efforts to provide more affordable housing units.
Locate sites for the construction of low-cost ‘tiny house’ neighborhoods.
Provide incentives for multi-unit property owners to rent out vacant units via rental assistance programs.
Communicate with multi-unit property owners regarding revaluation and taxation issues.
Find funding for WHA’s remediation work and replacement/expansion of its high-rise and apartment complexes.
Assess the possibility of rehabilitating the three elementary schools planned for closure for transitional housing.
Expand and deepen cooperation of agencies to reduce homelessness.
Establish an ‘umbrella office’ to coordinate agencies’ efforts to provide housing and serve people experiencing homelessness;
Address substance use issues, especially the abuse and illegal sale of opioids;
Continue to inform City officials on issues around housing and homelessness;
Expand the position of the City’s Human Services Director to full-time and provide necessary resources1;
Ensure communication between State and local officials before creating State housing policies;
Use ‘Point In Time’ count data to guide efforts to end homelessness; and,
Evaluate policies and requirements obstructing the provision of assistance to those who are homeless.
Inform the public about the realities of the City’s homelessness issues.
Explain the facts and misperceptions about those who are experiencing homelessness;
Describe the economic and social benefits of providing secure housing and relieving ‘cost stress;’
Educate renters about rental and utility assistance programs;
Establish a directory of available social services in the community;
Present classes and other forums for vulnerable populations on how to avoid homelessness;
Provide remedial and continuing education classes and job training programs;
Encourage the public to view those who are homeless with compassion, acceptance, and assistance; and,
Establish and maintain open lines of communication with the public.
Pass legislation to address issues of homelessness and affordable housing.
Update the ‘Homeless Bill of Rights’ and remove penalties for being homeless;
Provide incentives for developers and contractors to build affordable housing;
Eliminate zoning, permit, and insurance obstacles to constructing shelters and affordable housing;
Increase ‘Continuum of Care’ funding to address local homelessness and housing issues;
Control rising rental costs,
Provide funding for low- and middle-income families to afford home ownership;
Revise the formula for State aid to education to increase funding for local/urban communities;
Ensure appropriate levels of care for those suffering from severe mental health issues;
Restrict hospitals from discharging people without shelter or keeping them inappropriately;
Increase State and local funding for emergency rental and other housing assistance;
Streamline reimbursements to social service agencies;
Expand affordable access to specialized nursing home, assisted living, and other residential facilities; and
Provide access to affordable medications for those who are homeless.
Enhance the administration’s efforts to raise the City’s median income.
Work with local businesses to increase wages and salaries; and,
Attract new businesses that provide wages and salaries that exceed the City’s median income.
Seek private sector advocacy & funding for shelters and housing.
Urge faith leaders to engage congregations on homelessness issues.
Consider the use and/or conversion of unused church properties for shelter or housing;
Assist social service agencies to connect their clients with parish assistance programs;
Explain to their congregants the spiritual obligations to help the poor and needy in our community;
Discuss with their congregations the issues of racism, NIMBYism, and other forms of exclusion;
Encourage congregants’ positive attitudes and actions towards those most in need;
Urge congregants who are landlords to lease their units through rental subsidies and programs and,
Support elected officials in their efforts to confront and resolve these issues.
Among the specific objectives included under each goal are several to address the urgent needs of people experiencing homelessness as winter approaches. The City counts less than 200 short- and mid-term shelter beds and does not have sufficient resources to meet the current need. Re-opening the ‘Dignity Bus,’ which sleeps 20 people per night, adding 16 short-term overnight beds at a former church rectory, and finding a location to place a cluster of single-occupant ‘Rest Pads’ are among the immediate priorities.
The plan’s legislative priorities, as outlined under Goal 5, include eliminating zoning, permit, and insurance obstacles to constructing shelters and affordable housing units; increasing State funding for emergency rental and other housing assistance; restricting hospitals from releasing those who have no shelter; controlling spiraling rental costs; and, revising the formula for State aid to education to increase funding for urban communities.
A few of the significant findings in the initial report include:
At least 24,000 residents of the City – more than half the population of 43,000 – are either homeless or ‘housing stressed,’ meaning that they spend 30% or more of their income on housing. Among those who are ‘housing stressed’ are a quarter of all City homeowners and almost half of renters.
Although Woonsocket has a population of only 4%, it accounts for 10% of the State’s unsheltered homeless population and 10% of all those in emergency shelters.
The City’s median income of $48,800 is less than half the income needed to purchase an average-priced house.
The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the City has increased by more than 50% in the past year.
More than 4,000 people are on waiting lists for affordable housing in northern Rhode Island, mainly in Woonsocket.
A recent study shows that providing affordable housing for each homeless individual is estimated to save the community about $10,500 per year.
During the Woonsocket Mayoral Forum, the issue of a full-time versus part-time Human Services Director came up. Here’s the relevant portion of that forum:
Dr. Joseph Cammarano: I’ve become aware through the questions sent to me that there were changes in the position of Human Services Director for the City in the recent past, before you became Mayor, reducing the budget and supporting only a halftime position. I did some investigating, but I couldn’t figure out what that position is. Could you tell us a little about what the person in that position is supposed to be and whether it should remain a part-time job or go back to full-time the way it was in prior years?
Christopher Beauchamp: When I came into office, I inherited a lot of things, and so did the City Council. Whatever happened prior, we dealt with it, and the Human Services Director was a part-time director. The person doing that job told me he thought it was a part-time job, and I never got one phone call about anything related to human services, whether at the senior center, veterans, or the elderly. He handled the job as a part-time director, and when I proposed the budget, the legislative body, the City Council, could have made it to a full-time position. Nobody mentioned that. It remained a part-time position because it was working.
Dr. Joseph Cammarano: What is that position supposed to do?
Christopher Beauchamp: It deals with any constituents that call City Hall, whether it’s elderly affairs, veterans, or homelessness. People call up if they’ve had a fire at their residence in the middle of the night. The Human Services Director is responsible for public safety. They handle the concerns of every resident on an emergency basis.
John Ward: This is where you will see us differ because when [Mayor Beauchamp] mentions that he never got a call about Human Services Director or human services, we differ on how things go. This Human Services Director was a part-time position to accommodate a retired policeman who was limited in the number of days he could work because the previous Human Services Director had resigned. It never should have been a part-time position. It never should be.
They’re responsible for the Senior Center through the board that serves in that capacity. They’re the conduit for all of the people in the City who don’t know exactly where to go to get services. They are the channel by which [constituents] are directed to where they need to go, whether it’s the Community Care Alliance, ThunderMist Health, or various service agencies in the City. The Human Services Director never reached out to Aging Well Inc., the group that operates the Senior Center - this building - to find out their budgetary needs, whether it’s the operating budget or our community development block grant funds. He should have coordinated those conversations to develop a budget, but it never happened.
Dr. Joseph Cammarano: Do you think it’s a full-time position?
John Ward: It is. The position also deals with all the emergencies you mentioned - Red Cross, emergency housing, and things of that nature.
Dr. Joseph Cammarano: That’s very helpful. The term we use to describe those activities is ombudsman. They’re the citizens and government go-betweens who help link things.
Christopher Beauchamp: Having been there for 11 months, I believe it should be a full-time position. When the person doing it resigned, I hired somebody I knew who had experience dealing with agencies in the City of Woonsocket. I think she’s doing a great job, and we’ve talked about making it a full-time position.
Editor: Former police officer and Baldelli-Hunt appointee Michael Houle recently resigned, and Mayor Beauchamp hired Margaux Morisseau to fill the position of Human Services Director.