Bernie Beaudreau: The reality of being unhoused during extreme cold snaps

"...we must acknowledge that the hundreds of unsheltered people experiencing homelessness need increased effort from the state government, matched with community resources, to survive.”

I sent this to the entire General Assembly this morning:

“I met Joe over a year ago. He has a daily routine of assisting customers with a shopping cart at my local grocery store, saving them the step of putting in a quarter to release a cart and then returning it to get their quarter returned. People take notice of his homelessness, and many donate a buck or two. Some shop first and offer him food, which he appreciates. Joe garners just enough to survive, camping in the woods.

“At 65 years old, Joe has been in a tent in the woods for many years,” he told me. He’s learned how to survive the weather and take care of himself, and has a propane heater for the coldest nights. During the winter, most of his money goes toward propane to keep warm at night. A family member buys the tanks with Joe’s money and drops them in a spot at the edge of the woods where Joe walks a distance to retrieve them. Joe says he’s tired of living this way. He’d like to get out of the woods but won’t go to a shelter. He’d have to lose all of his survival gear to go to a shelter, which he has tried in the past and felt unsafe.

“Joe welcomed Vicky and Chris, a younger couple, over a year ago, to camp out next to him. Joe told me he preferred to camp alone, but he welcomed them because he could see they needed his help and guidance. I met Vicky a month ago, while she was sitting with Joe at the supermarket. She told me that she and her husband, Chris, lost their apartment when the landlord raised the rent beyond their means. She said that Chris was traveling daily to the Boston area, working as a concrete pourer.

“When I met Chris yesterday, taking his turn asking for donations in front of the grocery market, he told me that the concrete company hasn’t called him in over a month, so he’s out of work and money right now. I guessed that he was with Vicky, Joe’s neighbor, in the woods. We spoke about the 10-degree weather forecast for tonight (Monday, December 8), and I asked if they had what they needed to keep from freezing. He said they could use whatever we could give. So I went home, and my wife washed and dried an extra-large quilted blanket we had in the closet. We packed some snacks and fruit, and I visited their encampment yesterday afternoon. Chris and Vicky were very thankful for the blanket and food. I gave Joe a small bag of snacks and fruit, and he thanked me, on behalf of his neighbors, who were unsure how to survive the cold.

“According to the HUD Point In Time count of homelessness, there were 618 unsheltered homeless in our state in January 2025, a 15.7 percent increase over 2024. An unknown portion of this number are hunkered down in encampments and the rest sleep in doorways, under bridges, in alleyways and out in the open. We don’t know how many of these folks will experience frostbite, hypothermia, or worse tonight. The overnight shelters will be open, but will all who are outside without a tent tonight be able to find them and be helped?

“I asked an outreach worker friend with 20 years of experience reaching out to homeless and encamped folks what we could do to help people in tents and encampments throughout the state — who, for many reasons, a congregate overnight shelter is not a practical option, as they can’t protect their camp possessions and feel unsafe. She said that for now, they need propane heaters and a supply of tanks through the winter months, in addition to help with food and medical care. Until these folks have the option of staying in a non-congregate shelter (like Echo Village) or in subsidized apartments, they will choose to survive, with help from the community, as best they can, camping even through the winter.

“This is part of the massive, growing crisis of the severe shortage of affordable housing in Rhode Island. Until the supply meets the need, we must acknowledge that the hundreds of unsheltered people experiencing homelessness need increased effort from the state government, matched with community resources, to survive.”