Unhoused people and advocates march to Providence City Hall and State House

“The Mayor has been blatantly lying... He's saying that when raids happen and people are evicted from encampments they are [getting] shelter beds and given housing. They're not."

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley was not in his office at City Hall when over 65 people gathered outside his second-floor offices. The crowd comprised unhoused people, formerly unhoused people, advocates, and allies. They were met in the hallway by Mayor Smiley's Chief of Staff Emily Crowell, who spoke briefly with Eric Hirsch, the Providence College Professor who serves as interim director of the Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project (RIHAP).

“The claim is that the mayor's not here,” said Professor Hirsh to the crowd. “We had information that he is here, but he's dedicating a new dog park.”

Then Professor Hirsch addressed Chief of Staff Crowell and the crowd, not mincing his words.

“We want the police raids to stop until the people in the encampments are offered reasonable alternatives - shelter with wraparound services, and ultimately housing.

“The Mayor has been blatantly lying. Please tell him this. We know he's been lying because he's saying that when raids happen and people are evicted from encampments they are [getting] shelter beds and given housing. They're not. That's a lie. They are scattered to smaller encampments where they're less safe.

“So at least tell him [that] we want him to stop lying about what's happening to people and tell him to be honest - that he cares more about the neighbors complaining about people in encampments than about the people in the encampments. He thinks that's what will get him votes but we are committed to making sure that he's going to lose votes.”

Joseph P. Buchanan, President of the Rhode Island Black Political Action Committee was one of those votes.

“I have been a constant supporter of Brett Smiley and I want him to know if he wants me to keep my commitment and the commitment of the people I represent, he must keep his commitment to housing the homeless and the unhoused,” said Buchanon, speaking moments earlier outside City Hall. “We need to stop these raids on the camps right now, today, and if [he doesn't], there will be a problem for our community.

“I'm here because housing is a right. It's educational because our kids cannot learn in school if they don't have a place to live. Our college students cannot learn properly if they don't have a place to live.”

You can watch the march, the rally, and all the speakers here:

Rhode Islanders with lived experience of homelessness and their allies marched from Mathewson Street Church to Providence City Hall and the Rhode Island State House to demand that Mayor Smiley stop all police raids of homeless encampments and that Governor Daniel McKee declare a State of Emergency until the current, urgent crisis of unsheltered homelessness is effectively addressed.

Elijah and his partner have been unhoused and living on the street since winter. His partner is pregnant.

“Me and my fiance have been on the street since winter because everyone has abandoned us,” said Elijah. “We kept trying to call CES but they didn't give us much for the majority of the winter. When they sent us to a shelter, it was the Hartford Ave shelter and [my wife] was sexually assaulted in her sleep, as [happened to] a lot of other people, we found out.

“There needs to be a safer and more restricted shelter design than just open beds,” continued Elijah. “You cannot regulate it when shit hits the fan in the middle of the night. On top of that, they need to not shut down beds because there is too much unrecorded homelessness, from here to Exeter and whatnot. No one knows the exact number, but it keeps rising every day and there needs to be some change because all it would do is make the economy better. If you house the homeless to get the homeless off the street, they're not going to fucking burn you. They're going to be just like the citizens. They're just broken people trying to get back into life, they are not all fucking druggies and assholes.”

“Open up some places so they have more shelter,” said Elijah’s partner. "I'm pregnant with the child on the way. They should treat mothers and families all the same. Not just women, not just men - families all together and treat everyone the same. Like my husband said, not all homeless people are bad, and not all people are good or not good. You have to give them a chance. We're just broken. Open your doors. We're just broken people looking for a second chance to live.”

At the end of April 2024 Rhode Island had 1,260 unhoused people in emergency shelters and 613 living outside without shelter for a total of 1,873 people. This represents a near doubling of homelessness and an increase of over 600 percent in unsheltered homelessness since 2019.

Tim has also experienced homelessness in the last year.

“Last summer I became homeless,” said Tim. “I lost the place where I was living so I did all the things I was supposed to do and CES told me that I didn't have a high enough score. I began speaking out and ultimately began volunteering for an agency. I ended up getting into a private shelter. If I was still in that shelter, I would've been out by April. I got lucky. I met my partner and we moved in. But I'm the exception, not the rule. Most people don't get out of this. I wish I could be jubilant today, but I'm not. The Governor has made some promises to the state about what he was going to do about this problem, and none of it has come true. We are still waiting on the PalletSshelters. There were supposed to be more beds put in. Where are they? It's time for the state to wake up.”

Unfortunately, instead of increasing the number of emergency beds, the state is losing hundreds of seasonal beds - and the Department of Children Youth and Families (DCYF) and Family Care Community Partnership beds for the summer and fall.

“The average rent in Rhode Island is over 2000 a month for an apartment,” said Professor Hirsch. “You need $80,000 in income a year to afford a rent like that. The result is that we've had 2,500 evictions since January 2024. That's what's driving the number of people living outside.”

At the State House, Capitol and State Police erected barriers and stationed officers to prevent the crowd from gathering outside his office. Governor Daniel McKee seemingly cares so little about this issue that he can't be bothered to have advocates chant outside his office doors for 20 minutes on a Tuesday afternoon.

Outside the State House, and then inside, taking over the rotunda beneath the State House dome, Professor Hirsch once again addressed the crowd.

“Back in 2019, we had between 50 and a hundred people living outside,” said Professor Hirsch. “Now we're up to over 600 people living outside. The point-in-time count that we did at the end of January, counted over 500 people, which is the most we've ever had, by far. If you want percentages, you're looking at a 600+ percent increase since 2019.

“This is an emergency. This is a crisis for the people who are out there. They are suffering. The state added a few hundred shelter beds over the winter, but now we've lost several hundred shelter beds, particularly family beds. The state hasn't done much to deal with that. They're thinking, ‘Oh, well, it's summer, so people can just be in tents.’

“That's not acceptable. We are not going to tolerate that and we're going to continue these protests until something is done about it. The biggest problem we have right now is the Not In My BackYard people. Every town and city, is going through different kinds of delaying tactics with regulatory processes and zoning, doing everything they can do to prevent us from siting shelter beds and very low-income housing for our people.

“We need the Governor to declare a state of emergency so the state itself can cut through the NIMBYism, regulations, and zoning and put people into decent shelters with a clear path to housing.

“We delivered hundreds of signatures to the Governor to declare a state of emergency. Not only did he not declare a state of emergency - he never told us that he wasn't going to do it. He ignored those hundreds of signatures. So we're back. We're going to keep coming back until he changes his mind.

“The Governor needs to declare a state of emergency and increase the number of shelter beds because it's just as dangerous in the summer as it is in the winter. You can die from heat stroke, especially if you're in a tent where the temperature goes up about 30 degrees when the sun hits. People are suffering.

“The Mayor and the Governor are making a political calculation that they'll get more votes by pandering to the people who don't want to see homeless people. The solution to that is to provide them with a roof over their heads. That's all we want. It's going to take a state of emergency to be able to cut through all of the local regulations and zoning [local governments] are using to delay shelter beds and very low-income housing.”