Commentary by Benedict F. Lessing Jr., Community Care Alliance President/CEO Published 11/7/2026 in the Providence Journal
As with many communities across Rhode Island and the country, Woonsocket has struggled with homelessness. However, something positive has been happening over the past two years, best summed up as leadership, collaboration, community building and problem solving.
This new approach began with Woonsocket’s administration, which did two things that haven’t occurred in a long time. First, they acknowledged the problem as one that needed to be tackled at the local level without blame. Second, with the help of City Council members and an astute Human Services director they recruited partners from the nonprofit sector across the city and some that had not historically worked in Woonsocket.
These efforts have been focused on strategically developing a set of initiatives to address the problem, including a Community Partnership Task Force that meets frequently to develop solutions to increasing shelter capacity and affordable housing.
The administration also implemented the Situation Table, a weekly planning process encompassing public safety, school and nonprofit representatives who meet to identify and assist individuals and families facing crises. By sharing information and coordinating interventions, the Situation Table connects people with the support and resources they need to resolve their situations. In 2026, Woonsocket’s Table has helped over 100 people thus far. Other multiagency processes occur weekly to address immediate, complex and emergency concerns.
The result of these initiatives has been an 85% decrease in homelessness.
This approach parallels Denver’s utilizing enforcement, social services, behavioral health and health care to address a multifaceted problem. More importantly, there is no finger pointing. The emphasis is on the dignity of those impacted and the well-being of the community.
The framework evolving in Woonsocket and Denver are models for what can occur in other communities. The governor and the General Assembly must take a similar approach. This means first acknowledging that there are multiple populations that fall victim to becoming unhoused. These include children and families, individuals with significant health care concerns, and people with serious mental illness and/or significant addiction concerns.
At present, state agencies do not work together, which results in an inefficient use of resources across state government.
As American Rescue Plan Act funds have been expended and other federal dollars decrease, the state must address homelessness more broadly. Specific funding must be incorporated into multiple state agency budgets to better serve at-risk and unhoused populations.
As an example, conservatively, 20%-plus of individuals living outside are suffering with serious mental illness and/or addiction concerns. Unlike the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, Rhode Island’s Department of Behavioral Health, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals does not have dedicated funding to address the unique needs of this population, nor do we have a functioning rehabilitative state hospital.
Neither the Department of Children, Youth & Families nor the Department of Human Services have the necessary subsidies to properly support those children and families who are at risk or who become unhoused. Moreover, neither nursing homes nor assisted living facilities have sufficient rates or staffing to accommodate unhoused individuals with significant health care needs.
Going forward, state level solutions must focus on results-oriented coordination between state agencies, local municipalities and community-based providers.
We must employ targeted policy and funding solutions that encompass health care and behavioral health, as well as supported and affordable housing. Woonsocket’s experience and results in two short years are instructive. Imagine if the state, municipal governments and nonprofits truly came together and centered the dignity and needs of unhoused and at-risk people by developing solutions. Imagine.
Benedict F. Lessing Jr. is president and CEO of the Community Care Alliance.