I am writing you today to request that you consider the needs we have experienced in Woonsocket and propose a strategy for how to begin to address this problem.
The frustration among providers has been the lack of recognition that community-based organizations as well as residential treatment programs have been in decline financially for the last 20 years – at a minimum.
Across the state, there are at least 1267 unsheltered individuals living on the streets, in cars, in encampments, or other spaces not meant for human habitation. The state is currently sitting on hundreds of millions of unspent dollars while our neighbors are left out in the cold. Please join us in a call to action to demand that the state immediately and adequately funds accessible emergency shelter to prevent individuals from freezing outside this winter.
I am writing in response to Woonsocket Councilman Jim Cournoyer’s editorial to clarify the expenditure of funds contracted to Community Care Alliance to address and prevent homelessness.
This is a clarion call to the governor and the General Assembly. We beseech everyone to call them now and implore them to demonstrate this commitment to the common good and to make things fair and equitable. This will truly make for a better world for all of us.
By far, the greatest existential challenge to organizations such as Community Care Alliance is critically insufficient and delayed funding.
I cannot tell you over the course of a 40+ year career in human services how often I have met with elected officials stating “You are doing God’s work”. This is typically a precursor to a conversation about limited funding. It always comes down to priorities that do not meet human needs.
Being able to live in a house or apartment that you’re able to afford is increasingly difficult and evident in the growing population of homeless individuals and families in our communities.
Nurturing, supportive, empathetic—these are words every child should be able to use to describe their upbringing. Unfortunately, this is not the experience for many children in Rhode Island.
Black Americans and all people of color have reached a tipping point with the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota. America was founded on a slave economy that has largely remained intact for over 400 years.
