Record Levels of Homelessness in Rhode Island

Even before our modern day recession, the state of Rhode Island had long faced serious economic woes. Today, the snowball effects of persistent state budget issues, rising numbers of job losses, and a disproportionate number of foreclosures have left this small state with a big homelessness problem.

Like many other states, Rhode Island is grappling to manage the rising numbers of homeless people on two fronts: in the shelter system and in tent cities springing up on the streets.

In emergency shelters across the state, the numbers of people seeking assistance reached record levels this year. At least 1,236 Rhode Islanders sought emergency shelter last month, an 8 percent increase over the same month a year ago and up from about 750 in August 2006, according to the Boston Globe. This is bad news for Rhode Island, a state that has historically ended each budget cycle in the red for as long as many people can remember.

To make matters worse, the rising numbers of those seeking shelter doesn't even begin to capture the extent of the homelessness problem in Rhode Island. Tent cities are becoming uncomfortably common in Providence. Several small encampments are scattered throughout downtown, hidden under bridges or in public parks. Many of these groups were originally part of a larger tent city - known as "Camp Runamuck" - that was forced to move from under an East Providence bridge to prevent eviction.

Just this past Monday, a Superior Court judge gave one tent city (dubbed "Camp Runamuck II") a week to vacate a public park. According to the Providence Journal, the tent city was ordered to move because, in addition to violating city camping ordinances, the camp lacks running water, showers and a bathroom and poses a "threat to the health, safety and welfare of the public."

Sounds to me like the classic conundrum that I like to call "Where the $*%&! are they supposed to go?!" It is particularly applicable in this case, given that emergency shelters are already struggling to accommodate record demand.

Advocates in other cities facing this situation, such as Sacramento and Seattle, are pushing for Safe Ground campsites. But Providence advocates have taken a much different approach. They are referencing an old Rhode Island state law, written before the days of Roosevelt and the New Deal, that says the city has an obligation to care for the homeless and poor. "When people are in need, the city is required to provide relief," homeless advocate and lawyer Peter Simone told the Providence Journal, "particularly when all else fails."

Well, despite the programs and services in place to serve the poor since the Roosevelt days, it seems all else has failed the residents of Rhode Island's tent cities.

Image from the Providence Journal news blog.