Apphia Duey, concerned Rhode Island resident

302F Curtis Corner Road

Wakefield, RI 02879

To the Editor,

According to the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, our state is currently

experiencing the “highest levels of homelessness in the state’s history” (“Homeless” 1). Upon

hearing this, I was moved to write to you on behalf of the men, women, and children who are in

need of shelter.

As a junior at the University of Rhode Island, I spent a semester volunteering at the

Welcome House, a local homeless shelter in Wakefield. The day I watched a young pregnant

woman walk out of the woods and approach the shelter only to be turned away, I realized that the

number of homeless people is rising rapidly, a fact that has spurred me to bring this issue to the

attention of your publication. Our state’s monthly shelter use has increased 33% in the past two

years, but there are still individuals and families left out on the streets (“Homeless” 1). The RI

Coalition reports that “shelters are full; social service agencies are strained; and more and more

individuals are forced to sleep outside” (“Homeless” 1). We cannot let this continue—not when

there is a solution that has proven to be successful. Building more local supportive housing units

—homes that allow citizens to pay affordable rent and use services that enable them to live

productively in the community—has reported a 90% success rate since its initial launch in 2006

(“Homeless” 3) . However, more of these units need to be built in order to stop the homeless

epidemic that is currently running rampant in our state.

As a resident of Wakefield, Rhode Island for twenty-two years, I recognize that

constructing supportive housing brings into question the raising of taxes. However, in response

to monetary concerns, I wish to point out that Housing First, the supportive housing pilot
program, recorded a cost savings of $7,946 per person. It is a program that uses taxpayer’s

money wisely instead of carelessly wasting it on temporary solutions that will not last

(“Homeless” 3). The Corporation for Supportive Housing claims that it “costs about the same

amount of money or less to house someone in stable, supportive housing as it does to keep that

person homeless and stuck in the revolving door of high-cost crisis care and emergency housing”

(Supportive 1, emphasis added). The construction of supportive housing is a cost-effective way

to aid those who do not have homes.

In Seattle, WA, supportive housing saved taxpayers “more than $4 million per year”

(Supportive 1). The same potential for success is present in Rhode Island, too, if more

supportive housing facilities are built. What kind of success, you may ask? Based on the study

conducted in Washington, six months after supportive housing was implemented, the monetary

cost to support the homeless dropped from an astounding $4,066 to $1,492 per person each year

(Supportive 1). This is what Rhode Islanders have to look forward to!

Contrary to popular belief, the recent need for shelter is not solely due to poor life

choices made by homeless individuals. Instead, RI Coalition Executive Director Jim Ryczek

notes that “lagging economy, high unemployment, and foreclosure” are among the attributing

factors to the significant homeless problem (Barrett 1). I find this fact significant because it

combats the assumption that homeless individuals are to blame for ruining their own lives

through poor decision making. Research shows that a poor economy and lack of employment

opportunities has contributed significantly to the 53% of first-time homeless individuals and

families in 2010, not alcohol, addiction, or other poor choices (Statistics). Furthermore, the

Homeless Management Information System records that alcohol abuse is associated with only

9% of Rhode Island’s homeless population and drug use accounts for 10%. When compared to
mental illness and disability (22% and 45% respectively), two major problems that are not based

on decisions made by the homeless, it is clear that a significant amount of the men, woman, and

children are without shelter by no fault of their own (Statistics). Instead, as citizens of this state,

we need to recognize that homelessness has reached critical levels and respond by supporting

the construction of more shelters and supportive housing units without assuming that all

individual are homeless because of their own poor choices.

In a 2011 Rhode Island Aid Update, chief executive director of the Office of Housing and

Community Development and Housing Resources Commission states that that “ ‘since 2006,

1,788 Rhode Islanders have found permanent supportive housing’ ” (Davis 1), a fact that is

partially due to the tremendous success of the local supportive housing programs that began five

years ago. However, even with recent successes, the fight to eliminate homelessness in Rhode

Island is far from over. Even with the opening of “more than a half-dozen winter shelters, from

Westerly to Woonsocket… [all of the shelters] are full” (Davis 1). People still need shelter and

Rhode Island still needs funding for more supportive housing units in order to combat the

problem.

With this in mind, I am writing in hopes of raising reader awareness of the need for more

supportive housing units in Rhode Island. The overwhelming success rate of past projects

coupled with the proven tax benefits, and the immediate need for a permanent solution has

urged me to write to you in hopes that doing so will draw in more community support. I wish to

add my voice to the chorus of individuals and groups who submitted a plan to the U.S.

Department of Housing and Urban Development five years ago, saying “We envision a Rhode

Island where no one is homeless” (Davis 1). However, this vision has not become a reality—at

least not yet. But with the funding and construction of additional supportive housing in Rhode
Island, we will reach our goal. With this in mind, thank you for your attention to such a pressing

issue in our local community

Respectfully,

Apphia Duey
 Works Cited

Barrett, Chris. "Rhode Island Homeless Shelters to Reach Record Number

of Visits in 2010." Providence Business News 14 Oct 2010: pg. 1

Web. 2 Mar 2011

Davis, Paul. "State Details Its Efforts to House the Homeless."

Providence Journal 11 Jan 2011: 1. Web. 2 Mar 2011.

"Homeless in Rhode Island: An Overview of the Homeless Crisis and

Proposed Solutions." Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless.

Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, n.d. Web. 2 Mar 2011.

<http://www.rihomeless.org/Portals/0/Uploads/Documents/Public/Ov

erview%20of%20Homelessness%20updated.pdf>.

Statistics on the Homeless in Rhode Island. 2011. Rhode Island Coalition

for the Homeless.Web. 2 March 2011.

Supportive Housing Works to End Homelessness. 2011. Corporation for

Supportive Housing. Web. 2 March 2011

<http://www.csh.org/index.cfm?

fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageID=344>