Rhode Island
‘Crisis,’ or ‘best practice?’ Why advocates are split on RI’s new homeless system
RI Gov. Dan McKee discusses plans to eliminate tax on Social Security
He announced his plan to get rid of the tax on Social Security income at Edward King House Senior Center in Newport on March 16.
Last year, the state made a major change in how it helps homeless people, or people at risk of becoming homeless, find housing.
Rather than using a single phone line for people to call, on Oct. 1, 2025, the state switched to “regional access points,” or seven hubs located throughout Rhode Island designed to be one-stop shops to connect at-risk people and families with shelter and supportive services.
Five months later, are the regional access points succeeding in their mission?
That depends on whom you ask.
Advocates say regional access points not working
The advocates and volunteers who worked in the Providence area during the bitterly cold winter to ferry unsheltered people to pop-up emergency shelters say no.
Nancy Krahe, a retired Providence teacher and advocate for the Rhode Island Housing First Coalition, is one of a handful of volunteers who placed calls to regional access points, or RAPs, over the last few months.
She and others documented calls going unanswered, messages remaining unreturned and various RAPs reporting that the beds in their communities were full.
“You could have 15 people answering the phone. If there are no beds available, why are we funding a RAP?” Krahe said. “These people are giving up.”
State argues that regional access points are a best practice
The state, however, argues that RAPs are a “nationwide best practice” that serve as entry points to housing and other services, such as case management, mental health and substance-use treatment, as well as other supports.
“RAPs are structured as comprehensive, community-based service hubs that reduce system bottlenecks and improve responsiveness by offering a more accessible entry system for those experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness,” Emily Marshall, spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Housing, said in an email.
According to Marshall, “RAPs are structured as broad service hubs, better equipped to assess needs, provide referrals, and connect individuals to housing supports beyond emergency shelter, which helps individuals and families prevent homelessness before it begins,” she continued.
From October through December, shelter enrollments increased by approximately 38% from the prior year, “suggesting that more Rhode Islanders in need are successfully accessing shelter through this model,” she said.
Model relies on people physically visiting the access points
Still, Krahe and other volunteers grumble about unanswered calls and staff bouncing callers from one RAP to the next. What, they ask, if a person doesn’t have a phone or transportation to travel to a RAP?
“The reality is, even if someone answered the phone, there’s no housing,” Paula Hudson, executive director of Better Lives Rhode Island. The response callers get is “full, full, full.”
Ideally, Marshall said, individuals should physically visit a RAP instead of placing a call.
“The emphasis is on building a stronger, person-centered connection that allows staff to fully understand someone’s situation and identify the most appropriate next steps, which may not always be shelter,” she said.
She stressed that anyone in Rhode Island can seek assistance at any RAP location, and that they can access the state’s emergency shelter system by going directly to a shelter or by calling United Way’s 211 line.
“If someone is unable to travel to a site, RAP staff can coordinate with Street Outreach Teams to meet unsheltered individuals where they are, at a time and location that works for them,” she said.
She acknowledged that RAP phone lines are not staffed around the clock, but noted that they provide more hours than their predecessor, the single-line coordinated entry system that led to delays in people accessing shelter, she said.
How is the system working in Woonsocket?
At the RAP operated by Community Care Alliance in Woonsocket, messages seeking housing are forwarded by email to a handful of staff. The agency has seen 950 unique contacts since the system launched and makes “every effort” to call people back, said Michelle Taylor, vice president of social health services at Community Care Alliance.
According to Taylor, the problem with the system is that it exists in a state with a lack of affordable housing.
“There just isn’t enough housing to be had, affordable housing. The wait list is backed up. All of us are working as hard as we can,” Taylor said.
And as temperatures climb, winter shelters will close, making the situation even more dire, she said.
“There’s no more room at the inn. We can’t take anyone,” Taylor said, adding “We all have limits based on our facilities and our ability to meet the needs.”
She noted, too, that the state does not have a RAP servicing the Warwick region.
How is the system working in Westerly?
The WARM Center in Westerly is caring for people as far off as West Warwick, said Amy Santiago, the organization’s regional access point navigator. A Journal reporter’s call to the line received a response within minutes, as did the call to Woonsocket.
Santiago and another staffer take the phone home with them at night and on weekends and respond to calls well into the evening, she said.
“There’s no one who doesn’t get a call back,” Santiago said. “I try to give them a dose of hope, but I can’t give shelter I do not have.”
She’s seen the needs climb during the housing crisis due to unscrupulous landlords, and others who are decent but simply can’t afford the taxes.
“We have more homeless families in this state than ever before,” she said.
Santiago tries to locate beds for callers wherever they may be in the state, she said. They transport people to shelters and hospitals if needed and try to travel to people who don’t have a phone to provide case management.
“We take them. We all have cars,” she said.
Newport Mental Health provides RAP services
The Newport Mental Health RAP is providing services, not only to Newport and Bristol County but to anyone who calls, according to David Boscia, chief clinical director.
Data shows that 98% of the calls to the line are answered and voicemails generally receive a response within 5½ minutes, he said. The agency also operates a 24-hour crisis line.
Partaja Spann, who manages the Newport RAP, said staffers first work with callers to see if there is someone they could stay with and, if not, can sometimes offer space at their warming center. They also have access to a list of available shelter beds and can arrange to secure one and pick up and transport an individual, regardless of the location, she said.
“From my standpoint, it’s a really positive change,” Boscia said. “I’m not saying it’s perfect, but it’s much easier.”
Where are Rhode Island’s RAPs?
The state has contracted with service providers to operate the RAPs. Here’s where, how much the contract is for, and a phone number, if available:
Community Care Alliance: $246,000
Crossroads: $1.2 million
Newport Mental Health: $210,000
OpenDoors: $113,000
Shower to Empower (House of Hope): $400,000
Sojourner House: $150,000
WARM Center Inc.: $300,000
‘It’s a humanitarian crisis’
In the view of Harrison Tuttle, warming center coordinator for “Operation No One Dies” – a new effort by the Rhode Island State Council of Churches to provide beds for people in need – the RAPs aren’t working.
Volunteers reached out to various RAPs and were told “please don’t” refer people to shelters in their community, he said.
“They’re not working very well. … The state doesn’t have enough infrastructure,” Tuttle said. “There’s not enough beds.”
Tuttle would like to see all the stakeholders together in the same room “to develop a plan that meets the needs of the population.”
“I just want people to be safe,” he said. “It’s a humanitarian crisis.”
Three generations of a family, including a two-year-old girl, have been killed during a driving lesson after their car plunged into a Rhode Island river.
Police received a report that a car had driven into the Seekonk River in Pawtucket on Sunday evening at the small boat-launching area, The Boston Globe reported.
After hours of searching for the submerged car, authorities pulled it out of the water Monday afternoon. The 45-year-old woman, a 22-year-old woman and the two-year-old girl inside the car were found dead.
Pawtucket resident Josue Gomez told The Globe it was his wife, Floridalma Arceno, their daughter, Linora Sucely Gomez, and their granddaughter, Ana Sofia Garcia Gomez, who were killed in the accident.
Gomez said Arceno was teaching their daughter how to drive with their granddaughter in the car when his wife called him in a panic and said, “‘It won’t brake, it won’t brake.’’
“It was the last thing she said to me,” he said.
Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves told reporters that a “Good Samaritan riding a jet ski in the vicinity heard the car enter the water and attempted to help,” The Providence Journal reported.
“While this was occurring, another individual called 911, and first responders were on scene within 3 minutes,” Goncalves said.
Gomez said he hurried to the boat ramp Sunday evening, but the car was already submerged.
Police tried to find the car, but suspended the search around 1 a.m. Monday due to poor conditions, according to reports.
The search resumed Monday morning, and by around 2:30 p.m. ET, a tow truck pulled the car out of the water.
“They were good people,” Gomez told The Globe.
The Independent has reached out to the Pawtucket Police Department and the Rhode Island Office of the State Medical Examiners for comment.
Authorities called it a “tragic accident,” and said there were no indications of foul play, according to reports.
“Preliminary findings suggest the vehicle was in proper working order,” Pawtucket Detective Sergeant Paul Trout said in an email to The Globe.
Pawtucket Mayor Donald R. Grebien called the incident a “heartbreaking tragedy” in a statement shared with the media.
“Our community mourns alongside them, and we want them to know they are not alone during this unimaginable time,” Grebien said.
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PROVIDENCE – Former CVS executive Helena Foulkes still leads Gov. Dan McKee by double-digits in the Democratic primary race for governor, but her whopping 34-point lead of last April has shrunk to 20 points in the wake of McKee’s TV attack ads, according to a new University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll.
The survey sampled 337 likely 2026 Democratic state primary voters, 145 likely Republican state primary voters and 664 likely general election voters between June 18 and June 23.
Among the key findings of the survey:
If the Democratic primary had been held while the survey was underway, 42% of likely primary voters would have chosen Foulkes and 22% would have chosen McKee, with restaurant owner Gregory Stevens and Wil Gregersen each getting 1%, the poll said. Thirty-one percent of respondents were undecided.
“Pluralities of moderates (46%), liberals (46%), and progressives (46%) support Foulkes, while two-thirds of socialists (66%) are undecided. McKee does best among those aged 65 and older (31%) but still trailsFoulkes (46%) among this group,” according to this poll.
McKee has narrowed the gap somewhat since the last UNH poll in April, when 45% of likely primary voters chose Foulkes and only 11% McKee.
Bottom line: Incumbent McKee, a former Cumberland mayor and lieutenant governor who has been governor since his predecessor Gina Raimondo quit mid-term in March 2021, “remains quite unpopular among likely Democratic primary voters: only 18% have a favorable opinion of him, 56% have an unfavorable opinion,” according to the poll released on Tuesday, June 30.
And then there’s this: In a hypothetical matchup between Foulkes, whoever emerges as the Republican nominee and independent Ken Block, the poll showed 38% of likely general election voters would vote for Foulkes, 22% would vote for the Republican nominee and 19% for Block.
If, however, McKee won the Democratic nomination, the potential matchup “would be very close,” with both McKee and Block getting 27% of the likely general election vote and the GOP nominee 23%; 2% would vote for another candidate. Twenty-one percent were undecided, according to the poll.
The poll is the latest in a string of bad news for the 74-year-old McKee, including his failure to clinch the endorsement of the state Democratic Party on June 20.
Depending on how you do the math, he fell three votes short of the endorsement, making him the first Democratic governor in Rhode Island to fail to win his party’s endorsement for a reelection bid since the modern primary system was created in 1948.
In the days since, Foulkes has racked up city and town Democratic committee endorsements, while McKee has only won endorsements from Pawtucket and North Providence Democrats. On Tuesday, June 30, he touted one more from the East Providence Democratic City Committee.
But McKee campaign spokeswoman Sophie Mestas hailed the poll as evidence that “the more Rhode Islanders learn about Helena Foulkes – a corporate executive who built her career on cutting healthcare access and fueling the opioid crisis – the more they want no part of her empty promises.
“More Rhode Islanders now view her unfavorably than favorably, and it’s not hard to see why,” Mestas said. “Rhode Islanders know the difference between a Governor who delivers for them and an executive who cashed in at their expense – and they’re choosing the Governor who’s always fought for working families.”
Her statement reflects disputed allegations in McKee’s TV ads about Foulkes’ record.
On the Republican front, those surveyed chose retired comedian Elaine Pelino, who has campaigned almost exclusively on Facebook (38%), over the state GOP’s endorsed candidate, Aaron Guckian (19%), an advance man and driver for former Gov. Donald Carcieri who most recently worked for the Rhode Island Dental Association.
Flying athletes in with the Special Olympics Airlift
Getting athletes to the games takes more than airplanes. Textron Aviation coordinates the effort while AccuWeather provides forecasting support to make weather-informed decisions.
Rhode Island athletes took home five gold medals, nine silver medals and 11 bronze medals at 2026 Special Olympics USA Games in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which wrapped up on June 26.
The Rhode Island Special Olympians left for the games in private jets provided by Textron on June 15. A total of 50 members, including 24 athletes and their families, traveled to represent and cheer on Rhode Island.
“Once we went to the hangar on the way out to Minnesota, and there was a big rally, my husband Steve and I were looking at each other saying, ‘This is big. This is huge being invited to the USA games,’” Rena Megrdichian, mother of softball player Garen Megrdichian, said. “I guess we just didn’t realize what an honor this whole process was.”
After preliminary events on June 22 to group athletes accordingly, the medal rounds across multiple sports began the next day.
Rhode Island picked up three gold medals, three silver medals and four bronzes in bowling, swimming, powerlifting and track and field events on June 23. Despite the heavy medal count for the smallest state, one athlete’s finish went viral on social media.
Thomas Poirier, of North Providence, was placed in lane 5 of group 4 in the 400-meter after finishing fifth in his preliminary race with a time of 1:20.54. The race started, and Poirier hustled as hard as he could, but coming into the final 100 meters, he found himself in fourth place. Then, he kicked it into another gear. He passed the runner in third, then second and suddenly he was gaining on the leader he was about 25 meters behind just a few seconds prior. With 25 meters left to go, Poirier passed Noah Lamusga, of Minnesota, and took the lead and the gold medal.
Poirier finished with a time of 1:17.24, three seconds faster than his time in the preliminaries.
“I saw my time in the prelims, and I was like ‘That’s good, but I just need to work harder,’ and so I did,” Poirier said.
The clip of him running the final 100 meters and his post-race interview where he says, “Rhode Island… I’m coming home golden,” currently has over 100,000 likes on Instagram.
“At first I was a little embarrassed, but I slowly and surely got used to it,” Poirier said. “I’m not used to getting fame like this.”
Poirier’s mom, Dora, was able to attend the games with her husband and daughter, Poirier’s twin sister. When they saw Thomas cross the finish line, the only emotions they could convey were shock and tears of joy.
“We couldn’t believe it,” Dora said. “We’re like, ‘Oh my god, he actually might do this.’ I honestly couldn’t believe that he did it. We hoped he would come home with something. I was so happy for him, overjoyed.”
Dora said that the family had no idea that Thomas had gone viral until later that night. They had received a few videos of friends recording the TV when the race first ended, but they kept receiving more videos, and that’s when they realized he had his viral social media moment.
Thomas also competed in the 200-meter run and 4 x 100-meter relay, where he won silver in both with a time of 30.59 and 1:07.83, respectively.
Thomas noted that the quick turnaround to compete in the three events was hard, but he knew he had to power through.
“It was definitely a little hard, but I slowly adapted to it, and I gave it my all,” Thomas said. “In the end, that other guy was just a little faster, but I still gave it my all, and I’m happy with what I came home with.”
Another one of Rhode Island’s five gold medals came from the softball team. The team had lost its first two group stage games 17-8 and 18-3 against Delaware and Connecticut, respectively, on June 22. They were able to salvage one win, a 12-9 victory against Arkansas the next day, before losing to Florida in its final group stage game on June 24.
The team suffered a couple of injuries during the group stage games, one of which was Jamar Abney, who suffered a hand injury in the final group stage game. Abney’s injury was a rallying cry for the rest of the team as they developed a slogan, “Win for Jamar,” that would define the rest of the team’s run, according to Special Olympics Rhode Island President and CEO Edwin Pacheco.
In the first game of the medal round, Rhode Island was paired up against Arkansas once more. The team was down 9-3 at one point but rallied back in extra innings to pull off the 11-10 win and advance to the gold medal game.
“The enthusiasm, the excitement that came from the team was just contagious,” Pacheco said. “You think about all the memorable moments, whether it be the Red Sox or the Patriots, and these come-from-behind wins that people still talk about 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 years later, that game between Rhode Island and Arkansas was one of those moments.”
In the championship, it was another rematch, this time with Connecticut. No miracles or comebacks were needed in this game, though, as Rhode Island won 21-7 to take home the gold.
“I feel like in the gold medal match, I thought we had a lot of energy coming into this game,” said Garen Megrdichian, of Hope. “We had some urgency, and we had some confidence, so I’m really happy that we got the gold medal, and I’m just happy for our guys.”
Garen’s mom Rena attended the games and watched her son and his team’s run to the gold medal. The emotions ran high throughout the week.
“The nail-biting and anxiety that the parents go through watching them go through all this, it really was a nail-biter,” Rena Megrdichia said. “We couldn’t be more proud. We really couldn’t be more proud of what not only Garen accomplished, but this whole team, how they came together, [and] how they supported one another.”
She spoke about the team’s camaraderie despite the struggles and the emotions all the parents felt after they took home the gold.
“They just kept saying, ‘We’re going to win this for Jamar,’ and not only did they FaceTime Jamar right after the game, [but they also] called his mother to say we won this for Jamar. So, the support they all had for each other – we were just in tears. It was just one of those times where they overcame being beaten down and not doing well, and then all of a sudden, they turned it around, and they did very, very well.”
Megrdichian’s mom noted that the teams, despite it being a competition, all became friends with one another.
“They want to play each other again,” Rena Megrdichia said. “That’s how much playing against them meant to them that they would love to get together again and play these teams again. Because it was so fun for them and they really enjoyed it.”
Poirier and Megrdichian both described just getting the call that they had made it to the USA Games as a “dream come true,” and that earning the gold medal just added to an already incredible experience.
Special Olympics Rhode Island invites any Rhode Islander with an intellectual or developmental disability to join the organization and participate in a sport at no cost, according to Pacheco.
Find the full results of the USA Games here.
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