Rhode Island
Rhode Island city gets bus to help house its homeless population
WOONSOCKET, R.I. (WPRI) — One Rhode Island city has found a creative way to combat homelessness in the community.
Monday night, the Woonsocket city council approved the purchase of a 45-foot coach bus, which will be turned into a miniature shelter.
For months, Woonsocket council members have been working to secure what’s called a “Dignity Bus.”
The bus was originally found and pursued by the state, but the process was held up.
“I was a little bit upset about it,” City Council Vice President Valerie Gonzalez recalled. “We had been working on it for quite a bit.”
Gonzalez was on vacation in Florida when she got the news the bus was falling through, so she took matters into her own hands.
“When I woke up, I was just, ‘Oh my God, the bus is in Florida and so am I,’” she added. “So I made a few phone calls and was able to meet with the organization ‘The Source.’”
She was able to convince the company to sell directly to the city instead of working with the state.
She said that will be a huge advantage to the city’s homeless population.
“We can house our citizens first,” Gonzalez said. “Sometimes having the need right in the backyard of your community; these social workers get frustrated seeing the need right in front of them. They can qualify the people for assistance, but they can’t help them because they aren’t the next on the priority list.”
The $150,000 Dignity Bus can house up to 20 people, more than half of Woonsocket’s estimated homeless population.
Each double-decker bunk has its own bed, privacy curtain, and phone charger. The temperature-controlled bus also features TVs, as well as storage for belongings and even pets.
Story continues below slideshow.
The Source CEO Anthony Zorbaugh said homeless people were involved in the design and build of the bus.
“It’s different when somebody’s going through it to then be part of the process and really listening to them and giving them the tools they need to move forward,” Zorbaugh explained.
Woonsocket is only the second community in the country that will own a Dignity Bus.
Gonzalez expects the bus to arrive in mid-July. There will then be a two-day training by The Source for those who will be working on it.
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RHODE ISLAND — Minimum wage workers in Rhode Island are among about 9.2 million nationwide who will get a pay bump in 2025.
The pay raises taking effect Jan. 1 will increase worker pay by about $5.7 billion in the 21 states that are boosting the minimum wage, according to an analysis from the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank that analyzes the economic effect of policies on primarily low- and middle-income families.
In Rhode Island, the minimum wage will increase in 2025 to $15 an hour, up from $14 an hour in 2024. The tipped minimum wage stayed the same at $3.89 an hour.
The raises will increase 2025 pay for minimum wage workers in Rhode Island by about $46.5 million — or an average of $767 a year.
About 13.6 percent of the workforce and about 65,100 Rhode Island residents are directly or indirectly affected by the minimum wage hikes. About 33,300 children — 16.1 percent of all children in Rhode Island — live in households where a minimum wage worker lives.
Nationwide, more than a quarter (25.7 percent) of workers getting a minimum wage pay increase are parents, and more than 5.8 million children live in households where an individual will receive a minimum wage hike, the analysis said.
One in five (20.4 percent) of affected workers are in families with incomes below the poverty line, and nearly half (48.5 percent) have family incomes below twice the poverty line.
Teenagers are often disproportionately likely to become minimum wage workers, the analysis said, but about 88 percent of those getting raises are adults. Among them, about half are full-time workers.
Of all adult workers getting a minimum wage bump in 2025, 41.4 percent have completed at least some education beyond a high school degree.
In addition to Rhode Island, others among the 21 raising the minimum wage in 2025 are Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, South Dakota, Virginia, Vermont and Washington.
In addition, about 48 cities and counties, mostly in California, Colorado and Washington, are raising wages above their state minimum wage floors.
Most minimum wage hikes taking effect Jan. 1 are a result of state laws that tie minimum wage increases to inflation. The raises are automatic in 13 of the states and effect about 56.2 percent of workers getting raises.
Have a news tip? Email jimmy.bentley@patch.com.
With it being almost a week since the West Virginia bowl game, several former Mountaineers who have entered the portal are starting to find new opportunities elsewhere. Over the weekend, tight end Will Dixon announced his commitment to Rhode Island.
Committed. Let’s do it❕🔵⚓️ pic.twitter.com/rMvft0mcwZ
— Will Dixon (@will_dixxon) December 23, 2024
Dixon reclassified to be a part of West Virginia’s 2022 signing class but was buried on the depth chart behind Kole Taylor, Treylan Davis, and others. Last offseason was a critical one for him as the Mountaineer coaching staff was searching for a third tight end. Instead of that guy being Dixon, it was true freshman Jack Sammarco. Dixon appeared in seven games during his time in the Old Gold and Blue, primarily serving on the special teams unit.
Coming out of high school, he chose West Virginia over offers from Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, James Madison, Liberty, Marshall, Temple, and a few others.
He will have one year of eligibility remaining.
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Tenants of Atlantic Mills announced they had formed the “first commercial tenants union in Rhode Island” on Dec. 21.
The Atlantic Mills Tenants Union was established as an affiliate as a chapter of the Rhode Island Tenants Union, and called for the mill’s current owners, The Howard and Eleanor Brynes Trust, and potential future owners, Robert Berle and Eric Edelman, to “come to the negotiating table in good faith to collectively bargain.”
The union also listed its demands from the owners, which included a 99 year lease term, immediate rent stabilization, and an eviction moratorium that began Dec. 21 and extends until “a collectively bargained agreement can be reached.”
First commercial tenant union in the state! pic.twitter.com/RqNDo3FPYZ
— Olneyville Neighborhood Association (ONA) (@OnaProvidence) December 22, 2024
A response deadline of Dec. 30 was also given.
“The future of Olneyville is at a crossroads,” Olneyville Neighborhood Association Board Chair Cindy Miranda said. “That is why we have taken this historic step and formed the first commercial tenants union in Rhode Island. Our stories, our livelihoods, and our futures are at stake.”
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