To tackle Rhode Island’s rise in homelessness, Governor McKee proposes $16.6m for one-time fund – The Boston Globe

Joseph Codega Jr., a budget officer with the state’s Office of Management & Budget estimated this tax could generate approximately $2.5 million in fiscal year 2025 and $5 million the following year, according to a memorandum sent to the House and Senate Finance Committees on Monday, which was obtained by the Globe.

“My administration is committed to improving the housing outlook for Rhode Islanders — whether they are experiencing housing insecurity, seeking rentals that families can afford or working toward first-time home ownership,” McKee said in a statement.

The budget amendments were considered welcome news by leaders at the Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness.

“As the number of Rhode Islanders needing shelter, housing, and Housing Problem Solving grows, funding must also increase to support the need,” said Juan Espinoza, the development manager for the Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness.

The news comes as providers and advocates for the homeless are expected to gather at the Rhode Island State House on Tuesday to press state officials and lawmakers to steer $30 million to fund Rhode Island’s homeless response system at the current level.

Simultaneously, approximately 346 winter shelter beds that were funded last fall were expected to be phased out or closed at the end of April when the state’s contracts with several providers were expected to expire. Closing those beds could increase the state’s homeless population and create an additional strain on the state’s “homeless response system, healthcare system, emergency response system, city and town services and other systems,” said Espinoza.

The state’s Housing Department said many of these shelters will receive extensions for the next several months.

In response to questions posed by the Globe, Housing Department spokeswoman Emily Marshall said only 47 shelter beds will close at the end of April. Funding for additional seasonal beds at Providence’s Emmanuel House is being extended through September, while 30 seasonal beds by Westerly Area Rest Meals (WARM) for families in Kingston is being extended through July, she said.

Contracts for a 120-bed program in Warwick run by Open Doors and a 30-bed program by Tri-county Community Action’s Family Shelter in Burrillville are being extended through September, said Marshall.

The state was able to increase seasonal shelter beds by 32 percent compared to last year by leveraging multiple state, federal, and municipal funding sources, said Marshall.

“While federal funding for these efforts was temporarily increased in the wake of the COVID-19 emergency, the fact remains that this one-time federal funding will not be available in the future,” she said. “As the governor has indicated, it is important to identify new recurring funding sources that can help address our housing and homelessness challenges over multiple years — and to partner with municipalities, nonprofits, and advocacy groups to help fund and carry out this work moving forward.”

Data collected by the state’s Homeless Management Information System showed 529 Rhode Islanders experienced unsheltered homelessness at the beginning of April 2024, which is a 645 percent increase in unsheltered homelessness since January 2019.

Even with the new budget amendments that direct funding to tackle the shelter shortage, “there are still over 500 people outside with the existing resources in place.”

The one-time $16.6 million commitment from the governor’s office “is half of what is required to level-fund existing resources,” said Espinoza, who added that providers and advocates will push for a larger, permanent funding stream for the rest of the year, and for 2025.

“These extensions are suitable for the short term, but in the long term, we need to address the root cause of the growing number of people in need,” said Espinoza.

Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com. Follow her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.