PROVIDENCE – The 45-unit pallet-shelter community to temporarily house some of Rhode Island’s homeless population will finally open Feb. 11 after regulatory issues plagued the project for much of the last year, the R.I. Department of Housing announced Tuesday.
State, municipal and housing officials will mark next week the opening of Echo Village on Victor Street in the city, adjacent to Route 146 and occupying state-owned land. The R.I. Department of Housing
first introduced the multimillion plan back in November 2024 to construct the shelters to address both the state’s housing and homeless crises.
Local nonprofit House of Hope Community Development Corp. will help operate Echo Village, including having 24-hour staffing and on-site services.
However, the shelter community was supposed to open last March and the village’s opening has been delayed several times. Officials
told the R.I. Senate Oversight Committee and Committee on Housing & Municipal Government that the delays were partly because of the state’s fire and building codes.
R.I. Fire Marshal Tim McLaughlin reportedly told a legislative committee back in December that it was difficult to determine which part of the state’s fire code applied to pallet shelters. The delays also
drew criticism from Providence Mayor Brett P. Smiley back in December, as well as expressed worry about extreme winter cold impacting the unsheltered homeless.
Plus, the project’s original $3.3 million budget also incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional expenses.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on X at @James_Bessette.
Only in Rhode Island would a small pallet used as a temporary sleeping shelter cost $73,333.00 each!
How was this project not fully vetted?
Why was it allowed to go on for so long?
Where is the accountability?
Where is the outrage?