Homeless crisis is worsening

I remember working along side a real character of a guy. He chain-smoked at every break. There always seemed to be some kind of personal problem at hand. Not necessarily serious, but something would always be troubling him.

But he showed up every day. He worked hard. He was always cordial to me, a college kid just passing through for the summer.

A year or so later, I saw this guy again. For a journalism class I was taking I had to visit a local homeless shelter. They were setting up cots for the night, as I recall. And at some point this familiar face walked in, along with his wife. It took me a minute to place him. But it was the same guy.

I guess his troubles were more serious than I had imagined.

Some 15 years later, the problem of homelessness in Rhode Island has never been more serious. And with each year of economic downturn, it seems to creep just a little bit closer to mainstream America.

According to the Rhode Island Emergency Food and Shelter Board, the state’s emergency shelter system provided more nights of refuge to more people last year than ever before in its history.

The Rhode Island Emergency Food and Shelter Board was founded in 1988 with support from the United Way of Rhode Island. The board issues an annual report on the status of homelessness here.

This year’s numbers are especially sobering.

The 186,187 nights of shelter provided to Rhode Island’s homeless men, women and children from July 1, 2001 to June 30, 2002 was an all-time high and an increase of 6,052 when compared with the previous fiscal year. The percentage of children in the shelter system increased 34 percent from the previous year – 1,260 to 1,692 – nearly double the figure of four years ago. And the estimated number of families seeking shelter increased 17 percent. The number of single women increased 32 percent.

There are a number of reasons for the staggering number of homeless in Rhode Island.

The economy has been brutal. We have seen layoffs at companies representing a wide range of industries. We have watched as our unemployment rate has consistently inched upward. At the same time, homes and apartments have never been more expensive.

“It has been a combination of a housing market that hasn’t cooled off – and a job market that has,” said Eric Hirsch, a professor of sociology at Providence College who conducted the study.

Hirsch points out that there are a vast number of people out there who are under-employed. They may work 15 or 20 hours per week, when in fact their monthly bills demand a full-time paycheck.

Noreen Shawcross, executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, points out that the median income for Rhode Islanders looking to rent an apartment or home is just over $24,000 per year. Available two-bedroom apartments command on average more than $900 per month.

That adds up to an income of roughly $36,000, which doesn’t add up at all for those struggling along the poverty line.

“This report and the emergency that we are currently experiencing due to the cold weather points to a lack of affordable housing as a crisis that needs to be addressed,” said David McCreadie, chairman of the Food and Shelter Board and executive director of the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

It is a vicious circle and McCreadie is right about the cold. The situation is all the more vicious during a harsh winter when the temperatures at night hover in the single digits.

Dennis Murphy, president of the United Way of Rhode Island, said that unfortunately, the numbers in Hirsch’s report did not surprise him.

“There’s a changing face here, too,” said Murphy. “The number of kids is really scary. And there is a substantial number of these people who are getting up every morning and go to work or go to school.”

That’s what struck me as especially alarming. That even people with jobs were being priced out of a place to call home.

Hirsch broke the numbers down even further for me. Of the single men who are homeless, 31 percent had income from employment during the past six months. For single women, that figure is 26 percent

“That says that many of our jobs do not pay enough money for people to be able to afford rents,” he said.

The options are limited. They cry out for government to get more involved.

“Government has to step up and subsidize these rents,” said Hirsch. “I know it’s cheaper than having people in emergency shelters.”

Hirsch has met with Gov. Don Carcieri. They talked about the need for affordable housing. Hirsch came away impressed.

“He definitely gets it,” said Hirsch.

Carcieri does get it. And he knows that the cost of government operations here in Rhode Island has gotten out of hand. He also knows that people need training so that they can make themselves qualified for better-paying jobs.

It’s an enormous problem. But it has to be addressed. Because it’s getting worse, not better. And it’s affecting more people than we think.