Homeless losing battler for shelter
February 22, 2006
David Casey
Pawtucket (RI) Times staff reporter
PAWTUCKET -- Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy stopped by the New Hope For Families homeless shelter on Barton Street Tuesday to meet with residents and administrators. Kennedy got an earful about the struggles of the homeless and the shelters that struggle to serve them.
It was the congressman’s first visit to the small
family shelter, which was founded by a multi-denominational
church coalition in 1986. In addition to case management and
referral services, New Hope helps unemployed residents find
work and employed residents budget their way to financial
independence.
Despite its eight-family capacity (six shelter apartments and
two transitional apartments) and modest annual operating
budget (about $200,000), the shelter’s director, Sr.
Marta Ines Toro, said the facility was running a deficit and
could not afford to provide supportive services to outgoing
residents.
Making matters worse, said Toro, family-based facilities like
New Hope are too few and far between to accommodate the
record number of homeless families showing up at their
doorsteps.
New Hope is the only dedicated homeless shelter between
Woonsocket and Providence and, because of its limited
capacity and resources, cannot possibly meet local demand.
On any given day, said Toro, the shelter receives around 20
phone calls from interested families, and is forced to turn
away most of them. Last year, the shelter was only able to
serve 41 families. It was not able to provide supportive
services to any of them.
"Currently, we have one full-time social worker and one
part-time social worker, but we’re hoping to do so much
more," said Toro. "Our mission is to provide
‘Support, Growth and Stability,’ but without
continuing services that can’t happen."
Kennedy was accompanied on his tour by Eric Hirsch,
government relations chairman for the Rhode Island Coalition
for the Homeless and a professor of sociology at Providence
College.
Hirsch said there were 1,560 homeless children in Rhode
Island in 2004 - a state record. Although the 2005 numbers
are not yet available, Hirsch said he expects the number of
homeless children will continue to rise.
Hirsch blames the booming housing market for Rhode
Island’s growing housing crisis.
"It’s because of the rents," Hirsch explained.
"The average two-bedroom apartment costs $1,121 with
utilities (according to a 2004 survey by the Rhode Island
Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation). If you’re
making minimum wage, you simply can’t afford to make
ends meet. When the housing market goes up, up and up,
it’s going to generate lots of homelessness,
particularly among families, who require the larger, more
expensive apartments."
Hirsch said state and federal governments have not done
enough to address this issue.
"The state has done almost nothing," said Hirsch.
"We spend between $7 and $8 million dollars a year on
(affordable) housing production, which is far below what the
neighboring states spend. For the last three decades the
federal government has steadily cut housing production funds.
Right now, we are spending one-third as much on housing
production than we did in the ‘70s. So what we have is
increasing demand, decreasing supply and a government that
has refused to step in."
"I think it’s clear that the private market is not
going to solve this problem on its own," he said.
"Right now we have a situation in which the market is
not meeting the housing needs of half of our working
families. You just don’t build affordable housing --
even middle class housing -- without some kind of
subsidy."
Kennedy said the policies of the Bush administration, which
he described as the most anti-middle class administration
since Herbert Hoover’s, were the principle impediments
to a lasting solution.
In every instance, said Kennedy, the government has sided
with what he called Big Energy, Big Insurance, Big
Pharmaceuticals and Big Employers against the working class
family.
"I’m not just talking about high-risk families,
I’m talking about the disappearing middle class,"
said Kennedy.