“Hey Dan, how’s the homeless in Cumberland doing?”
The ice breaking but mildly facetious question came from an acquaintance across tables at a local restaurant.
He smiled and said, “I’m just busting you. I was listening to you on the radio today, lots of homeless talk.”
He offered his theory about how impossible it is to help this “population,” made up of mostly drug addicts and those with mental health challenges. And, that so many really don’t want any help.
I sighed while expressing doubt that anybody wants to freeze to death.
When agreement came on that, we moved on to more comfortable small talk.
But it was true. Talk radio had been dominated by the homeless topic for many days since a group of those who had set up a tent community at the Statehouse had gathered to protest outside the governor’s office demanding to hold him accountable for what they say was his promise for beds for anyone needing them by a deadline of Thanksgiving. Gov. McKee was out of town that day, recharging after a long campaign season. They left frustrated, but they got their news coverage.
While wisely avoiding a public debate on who promised what, the governor and his staff have worked for solutions behind the scenes during his break and then his return.
He has added to the existing infrastructure of homeless shelters a hotel in Warwick for some 50 emergency beds, and is close to bringing the empty Cranston Street Armory online for 50 more.
Unfortunately, the numbers of shelterless people, those sleeping in tents, cars and heaven-knows-where-else have about doubled each of the last four years. Exact consensus on the total is difficult, but the Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness puts the current number at about 450.
It’s been a complicated problem for a long time.
There’s the COVID fallout and now making it worse is the exploded rental market hovering near and above $2,000 per month even in not so fancy neighborhoods. Evictions are running at a record pace and even an impressive coordinated entry system set up for emergency shelter by the coalition can’t possibly keep up.
It is the immediate and apparently exclusive charge of the McKee administration to secure more permanent structures, meaning suitable and convertible empty buildings, for the cyclical and critical homeless cold season. Ideas have been floated from advocates to acquire pallet shelters, which are movable two-bed mini houses assembled in a temporary village. The trick is location. Some momentum had been built to try at the state-owned Pastore Center grounds in Cranston. But local officials there put up a big stink, saying with the largest state shelter, the Harrington House, their citizens had put up with enough.
Mid and long-term goals revolve around more permanent housing around the state. Communities, especially affluent ones, are chronically underperforming under statutory state mandates for a percentage of “affordable” homes.
The immediate crisis will likely require a return to more federal and state funded hotel vouchers this winter season. It’s an expensive answer and leaves nothing tangible to show for the money.
One thing is for sure: Homeless folks and their advocates need to rethink showing the governor up by crowding his hallway and intimidating the kids at his Christmas tree lighting ceremony.
Governmentally, he’s all they have, because the guy in the restaurant is typical of the almost feigned constituent empathy found from town to town represented by municipal pols who clearly read the tea leaves.
They both would rather tune out the radio than raise their hands to help and open their backyards.
Dan Yorke is the PM Drive Host on 99.7/AM 630 WPRO, Dan Yorke State of Mind weekends on Fox Providence/WPRI 12 and owns communications/crisis consulting firm DYCOMM LLC.
(34) comments
LA Times Poll: 65% of Americans oppose Biden's 'Catch & Release' into the US for border crosses, illegal immigrants.
Yet Democrats push forward with putting the interests of non-Americans first.
So what is you solution?
We'll wait.....
Trump’s 2017 Executive Order 13768 (Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States). Biden revoked it on January 20th, when he took office.
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/01/30/2017-02102/enhancing-public-safety-in-the-interior-of-the-united-states
He will just share more conspiracies he saw on Tucker and Facebook. Remember, 100% of diners want all restaurants to be free lol
In 2004, the state's General Assembly passed guidelines for affordable housing. All municipalities need to have at least 10% affordable housing. Lincoln is under that number (6.71%) and Cumberland is also below it at 6.00%, even 18 years later. Why? We need to do better. I've written to my Town Council about it and haven't gotten a response.
For anyone with questions about affordable housing, here is a great resource, the HousingWorksRI Fact Book: http://www.housingworksri.org/Portals/0/Uploads/Documents/HWRI_HFB21.pdf
I admit I helped derail the topic here so, to answer the writer's question. Yes we should always view homelessness with empathy. We should always view every social problem with empathy and compassion. Unfortunately both are in short supply nowadays.
Sometimes true love and empathy requires recognition of all of the root causes, and solutions that address those areas. Simply throwing more money at the problem is short term thinking which only makes people feel better.
just apply to be a citizen legally and go through the proper channels.
Sleepy Joe is the worst President ever. He keeps giving money to Ukraine and now Africa? The left is ruining this once great country. Even the water carrier Newsom now is begging for relief from illegals (right after the election)
DeSantis will fix in a few years. Make America Great Again!!
I hope your prediction goes the same way as your user name. How many more of DeSantis’ donors goes into a truck by the beach?
huh?
Not to mention when SBF spills his weirdo guts on his donations to the left and all the corruption in sleepy joe's family. Convenient arrest by the way sleepy joe, the day before he testifies, hope he doesn't get the Hillary visit
SBF donated to both sides, so who knows what he can tell tales about. If any Democrat was involved in illegal activities they should be arrested and charged. It is odd how FL Republicans are getting scooped up and donors are committing a selfish permanent solution, however. What is going on down there?
Derrick,
He might have donated to both sides with his fraud but if you put on paper the amounts it would be staggeringly one sided to the left. The only Republicans he supported were ones he wanted to prop up because Dema thought they were the weaker candidate. He’s a thief who should go to jail for a long time
“Let everyone in” is a phrase that can only be written by someone who does not have clue one about US immigration policy or enforcement. And who has yet to provide any evidence of how immigration affects homelessness.
So now you are parsing words. Go figure.
You know who's using those illegal drugs, RedWave? Guarantee it's not the Guatemalan who mows your lawn, it's white kids from Attleboro.
That was racist.
Wow, Mr. Keep-the-dang-furriners-out has thoughts on racism. That's rich.
I have a great idea...
Let's open our borders and saturate our communities and labor force with global poverty and illegal drugs.
That will help, right?
Of course, Bob, immigration and homelessness are issues that have nothing to do with each other - I'm sure you know that, but are more interested in talking points than solutions.
If the illegal drugs flooding our open borders cause said individuals to become homeless then they are intertwined.
Then again, a major cause is wealth hoarding, housing prices out of control, a lack of free education/food/medical care, and of course overall apathy of Americans who view it as 'not my problem' despite being a 'Christian Nation'. If Jesus was President would he build a wall?
I am very interested in hearing exactly how Bob and RedWave have been negatively impacted by open borders thousands of miles away, and if they were surprised to learn the biggest fake pill bust in US history was a white kid living right here in RI doing his business in a local community?
How we are impacted on a personal basis is irrelevant, but if you reread the column, you might get some clues. For starters, when you don't secure our border and let everyone in, it increases homelessness and the need for non-stop affordable housing. Duh.
Why would we be surprised by your "biggest fake pill bust" excuse for deadly drugs pouring in from our southern border? You used that deflection (and race baiting) in the past. You lost the detate then too.
But thanks for acknowledging the open border.
You know Bob, you'd be a great modern-day Republican political candidate.
Totally incapable of answering anything without deflection and/or whataboutism while constantly promoting fear through the marginalization of others using alternate facts and pontificating word salad.
Always delivered in that smug, good-old bitter racist American Grandpa's air of condescending moral superiority. You must be areal joy to be around at parties and family gatherings.
All Bob does is listen to Fox News. He thinks the illegal immigrants coming across the Southern Border are a danger, but it only comes up around election. Bob has routinely tried (and failed) to spread lies he picked up from Facebook on here. It's really sad and should be pitied.
In response to Internet Alias's personal insults and race-baiting comment posted at 9:27am, his comment added no value to this discussion.
It is obvious to most, but apparently not to him.
If we saturate our country with record levels of poor people too quickly, that increases the need for affordable housing (among other problems such as crime) in our communities. This poverty, accompanied by the illegal drugs pouring in, are consequences of our weak border security. Poverty and/or illegal drug use are contributing factors to homelessness.
Trying to deflect elsewhere, or attempting to make this about skin color or your apparent disdain for Americans, only serves as a deflection from the chaos and lawlessness at our border. Discussing this topic may make you uncomfortable, but it certainly doesn't make one a racist, so please spare us that divisive nonsense.
In response to Derrick's 4:58 comment, good try distracting, mischaracterizing me, and making it personal as you always do. I don't subscribe to corporate media or Facebook--Fail. The divisive tactics of Derrick and his alias sidekick are clearly meant to intimidate, and keep good people from expressing opinions and proposing solutions which vary from theirs...they call this "tolerance." We clearly have a homeless problem and a crime problem (predominately in Democrat run cities), and the need for affordable housing continues to expand, and affect more communities across our country. The illegal drug crisis alone took well over 100,000 lives last year. According to federal figures, 60% of US seizures of fentanyl was at the legal port of entry in California. One can only imagine how much more comes across areas of the border that remain unsecured by our sitting president. Calling people names doesn't solve these problems.
Bob, since you have never offered one solution to anything on any Valley Breeze story, it is more than reasonable to believe you've never offered any solution to anything during your entire life.
Your views and everything you have to say are all negative. I don't believe you even care about any of these issues you pontificate about. I believe you merely use politics as the means to diminish others. I'll admit that it was wrong to assume you are a racist and I apologize. You're not racist at all...You hate everyone and are just a contrarian.
Sad.
You can’t admit most drugs come through the ports then craft a fantasy of even more coming thru an open border, Bob. It doesn’t work that way. Most undocumented immigrants are those who overstay their visa. They came here on planes - NOT a caravan you saw on Tucker. This is why there was no red wave. You’re in a bubble.
In response to Alias' 3:30am comment, thanks for sharing such positivity and intellect.
In response to Derrick's 7:01am comment...I never said "most illegal drugs come through the ports." I said "60% of US seizures of fentanyl was at the legal port of entry." They find most of it where they are actively looking for it. We need to secure the border like we secure the ports. Sorry if this is challenging for you.
60% is not a majority? No wonder the red puddle was the Trump Steaks of elections.
read the NY Post today. Mayor is begging Sleepy Joe for money to house the illegals that were bussed to their "sanctuary city". I'm sure many will find their way to Providence in the near future so issue is not thousands of miles away as you hope.
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