As lawmakers and guests made their way to the House floor to hear Gov. Dan McKee outline his vision for a better Rhode Island, progressive advocates filled the State House rotunda early Tuesday night to provide theirs — one calling on McKee and other state leaders to make more commitments toward reducing homelessness.
“We are living in challenging times,” Kevin Simon, director of outreach for the Mathewson Street Church in Providence, told the crowd of 70 people. “This is not the Rhode Island we want, this is not the Rhode Island we hope for.”
It’s the second consecutive year demonstrators have used the governor’s State of the State speech in order to highlight the growing economic disparities and social challenges facing Rhode Islanders through a “People’s State of the State.”
This year, advocates were able to air their grievances from the center of the State House under an agreement reached in a federal lawsuit brought by the ACLU of Rhode Island after the McKee administration barred protesters from the rotunda during his 2025 State of the State.
Activists didn’t dwell on last year’s State House access issues, instead focusing their attention on what to do for homeless Rhode Islanders in the middle of winter. Simon reminded the crowd that volunteers counted at least 2,373 unhoused individuals across the state during the annual Point in Time Count last January. It was a 2.8% decrease from the record high of 2,442 in 2024, but still too high for Simon’s liking.
“That number should be zero,” he said.
Here are the policy changes advocates want to see from state leaders:
More warming centers, even more oversight
The 2025 Point in Time census of Rhode Island’s unhoused population found 618 people were without any shelter across the state — a 15.7% increase over 2024.
Advocates demanded the state to expand the network of emergency warming centers beyond what the $1.7 million grants the state’s Executive Office of Housing allocated to groups last fall to support such spaces, along with increasing the number of seasonal shelter beds.
That included $200,000 given to the Rhode Island State Council of Churches, which used the money toward its newly created No One Dies (NOD) program, where local churches open their doors as overnight warming centers during extreme weather.
The initiative launched Dec. 5, and the State Council of Churches has already spent nearly half of its allocation, said Harrison Tuttle, a warming center coordinator for the organization. In the last several weeks, he said over 400 people have experienced “a new standard of care.”
“It’s been led with compassion and the expertise of some of the best outreach workers in the state,” Tuttle said in an interview.
Though advocates organized by the Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project commended the state for its recent investment, speakers at the protest claimed people staying overnight at some shelters and warming centers have been mistreated. They alleged many spaces lack any place to store belongings, sanitary showers and bathrooms. One speaker told the crowd when she stayed at Crossroads Rhode Island’s emergency shelter in Providence, she had to sleep on a table.
“It was humiliating and uncalled for,” she said.
To ensure quality control across the state’s network, advocates said they want to see the Executive Office of Housing increase inspections and oversight of the warming centers and shelters.
A spokesperson for the office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on advocates’ proposal.
ECHO Villages across Rhode Island
To ensure fewer Rhode Islanders are without shelter, advocates called on the state to construct more rapidly deployable sites like ECHO Village — the community of 45 tiny cabin shelters that opened in February 2025 off Route 146 in Providence.
While quick to assemble, ECHO Village cabins sat empty for over a year as officials struggled to figure out how they fit into the state’s fire and building codes, which had no category for the shelters.
ECHO Village originally had a one-year lease through fall 2025. State officials extended it through the end of September 2026.
To ensure delays never happen again for any similar type of shelter project, lawmakers last year approved legislation that would exempt municipalities from fire and building codes for 180 days, so long as a city or town declares an emergency, to construct temporary shelters.
Continue placing “Housing First”
Advocates say state leaders have insufficiently addressed the root cause of homelessness across the state: a perceived lack of permanent housing for very low-income households.
Permanent supportive housing is a cornerstone of the “Housing First” model, which prioritizes providing immediate housing without preconditions, such as sobriety or treatment programs, to stabilize lives of residents. An estimated 1,500 Rhode Islanders now live in such housing units.
McKee’s “RI 2030″ plan calls for adding 350 more units with services plus 500 deeply subsidized units by 2030.
“We can’t wait until 2030 — we need to be looking at ways to solve this now before we start to lose more friends,” Simon said. “So many Rhode Islanders are one medical emergency or paycheck away from being homeless.”
But there’s a big question mark over just how many units can be added as the Trump administration fights to shift more federal funding to programs that tie housing to accountability.
A group of democratic-led states, along with another coalition of communities and homeless care providers, sought a preliminary injunction after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development issued a Nov. 13 Notice of Funding Opportunity that would have capped how much of the $3.9 billion grant program could be used for permanent supportive housing at 30%.
That policy is on pause after a federal judge ordered HUD to keep its “Housing First” approach for now as lawsuits filed against the Trump administration by the Rhode Island Council of Churches and a coalition of blue states continue to play out. However, HUD’s revised funding notice released Jan. 8 stated it would go back to its original 30% funding cap if the Trump administration wins the legal battle.
End alleged police harassment
Exacerbating the homelessness crisis, at least in Providence, advocates say is the “misguided” policy of allowing police to continue to raid homeless encampments.
The Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project gathered outside the capital city’s Public Safety Complex last February to protest incidents between police and homeless individuals reported at the Mathewson Street Church.
At the time, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley’s office said the city was “deeply committed to addressing homelessness through a comprehensive, collaborative approach.” Since then, there have been fewer incidents outside the church, Simon said. But issues still persist elsewhere in Providence.
Danny Griffiths, who has been unhoused for most of the past 20 years, claimed he was jumped by three police officers in August 2025.
“I got assaulted,” he said. “They didn’t ask me my name, didn’t ask me nothing.”
Griffiths is now recovering from drug addiction and said he’s still stopped by police even as he’s started to get back on his feet. He wants problem officers to be held accountable.
“We can do great things, all we need is a nudge,” Griffiths told the crowd.
Anthony Vega, a spokesperson for Smiley’s office said in an emailed statement Tuesday that “the city has a process when an encampment is reported by a member of the public or another entity. “This involves a multi-department approach of which Providence Police are one piece.”
“Many encampments are addressed through the work of outreach partners prior to engagement from city departments,” Vega added. “This approach follows all city and state laws and national best practices.”
Advocates demanded that the state, particularly the Rhode Island Office of Attorney General, end the “unconstitutional actions.”
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha’s office did not immediately respond to request for comment Tuesday night.
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
