For the last two years, OpenDoors has only been able to offer 15 year-round beds in its 1940s Providence rooming house for women and children without a place to stay. But that number will more than quadruple this winter, thanks to a new round of state homelessness response grants.
A total of 49 additional beds will open up starting Dec. 1 to provide temporary relief for OpenDoors clients. The beds are among a total of 281 that will be available through mid-spring 2026 funded by $1.74 million in state grants awarded to municipalities and nonprofit service providers to expand Rhode Island’s network of warming centers and homeless shelters.
“The house is large enough to house more people than we can currently staff it for,” co-Executive Director Nick Horton recently told Rhode Island Current.
Funding will provide the beds in time for winter, according to the Oct. 30 announcement by Gov. Dan McKee.
The grants come from the state’s remaining pandemic relief aid and will support new or expanded seasonal emergency shelters operating between Nov. 1, 2025, through April 30, 2026. To qualify for the funding, shelters were required to be open at least overnight.
A little more than $1.15 million will be divided between OpenDoors and five other organizations. The remaining funds will go to warming centers that will be active during only the most severe or inclement weather.
Receiving the seasonal shelter funding are:
- Community Care Alliance in Woonsocket: $404,178
- Harvest Sanctuary in Woonsocket: $114,022
- Hope in Jesus Ministry in Providence: $100,000
- Multi-Center for All in Providence: $100,000
- OpenDoors in Providence: $167,207
- WARM in Westerly: $264,905
Additionally, the following were awarded funds to manage warming centers:
- Crossroads RI in Providence: $99,801
- Rhode Island Council of Churches: $200,000
- MAE Organization in Cranston: $77,500.00
- The Town of West Warwick: $94,546
- Youth Pride in Providence: $120,707
The Most Rev. Israel Mercedes of the Multi-Center for All confirmed plans to shelter 12 veterans at its Broad Street center in Providence upon renovating the building’s second floor.
The seasonal new beds will operate in addition to Rhode Island’s 1,327 year-round beds funded through a $20 million commitment made by the governor and the Executive Office of Housing in August. That gives the state a little more than 1,600 available shelter beds for Rhode Island’s unhoused population through early spring.
McKee’s administration faced criticism during a polar vortex earlier this year from homeless advocates who urged him to declare a state of emergency to open additional shelter space amid a shortage of emergency beds. But the latest grants show a “continued commitment” to helping Rhode Islanders access emergency shelters as a short-term solution to more stable, long-term housing, McKee’s office said.
“My administration’s priority is keeping our most vulnerable residents safe, especially in the coldest months,” McKee said.
Youth Pride, which provides support for LGBTQ+ youth, initially applied for a $120,707 shelter grant but was unable to meet the requirements for the funding.
“We don’t have capacity for people to sleep,” Logan England, the organization’s director of resources and programming, said in a phone interview.
Instead, Youth Pride will use its funding to manage a warming center at its Westminster Street headquarters in Providence where people ages 18 to 24 can grab a meal, charge their phones, and connect with a case manager who can help refer them to a shelter or other assistance.
England said the plan is to get the center up and running by Dec.1.
“We would have liked to have opened sooner, but having just gotten approved last week we couldn’t even start to order food supplies until the grant was awarded,” he said.
At OpenDoors, Horton said the grant will also allow the nonprofit to hire additional house monitors to ensure help is available around the clock.
“They help man the door, help guests follow rules, make sure there are no people on the property who shouldn’t be there,” he said. “They’re also a friendly shoulder — they do a little bit of everything.”
When OpenDoors’ seasonal beds are ready, Horton said he expects them to fill up quickly.
“Just to be clear, people should not be calling us before Dec. 1,” he said.
Those seeking shelter must now go through the state’s new regional access points, walk-in centers across Rhode Island set up to connect people with housing and other services.
The referral system established Oct. 1 takes over shelter placements previously made through a singular hotline via the state’s Coordinated Entry System (CES) managed by the Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness.
The state’s shelter dashboard notes a total of 1,434 beds available across Rhode Island, with 76 unused as of Monday.
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
