The long-awaited 45 shelter beds at ECHO Village, Rhode Island’s first pallet shelter community, will soon be available to the state’s rapidly growing homeless population, according to testimony from Rhode Island Housing Secretary Deborah Goddard at a senate hearing on Tuesday afternoon.
“I’ve not given a date in the past because we’ve disappointed so many people,” Goddard said. “But I would say probably [in] three to four weeks we will be opening.”
The temporary housing was expected to open last spring but has faced delays.
Goddard said Rhode Islanders can expect to see homeless people living in the pallet shelters before the end of February.
“I’m quite confident we’ll beat that,” she said.
Goddard answered questions about ECHO Village and other issues at a special joint hearing of the Rhode Island Senate’s Oversight and Housing committees on Tuesday afternoon. The hearing followed pressure from lawmakers across government levels for Gov. Dan McKee to declare a state of emergency in response to the growing homelessness crisis.
This story was reported by The Public’s Radio. You can read the entire story here.
