Needs for the Homeless Rise in Rhode Island

Rhode Island’s high unemployment rate has led to a sharp increase in the number of people seeking temporary housing, but the state’s homeless shelters face a hard time keeping up due to cutbacks in state funds.

Rhode Island’s unemployment rate hit a high-water mark of 11.8 percent last winter, above the national average. The rate in January fell to 11.3 percent, but it still marked the 23^rd consecutive month that the state has weathered a double-digit jobless rate.

About 4,200 people stayed at least one night in homeless shelters around the state in 2010, up 20 percent from the 3,500 a year earlier, said Jim Ryczek, executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, an advocacy and membership organization.

Women are the fastest-growing part of the homeless population, according to a new report by Crossroads Rhode Island, a social-services nonprofit.

In an eight-year period ending in 2008, the number of single homeless women jumped 65 percent, from 665 to nearly 1,100. The number of single homeless men climbed by 5 percent, the report said.

Crossroads opened a shelter just for women three years ago, and its 40 beds have been filled each night, said Anne Nolan, Crossroads’ president. “We have between 10 and 20 women sleeping on mats on the floor every night.”

During that same three years, Crossroads lost about $500,000 in aid, most in state legislative grants, Ms. Nolan said. “I don’t see that getting better,’’ she said. “My fear is that we’ll have further cuts.’’

The homelessness coalition tried to prepare for the growing demand last fall after it found through a survey that residents needed 280 more temporary beds, enough for eight shelters. A state task force raised $175,000, mostly through private donations and a foundation gift, to helped pay for six of the shelters. Several churches supplied mats on the floor, while one police officer convinced a motel to rent rooms to a shelter for a reduced price.

Groups that work with the homeless are trying to find permanent housing solutions quickly. A thorny problem, says Eric Hirsch, a sociology professor at Providence College, has been finding apartments that are affordable for people living on government assistance.

“We’re trying to move as many people as possible into permanent housing,’’ said Mr. Hirsch, who collects data on the state’s homeless population. “A lot of the seasonable shelters are going to be closing in early April.”

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