At long last, Providence pallet shelters are finally ready to open
House of Hope Executive Director Laura Jaworski speaks at the opening ceremony for ECHO Village on Feb. 11, 2025. Seated left to right are Gov. Dan McKee, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley, and Acting Housing Secretary Deborah Goddard. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
The long-awaited opening of Rhode Island's first community of temporary homeless shelters was heralded with the brass and drums of a marching band Tuesday as a crowd of 200 homeless service advocates and politicians gathered at ECHO Village.
Extraordinary Rendition Band, a protest marching band based in Providence, ushered in the celebration a day before the first group of residents was expected to move into the cabins arranged on a 4-acre site on Victor Street near Route 146. There are 45 cabins in all, each measuring 70 square feet.
'Today we are officially adding this to the portfolio of options for Rhode Island's homeless community,' Gov. Dan McKee told the crowd.
When the project was officially announced in January 2024, the opening date was supposed to open by the end of the first quarter. Its original price tag was $3.3 million, with funding coming from State Fiscal Recovery Funds and Community Development Block Grants, as well the city of Providence. But addressing regulatory gaps in the state fire code delayed the work for a year and ultimately pushed the project over budget by $1.3 million.
Laura Jaworski, executive director of House of Hope, called ECHO Village's long-awaited opening a bittersweet moment.
'It's really a strange place to be to want to mark the opening of a shelter,' Jaworski said. 'We felt it was really important because there was a lot of hard work that has gone into this project to get us to where we are today — I quite honestly believed we would never make it.'
House of Hope is a Warwick-based community nonprofit that will manage the village and connect residents with supportive services including housing and benefits application assistance, job training, substance use recovery and mental health services.
Each cabin has enough space to accommodate a twin bed, night stand, and shelves. They are also equipped with climate control, fire and carbon monoxide detectors, extinguishers, a locking door, and two windows.
The pallet shelter village also has a community room, along with ADA-approved combination bathroom/shower facilities and a laundry room. House of Hope staff will work out of four office structures.
Residents can begin to move in starting Wednesday, Jaworksi told reporters after the ceremony. Move-ins will be in waves, with groups of 10-15 people moving over the next three weeks.
Individuals and couples will be selected to live at the site through the state's Coordinated Entry System — a calling system designed to ensure people experiencing housing insecurity have 'fair and equal access' to shelter. Jawroski told Rhode Island Current that priority will be given to people who have been living on the streets for the longest time.
The expected length of the stay for residents is expected to last around nine months, but could vary depending on each individual's health and other circumstances and whether there is a more permanent place for them to stay, Jaworski said. Four case workers will be on site from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
'It's gonna be an individualized process because of the state of the housing crisis here in Rhode Island,' she said.
Pallet shelters are shown amid the snow on a lot located off Victor Street in Providence on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. The shelters can expect their first occupants beginning Feb. 12. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current) Shelving inside a pallet shelter in ECHO Village. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current) Each ECHO Village cabin is outfitted with a twin bed and end table. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current) Gov. Dan McKee surrounded by reporters after the opening ceremony for ECHO Village on Feb. 11, 2025. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current) A smoke detector and sprinkler installed inside one of the ECHO Village cabins. Meeting the state's fire code was one of many factors officials blamed for the delayed opening of Rhode Island's first pallet shelter community. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current) Resident of ECHO Village will receive a 'wellness pac' in their cabins to provide hygiene supplies. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current) A trio of pallet shelters seen along the snow. The 70-square foot cabins can house one person per unit, though a couple can share a space. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current) ECHO Village has one laundry station on site.(Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current) Snow had been shoveled away from the front entrances to the ECHO Village pallet shelters on the day of the opening ceremony on Feb. 11, 2025. (Photo by Christopher Shea) The 70-square foot pallet shelters in ECHO Village are located near a Route 146 offramp in Providence. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current) ECHO Village Unit 11 is shown. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current) Six pallet shelters are shown on the day of the opening of ECHO Village on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
Pallet shelters are shown amid the snow on a lot located off Victor Street in Providence on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. The shelters can expect their first occupants beginning Feb. 12. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
Shelving inside a pallet shelter in ECHO Village. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
Each ECHO Village cabin is outfitted with a twin bed and end table. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
Gov. Dan McKee surrounded by reporters after the opening ceremony for ECHO Village on Feb. 11, 2025. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
A smoke detector and sprinkler installed inside one of the ECHO Village cabins. Meeting the state's fire code was one of many factors officials blamed for the delayed opening of Rhode Island's first pallet shelter community. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
Resident of ECHO Village will receive a 'wellness pac' in their cabins to provide hygiene supplies. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
A trio of pallet shelters seen along the snow. The 70-square foot cabins can house one person per unit, though a couple can share a space. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
ECHO Village has one laundry station on site.(Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
Snow had been shoveled away from the front entrances to the ECHO Village pallet shelters on the day of the opening ceremony on Feb. 11, 2025. (Photo by Christopher Shea)
The 70-square foot pallet shelters in ECHO Village are located near a Route 146 offramp in Providence. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
ECHO Village Unit 11 is shown. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
Six pallet shelters are shown on the day of the opening of ECHO Village on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
House of Hope first began pushing for using pallet shelters during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pallet shelters are easily set up to provide emergency shelter for homeless people. Forty-five cabins manufactured by Pallet, a public benefit corporation based in Everett, Washington, were shipped and assembled last February. They sat empty as officials struggled to figure out how the cabins fit into the state's fire and building codes, which had no category for pallet shelters. Officials also couldn't treat them like campsites or dormitories.
The gaps in state regulations prompted House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi to introduce legislation in January that creates a new type of emergency shelter under the state's building code called Supportive and Versatile Emergency (SAVE) units.
Shekarchi's bill, which had its first committee hearing Feb. 4, would allow municipalities to be exempt from the normal fire and building codes for 180 days, so long as a city or town declares an emergency.
McKee said he would sign the bill should it clear the General Assembly, though he told Rhode Island Current that as of Tuesday morning he had yet to read the legislation
'I know the speaker pretty well, he's not going to be asking for something that's unsafe,' McKeesaid.
Speaking to reporters, the governor said his administration plans to regroup and fully assess what caused ECHO Village's delays to ensure similar projects aren't held up in the future.
'We're a few months behind where we wanted to be, but looking forward you have multiple years of helping people,' McKee said.
Help alleviating homelessness, especially during winter months, can't come soon enough, Shekarchi said. He cited the case of Rico Timez Ramy, 48, an unhoused person who, according to the editor of the website Street Sights, regularly slept outside in the Smith Hill neighborhood and reportedly froze to death in January.
'And there are probably others we don't know about,' Shekarchi said. 'We need to do more and we need to do it better.'
The Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness conducted its annual Point-In-Time count for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Jan. 28, but results aren't expected to be released until some time in the summer. At least 2,442 unhoused people across Rhode Island were counted when volunteers conducted an annual survey in late January 2024 — up 35% over the 2023 count.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Politico
2 hours ago
- Politico
Two House Republicans issue megabill threats as Senate ponders changes - Live Updates
Two House Republicans drew firm red lines Friday on changes to the House GOP megabill, threatening to vote 'no' if the Senate made any changes whatsoever to key provisions. Rep. Nick LaLota of New York warned GOP senators against lowering the House's $40,000 cap on the state-and-local-tax deduction, while Rep. Chip Roy of Texas vowed to oppose any attempt to delay or otherwise water down the phaseout of clean-energy tax credits provided for in the House-passed megabill. 'If the Senate waters it down by a dollar, I'm a no,' LaLota posted on X, arguing that the SALT cap as it stands is 'unfair' to his constituents. Roy was equally strict about GOP senators' hesitations on quickly phasing out clean-energy tax credits signed into law under former President Joe Biden — even calling out skeptical Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) by name in a floor speech Friday. Tillis has been critical of the phaseouts, saying the House bill is 'void of any understanding of just how these supply chains work.' 'You backslide one inch on those IRA subsidies and I'm voting against this bill,' Roy said. 'Because those god-forsaken subsidies are killing our energy, killing our grid, making us weaker, destroying our landscape, undermining our freedom. I'm not going to have it.'
Boston Globe
2 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Healey touts state tuition savings, criticizes federal cuts to Pell Grants
Overall, MASSGrant Plus Expansion program saved more than 34,000 Massachusetts students an estimated $110 million in the 2023-2024 academic year, the statement said. More than 7,730 middle income students saved an average of $3,856 each, according to data from the state Department of Higher Education, the statement said. Advertisement In the same statement, Healey urged the US Senate to reject Pell Grant cuts included in the federal budget reconciliation bill recently passed by Republicans in the U.S. House and supported by President Trump. The proposed cuts and eligibility restrictions would results in 42,000 Massachusetts students at public institutions losing $57 million in funding each year, according to Healey's statement said. 'Massachusetts is home to the best schools in the country, but we need to make sure that they are affordable for all of our students,' Healey's statement said. 'That's why I took action to increase financial aid at our public colleges and universities, which has already lowered costs for tens of thousands of students.' The drastic cuts proposed to the Pell Grant program would 'roll back the progress we have made and increase costs,' Healey said. Advertisement 'This is bad for our students and bad for our economy, as it would hold back our next generation of workers from being able to afford to go to school,' she said. Healey announced $62 million in new state funding to expand the MASSGrant program during a ceremony at Salem State University in November 2023. The new funding covered the full costs of tuition and mandatory instructional fees for Pell Grant-eligible students, and as much as half for middle-income students. Middle-income students are those whose families earn between $73,000 and $100,000 annually in adjusted gross income. The program was retroactive to the start of the fall 2023 semester for Massachusetts students at the states public institutions, including its 15 community colleges, nine state universities, and four University of Massachusetts undergraduate campuses. Funding for the expansion of the program also drew on $84 million Healey and the legislature had set earmarked for financial aid expansion in the FY24 budget, Healey's office said at the time. 'The dramatic enrollment increases our community colleges have seen over the last two years make it clear that free community college and expanded financial aid is a game changer for students in Massachusetts,' Luis Pedraja, chair of the Community College Council of Presidents, and president of Quinsigamond Community College said in the statement. 'The proposed Pell eligibility changes would be devastating to our students' ability to afford higher education and the community college presidents in Massachusetts urge the Senate to reject this ill-advised change,' Pedraja said. Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler said he feared the impacts proposed cuts could have on students who struggle to afford college. Advertisement 'Low-income students deserve to go to college just as much as their higher income peers, and these changes are going to take us backwards – increasing dropout rates and leaving students saddled with more debt and no degree," Tutwiler said in the statement. Tonya Alanez can be reached at
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Deadly Russian bombardment of Ukraine further dampens hopes for peace
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia struck Ukraine with a thunderous aerial bombardment overnight, further dampening hopes that the warring sides could reach a peace deal anytime soon days after Kyiv embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprising drone attack on military airfields deep inside Russia. The barrage was one of the fiercest of the three-year war, lasting several hours, striking six Ukrainian territories, and killing at least six people and injuring about 80 others, Ukrainian officials said Friday. Among the dead were three emergency responders in Kyiv, one person in Lutsk and two people in Chernihiv. The attack came after U.S. President Donald Trump said his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, told him Moscow would respond to Ukraine's attack Sunday on Russian military airfields. It was also hours after Trump said it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia 'fight for a while' before pulling them apart and pursuing peace. Trump's comments were a remarkable detour from his often-stated appeals to stop the war and signaled he may be giving up on recent peace efforts. Ukrainian cities have come under regular bombardment since Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022. The attacks have killed more than 12,000 civilians, according to the United Nations. 'Russia doesn`t change its stripes,' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The war has continued unabated even as a U.S.-led diplomatic push for a settlement has brought two rounds of direct peace talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine. The negotiations delivered no significant breakthroughs, however, and the sides remain far apart on their terms for an end to the fighting. Ukraine has offered an unconditional 30-day ceasefire and a meeting between Zelenskyy and Russian leader Vladimir Putin to break the deadlock. But the Kremlin has effectively rejected a truce and hasn't budged from its demands. 'The Kremlin continues efforts to falsely portray Russia as willing to engage in good-faith negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, despite Russia's repeated refusal to offer any concessions,' the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said late Thursday. Further peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are expected in coming weeks, as is another exchange of prisoners of war. The attack involved 407 Russian drones and 44 ballistic and cruise missiles, Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said. Ukrainian forces said they shot down about 30 of the cruise missiles and up to 200 of the drones. The Kyiv emergency workers were killed while responding to the strikes. 'They were working under fire to help people,' the Interior Ministry said in a statement. Russia's Defense Ministry said it aimed at Ukrainian military targets with 'long-range precision weapons' and successfully struck arms depots, drone factories and repair facilities, among other targets. But fitting a pattern for Russian attacks throughout the war, Friday's bombardment also struck apartment buildings and other non-military targets, Associated Press reporters observed. In Kyiv, explosions were heard for hours as falling drone debris sparked fires across several districts, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Administration. He urged people to seek shelter. Vitalina Vasylchenko, a 14-year-old Kyiv resident, sheltered in a parking garage with her 6-year-old sister and their mother after an explosion blew one of their windows off its hinges. 'I heard a buzzing sound, then my dad ran to me and covered me with his hand,' she said. 'Then there was a very loud explosion. My whole life flashed before my eyes — I already thought that was it. I started having a panic attack. ... I'm shocked that I'm alive.' In Kyiv's Solomyanskyi district, a fire broke out on the 11th floor of a 16-story apartment building. Emergency services evacuated three people from the burning unit. The attack caused a blackout in some areas, and more than 2,000 households on Kyiv's eastern bank were without power, city officials said. Elsewhere, 10 people were injured by an aerial attack on the western city of Ternopil, regional governor Viacheslav Nehoda said. The strike damaged industrial and infrastructure facilities, left parts of the city without electricity, and disrupted water supplies. Russia also targeted the western Lviv and Khmelnytskyi regions, the northern Chernihiv region, and the central Poltava region, where at least three people were injured. In Russia, air defenses shot down 10 Ukrainian drones heading toward the capital early Friday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. As a precaution, flights at Moscow airports were temporarily suspended overnight Thursday into Friday and then again late Friday afternoon. Ukrainian drones also targeted three other regions of Russia, authorities said, damaging apartment buildings and industrial plants. Three people were injured, officials said. Russia's Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 174 Ukrainian drones over 13 regions early Friday. It added that three Ukrainian Neptune missiles were also shot down over the Black Sea. Ukraine struck airfields and other military targets in Russia, such as fuel storage tanks and transport hubs, the Ukrainian General Staff said. Also, a locomotive derailed early Friday in the Belgorod region after the track was blown up, Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said. Russia has recently accused Ukraine of sabotaging the rail network.
