Latest news with #HousingWorksRI
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Annual survey wants to know how you feel about life and well-being in Rhode Island
The Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island headquarters in Providence. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current) Rhode Islanders are once again being asked to share how they feel about life in the Ocean State in this year's RI Life Index survey. The collaboration between Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and the Brown University School of Public Health is now in its seventh year of tracking residents' views on social and economic factors that influence health, including housing, food security, job opportunities, education, child care and the cost of living. Respondents are selected randomly and contacted primarily by phone or text message, with some respondents also reached online. Surveys started in March and will run through the end of spring, with results expected to be released in fall. The Siena College Research Institute administers the surveys. The anonymous surveys were first conducted in 2019 with the goal of aggregating data over time and from diverse communities about how people perceive quality of life in Rhode Island. Since 2020, the survey has placed special focus on social factors of health among Rhode Island's Black and Latino populations. The findings help inform and guide a 14-member coalition of local organizations and public health agencies to provide 'thought leadership on viable solutions to the challenges identified' in the survey data, according to the index's website. Among the coalition members are AARP Rhode Island, HousingWorks RI, Rhode Island KIDS COUNT, the Economic Progress Institute, and the Rhode Island Department of Health. Past survey data has been used in publications by coalition members, like the HousingWorks RI Housing Fact Book and the Rhode Island Community Food Bank's '2024 Status Report on Hunger in Rhode Island.' Blue Cross also uses the data to steer its philanthropic initiatives. Respondents are asked questions about their communities and the likelihood of specific experiences within their communities, as well as their direct experiences with housing and food security. Responses are graded on a 100-point scale dubbed the 'POP' score, or 'percent of the possible' — a measure of how close respondents believe their community is to an ideal, healthy environment. The overall, statewide POP score in the 2024 survey was 57. The 2024 survey included 1,946 respondents, with an oversample of Black and Latino Rhode Islanders. Last year's data also saw improvements in perceptions about access to health care among Black and Latino residents. People living in the four 'core' cities of Central Falls, Pawtucket, Providence, and Woonsocket rated health care, community life, and programming and services for children more positively than in the previous year. Scores for Latino residents rebounded to 2020-2022 levels in all categories except quality of community, cost of living and food security. Past survey results and more info on methodology are available at the RI Life Index website. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Shekarchi unveils package of bills to boost housing in Rhode Island
House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, right, looks over the House Lounge ahead of a press conference unveiling the chamber's proposed package of legislation to tackle Rhode Island's housing crisis on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. On the phone is Larry Berman, communications director for the House Speaker. At left is Deputy Director of Communications Emily Martineau. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current) After introducing a record 15 housing bills last year to address Rhode Island's housing shortage, State House lawmakers are taking a more modest approach to encourage new home construction: only a dozen bills. House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi unveiled the chamber's latest legislative package at a State House press conference Thursday afternoon — the very last day state lawmakers could introduce a bill without having to give the chamber advance notice. 'This is the fifth consecutive year that I have announced a package on housing legislation,' Shekarchi, a Warwick Democrat, said. 'We've made historic investments, hundreds of millions of dollars, and we've made incredible progress — and yet here we are.' Shekarchi said most Rhode Island families still can't afford homes — namely because there aren't enough homes. And existing home prices are out of reach for many. In an October 2024 report from the Rhode Island Department of Housing 41% of renters said they would like to buy a home, but couldn't. Of those, 75% said they could not find homes in their target price range. The average home price in Rhode Island last year was $425,000, according to HousingWorksRI. To afford that, a family would need an annual income of $143,687. The median household income is $74,489, according to the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training. So what can the state do to reduce those costs? Encourage more construction, Shekarchi said. One bill sponsored by Shekarchi would expand electronic permitting to include applications from developers to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council, and the Rhode Island Department of Transportation. Another bill from the speaker would amend the state's building code by centralizing duties of the various state officials, commissions and boards related to building and fire code permitting. 15,000 new homes in five years? R.I. housing officials set ambitious target. The 12 bill-package also includes legislation from other lawmakers that would make it easier to subdivide oversized lots, allow vacant or unused state-owned land to be developed, and encourage municipalities to convert vacant commercial space into homes. Rep. June Speakman, a Warren Democrat who chairs the Special Legislative Commission to Affordable Housing, said the package represents 'more pieces of the puzzle' in addressing the state's ongoing housing crisis. 'When we started this work, the puzzle table was an incoherent mess of pieces,' Speakman said. 'That picture is starting to take shape; it's a good picture.' There is one notable piece keeping the state from completing that puzzle: ensuring each of Rhode Island's 39 municipalities are on board with the state's plan. Shekarchi stressed that each bill is meant only to encourage development, not mandate it. 'Those decisions remain and should be made on a local level,' he said. Some towns have been more enthusiastic than others. To get those naysayers on board, Shekarchi said there needs to be a shift in attitude about affordable housing — something he said can be achieved by partnering with the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns. League Director Randy Rossi said the organization would be reviewing each of the bills and supports any proposals that enable municipalities to reform local zoning and land use laws rather than a blanket mandate from the state. 'We recognize that housing is a barrier for Rhode Islanders across the economic spectrum and has an impact on economic development, which is why municipalities have been focused on striking a balance between new development and the needs of existing residents and businesses,' Rossi and East Providence Mayor Bob DaSilva, the league's president, said in a statement. Should municipalities block development through restrictive ordinances, Shekarchi said it is possible the state could freeze aid to those communities. But the speaker said he does not believe any formal penalties against resistant communities should be established in the near future. 'We'll just have to take a wait and see attitude and see what happens,' Shekarchi said. 'Hopefully they will see the light.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
