As temperatures drop, advocates call for state to build 'pallet shelters'

PROVIDENCE ? Standing on a metal stool at the Rhode Island State House, Brown University medical student Johnny Bird peered through an open joint into a tiny building, just big enough for two people to sleep in, with two windows and a lockable door.

Other students pushed and pulled the sides of the shelter, trying to get the prefabricated panels to snap into place.

The shelter's backdrop was a quiet State House with nine tents set up on the plaza, all of them occupied by people who live in them. The shelter won't stay, lasting only for a day at the State House before it is disassembled. Housing advocates said the stunt was needed to get Gov. Dan McKee, and state officials, to do more to get housing for the homeless.

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As a medical student, Bird said, he approaches the issue through the lens of his chosen profession.

"If you can get people off the streets, they can stay healthy," Bird said.

Eric Hirsch, a Providence College professor and advocate, said he helped with the assembly of the "pallet shelter" to pressure McKee to do more – and to show that pallet shelters are a viable option.

The state does not have enough emergency shelter beds, and there are at least 80 encampments in the state. The last time advocates counted the number of people living outside, it was 435, up from 350 a month prior, Hirsch said.

"The governor says he will have everybody housed or in a shelter by Thanksgiving, and if that's the case, we're way behind," he said. "We need more shelter beds."

"How cold does it have to be?" Hirsch said. "Do we have to have 6 inches of snow on the ground?"

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Hirsch said the state deserves credit for trying to find spaces to put temporary shelters, like the "pallet" shelter buildings, or open new indoor spaces. But officials need to try harder, he said.

In Cranston, elected officials are decrying the prospect of the tiny shelters being placed at the Pastore Center. Councilman Matt Reilly and Councilwoman Nicole Renzulli filed a resolution opposing the idea of any shelter in the Pastore Center, claiming residents would be "directly impacted" by homeless people, that the men's shelter at Harrington Hall, which has 130 beds, houses "dangerous sexual offenders" who "already impact the streets and neighborhoods of our city."

Reilly and Renzulli cited the impacts as panhandling, "interacting with concerned residents," patronizing liquor stores and standing at bus stops.

In the resolution, Reilly and Renzulli called for any of Rhode Island's other 38 cities and towns to house the homeless and claimed that Cranston "can no longer be the sole location" for homeless services.

Hirsch said plans for Cranston would be just 30 buildings, for 50 to 60 people, and that officials are looking at other state-owned sites.

More:More than 400 Rhode Islanders live without shelter. These protesters demand help now.

"A lot of this is a not-in-my-backyard problem, where everyone says, 'I care about the homeless, I want to help them, but this is the wrong place for it,'" Hirsch said. "If every single city and town says they're the wrong place, we can't solve this problem."

Hirsch said stereotypes of homeless people are incredibly harmful, and that each one is someone's friend, relative or neighbor.

"Who thinks it's OK to have people living in tents outside in New England in winter?" he asked.

Looking at the structure put up in an hour with unskilled labor, mostly from members of the Brown University student group Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere, Bird said it was pretty easy, considering he has no construction skills.

More importantly for Bird, it showed that there are other options available, besides congregate shelters and tents.

"Housing impacts our health," Bird said. "If you don't have stable housing, it's hard to be healthy."

Pallet housing provides room enough for two

In April 2021, Los Angeles opened a village of 103 of the shelters.

Housing advocate Gail Johnson, who previously lived on the State House lawn for six months in a tent, said she took a nap in the shelter earlier in the day and found it to be comfortable. Being a solid structure, it also allows residents to lock the door, for their own safety and that of their property when they leave.

"You could definitely live in it," she said. "It's like a tiny house."

Measuring 64 square feet, the two-person shelters have two beds, shelving and multiple circuit breakers.

The ability to charge phones, turn on a heater or fan and power a light or a small refrigerator is especially nice. A diabetic, Johnson said she knows how hard it is to manage when insulin needs to be constantly refrigerated, something that's not possible in a tent.

See more of The Providence Journal's coverage of homelessness in the state

Oct. 4, 2022:More than 400 Rhode Islanders live without shelter. These protesters demand help now.

Sept. 30, 2022:Number of older Rhode Islanders asking for help to find housing growing, group says

Aug. 27, 2022:Patinkin: In the shadow of RI State House, a man, a tent and his message.

July 22, 2022:Community leader says damaged building is a blow to mental health help in RI. Here's why.

May 12, 2022:Advocates blast McKee for not moving faster on housing crisis and expiring shelter beds

April 26, 2022:Evictions loom: Rally at the State House calling for help as RI seasonal housing aid ends

April 14, 2022:When a hotel is home: RI's costly option to reunite families amid housing crisis

Nov. 9, 2021:RI's government will make $3.6 million selling group homes. Homeless advocates are fuming

Sept. 9, 2021:'We're currently in a state of disaster': Advocates call on RI leaders to take action on homelessness

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Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @WheelerReporter.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Advocates: Rhode Island needs more shelter beds as temperatures drop