Reducing Homelessness and Promoting Housing Stability
- Announced approximately $20.4 million in awards to 25 service providers for 51 projects across Rhode Island through the 2025 Consolidated Homelessness Fund RFP. These awards will support year-round emergency shelters, essential services, and critical reforms that will make it easier for Rhode Islanders experiencing homelessness to access temporary shelter and housing-focused services.
- Provided $2 million in awards through the State’s Winter Response Grant to support the opening and expansion of seasonal emergency shelter beds, strengthening Rhode Island’s coordinated response for individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
- Due to the program changes implemented by EOH, most significantly the per-bed subsidy cap, the awards for year-round shelters and seasonal shelters are funding the highest number of beds that the State has ever been able to support during the colder months, November through April, despite a loss of one-time federal funds.
- Launched Rhode Island’s network of seven Regional Access Points (RAPs) — including a mobile unit — to provide streamlined, local entry points to serve individuals and families experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The RAPS offer temporary emergency shelter referrals, case management, behavioral-health services, and coordinated “warm handoffs, as well as diversion and housing problem solving resources to reduce entry into, or resolve, homelessness.
- Established two new permanent, recurring sources of state funding for homelessness services and supports in the FY 2026 budget.
- Invested $9 million in Crossroads Rhode Island’s innovative Health & Housing Apartments in FY 2025 the state’s first permanent supportive housing complex for formerly homeless adults with medical vulnerabilities.
- Allocated a total of $76 million in SFRF for homelessness prevention, housing stability services, and emergency shelter.
- Invested $2.2 million in Municipal Homelessness Support, $35 million in Homelessness Infrastructure, $31.8 million in Homelessness Assistance, and $7 million in Warming Centers and Shelters.
- Prevented housing instability through the Housing Stability Pilot program, administered by the Department of Human Services and funded by the TANF block grant, supporting at-risk families with eviction prevention and transitions to stable housing, and providing critical assistance to more than 1,400 children and 940 adults in 2025 to support their social, mental, and physical well-being while minimizing disruptions to work and school.
- Developed the first new Landlord Tenant Handbook since 2007, in partnership with Rhode Island Legal Services, the Center for Justice, and HousingWorksRI. This written guide to the state’s housing laws will be a valuable resource for landlords and tenants alike.
- Distributed over $45 million through the Homeowner Assistance Fund to over 1,850 households, preventing foreclosures and ensuring housing stability for Rhode Island homeowners.
- Distributed over $277 million in rental assistance through RentReliefRI and the Eviction Prevention Assistance Program, helping over 34,000 households stay in their homes and avoid eviction.
The Road to RI 2030: Reducing Homelessness Goals
- Building off of the best practice strategies implemented in 2025, create a comprehensive, multi-year plan for addressing homelessness.
- Partner with non-profits, faith-based organizations, municipalities, and businesses to ensure instances of homelessness are rare, brief, and non-recurring.
- Bolster housing stability in coordination with Housing 2030 through new strategies and partnerships aimed at increasing household incomes and improving financial wellbeing.
- Enhance and improve resources to serve high-need populations such as people with disabilities, substance use disorder, mental illness, and individuals exiting institutional settings as well as chronically homeless individuals.
- Continue investing in and evaluating shelter diversion and homelessness prevention programs to reduce the need for costly emergency shelter solutions.
