On Feb. 5, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley and Chief of Policy and Resiliency Sheila Dormody announced the establishment of the city’s new Housing and Human Services Office.
The new HHS office merges Providence’s Healthy Communities Office, Housing and Community Development Division and Senior Services. It will focus on affordable housing initiatives, accessibility to behavioral health support and relationships with local community partners, according to a city of Providence press release.
According to Emily Freedman, who will serve as the director for the HHS office, unifying the two prior offices allows the city to “align resources to better meet the interconnected needs of our community more effectively.”
“This new office aims to enhance coordination across departments, streamline services and make impactful quality-of-life changes for vulnerable residents by addressing housing, health and senior needs comprehensively,” wrote Emily Freedman, who will serve as the HHS office’s director, in an email statement shared with The Herald.
In addition to Freedman, Rachel Ferrera will serve as the director of the HHS’s Human Services Division and William Facente will serve as the director of the HHS’s Housing Division.
Combining behavioral health and housing services under a single office may create “more opportunity for collaboration and opportunity” when providing these services, according to Sandy Valentine, executive director of Rhode Island Communities for Addiction Recovery Efforts, or RICARES.
Valentine noted that housing and behavioral health needs are inextricably linked. “It’s really hard to talk to somebody about their recovery from a substance use disorder, when their basic needs in life aren't being met,” she said.
She has “high hopes” for the new HHS office and anticipates that RICARES and HHS “can partner together in the future to create more of those opportunities.
Facente noted in an email statement for The Herald that the office will “work on the coordination of resources and efforts” to address not only the need for housing, but also the related causes that lead to housing instability — “primarily mental health and substance use disorders.”
Outside of supporting local organizations’ missions, HHS is also tasked with executing existing initiatives that aim to address housing and health in tandem.
The new HHS office and its initiatives fit “into the bigger picture of community development and resiliency by addressing key social determinants of health and well-being,” Dormody wrote in an email statement for The Herald.
The office will also collaborate with offices at the state level, such as the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, the Rhode Island Department of Health and the State Office of Housing and Community Development by “coordinating funding efforts and policymaking around health, housing and homelessness,” according to Dormody.
Kerri White, director of communications for EOHHS, wrote in an email to The Herald that the office, which addresses “two vital basic needs” is “advantageous,” characterizing affordable housing as a factor in overall health.
As part of its community engagement goals, the new office will serve as a “centralized hub for collaboration and resource allocation,” Dormody wrote. “The unification of departments will improve accessibility to aid and services by streamlining processes and offering more comprehensive support to residents under one umbrella office.”
“My aspiration is that we complement each other's efforts,” Valentine said. “We can continue to better work across the state.”
Tom Li is a Metro editor covering the health and environment and development and infrastructure beats. He is from Pleasanton, California, and is concentrating in Economics and International and Public Affairs. He is an avid RIPTA passenger and enjoys taking (and criticizing) personality tests in his free time.
Mikayla Kennedy is a Metro editor covering housing and transportation. They are a junior from New York City studying Political Science and Public Policy Economics.
