On Tuesday, government officials and local housing organizations unveiled a long-awaited temporary pallet shelter in Providence.
ECHO Village, which consists of 45 single-person units, is the first pallet shelter pilot in the state. The shelters will begin welcoming unhoused people as soon as Feb. 12.
The Tuesday opening ceremony was hosted by Gov. Dan McKee, the Rhode Island Department of Housing, the City of Providence and the House of Hope Community Development Corporation.
House of Hope, RIDOH and the City of Providence have collaborated on the ECHO Village project for several years. The shelter was supposed to open by March 2024, but faced a number of delays due to supply chain issues and challenges with permitting.
“It’s a lifeline and it’s a chance for people to reclaim their future,” House of Hope Executive Director Laura Jaworski said during the ceremony.
Each unit is 70 square feet and contains a locking door, twin XL bed, heating and AC unit and other amenities. The units are specifically for individual use. Additionally, ECHO features restrooms, showers, laundry rooms and office spaces.
The village will also offer wraparound services including mental health and substance abuse recovery programs, low barrier medical care and employment search support. Meals will be provided by Amos House, a community organization serving homeless populations.
“ECHO is not just about housing. It is about health, safety and giving individuals the ability to regain control over their lives,” said State Senator Jacob Bissaillon (D-Providence), who chairs the Senate Committee on Housing and Municipal Government.
Providence contributed $475,763 of its American Rescue Plan Act funding from 2021 to support this project, said Samara Pinto, the deputy press secretary for the City of Providence.
Many ceremony speakers and attendees found that the pallet shelters took too long to open and only provide a temporary fix to the state’s larger housing crisis.
“We must remember why we’re here,” Jaworski said at the event, calling it a “bittersweet day.”
Since 2020, the number of people experiencing homelessness in Rhode Island has doubled, she added, noting that people “in our state who sleep in freezing temperatures sadly sometimes don’t wake up.”
In his speech, McKee noted that construction challenges were one reason for the delay in opening. ECHO Village was built on “a raw site,” he said. “You needed sewer brought in, you needed water brought in, you needed electricity brought in,” leading to delays in the opening of the shelter.
Eric Hirsch, a professor in the sociology department at Providence College and the director of the Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project, claimed that the state could have gotten the shelters opened much earlier, especially with winter temperatures.
Last winter, at least 54 Rhode Islanders died while experiencing homelessness.
“Rico, one of our unhoused neighbors, froze to death not too far from here, and there are probably others,” said Rhode Island Speaker of the House Joseph Shekarchi (D-Warwick) at the event.
In the face of winter temperatures early last month, Gov. McKee opened several emergency winter hubs to provide overnight shelter for Rhode Islanders.
Like other homeless shelters in Rhode Island, ECHO Village will use Coordinated Entry Systems — a nationwide system used to provide housing to people in need — to determine the 45 people receiving spots in this shelter.
John Chiellini, who has overcome homelessness, incarceration and addiction and now works as a peer mentor to help others do the same, said that he is hopeful about the project during the ceremony.
Many speakers added that ECHO Village is only the beginning of what needs to be done in the state.
“It is our hope that this is the first and not the last ECHO Village in Rhode Island,” Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said.
Pavani Durbhakula is a senior staff writer and photographer. She is a first-year from DC and plans to study IAPA and Public Health. In her free time, she enjoys baking, reading, and searching for new coffee shops.
