RHODE ISLAND
Housing aid freeze: a cold-hearted measure
By Mike Shaw
Providence, R.I.
At Travelers Aid of Rhode Island--an agency for the
homeless--the number of families sleeping on the basement floor
there has tripled from 40 last year to 120 already so far this
year. A homeless shelter in Warwick that recently opened was
instantly filled to capacity.
The monthly cost for a two-bedroom apartment in this state
has increased nearly 16 percent over the past three years,
according to an analysis released Dec. 9 by the Providence
Journal. Waiting lists for subsidized housing are years long.
And people with Section 8 housing vouchers struggle to find
landlords who will take the subsidized rent payments.
The gap between rich and poor is growing faster in Rhode
Island than in any other state and is now the sixth-widest in
the country, according to a study by the Washington-based
Economic Policy Institute. This adds to the problem: Wealthy
people have more money to spend and drive housing prices
sky-high.
Add a worsening recession and rising unemployment and what
was already a serious housing crisis becomes severe.
In the midst of this situation, Gov. Lincoln Almond decided
recently to freeze $5 million in state funds that had been
allocated for affordable housing. The excuse given is that the
state is facing a $70-million budget shortfall.
The $5 million for affordable housing was wrested from the
state last spring through a vigorous mobilization of housing
and homeless advocates. The climax of the campaign was a large
housing rally at the State House, after which the monies were
approved by the legislature for this year's state budget.
The money would have supported 108 apartments, new and
rehabilitated, for more than 250 people. The governor's
decision to freeze the money also jeopardizes an extra $32
million for the program that would be leveraged by the state
funds. Construction work on the project had already begun. With
the freeze, that essential work is idled.
Four pastors arrested
Almond's cold-hearted measure provoked immediate
confrontational action. Outraged by his countermanding of the
people's hard-won gains for housing, four pastors tried to hold
an all-night vigil in the State House on Dec. 4. State police
arrested them three hours after the sit-in began. The four were
charged with obstructing a police officer, a misdemeanor. The
arrests marked the first time in recent memory that Rhode
Island clergy members have been arrested for an act of civil
disobedience. Members of the Rhode Island Coalition Against
Homelessness and Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE)
supported the progressive action by the clergy.
In a post-arrest interview with the Providence Journal, one
of the pastors--the Rev. Duane Clinker of Hillsgrove United
Methodist Church in Warwick--stated, "We are concerned about
the propensity to balance the budget on the backs of the poor
without having a discussion or airing with the public."
The governor had told the ministers prior to the action that
he was freezing the money to preserve funds for children's
health care. Clinker retorted, "Children's health care begins
with a roof over their heads."
On the day following the arrests, the Providence Journal
reported that over 50 concerned religious leaders and
housing/homeless activists met to discuss ways to further the
struggle.
"We cannot let this go," said the Rev. Marlowe Washington,
pastor of the Allen AME Church in Providence and president of
the Ministers' Alliance of Rhode Island. "I'm not accepting
this."
He criticized the governor for letting the state pay
board-approved raises for high-level state employees and for
creating a new top tier of sheriff positions. "To allow these
raises when the state is facing a deficit is not proper. ... We
are not having a 'Wild, Wild West' episode here in R.I. that we
need to create a high sheriff position, especially when you
just took $5 million from affordable housing."
Rev. Clinker picked up a state budget book and read a line
item for a University of Rhode Island athletic facility.
"That's $23 million ... a $5-million increase for an ice rink,
friends. Ice rink? Or people on the streets?"
Suggestions for next steps in the struggle included staging
weekly State House sit-ins; having the homeless and their
supporters demonstrate outside the governor's home in Lincoln,
and supporting the arrested clergy at their arraignment in
Providence District Court on Dec. 14.
Reprinted from the Dec. 20, 2001, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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