RI Housing Secretary Says Pallet Shelters at ECHO Village Will Open in a Matter of Weeks

Rhode Island Housing Secretary Deborah Goddard declined to share a specific date, but committed to opening the shelter before the end of February

Tarps cover an electric generator and spare supplies at an encampment in Providence. The white tent in the background serves as a community kitchen with canned goods and a microwave.
Tarps cover an electric generator and spare supplies at an encampment in Providence. The white tent in the background serves as a community kitchen with canned goods and a microwave.
Nina Sparling/The Public’s Radio
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Tarps cover an electric generator and spare supplies at an encampment in Providence. The white tent in the background serves as a community kitchen with canned goods and a microwave.
Tarps cover an electric generator and spare supplies at an encampment in Providence. The white tent in the background serves as a community kitchen with canned goods and a microwave.
Nina Sparling/The Public’s Radio
RI Housing Secretary Says Pallet Shelters at ECHO Village Will Open in a Matter of Weeks
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The long-awaited 45 shelter beds at ECHO Village, Rhode Island’s first pallet shelter community, will soon be available to the state’s rapidly growing homeless population, according to testimony from Rhode Island Housing Secretary Deborah Goddard at a senate hearing on Tuesday afternoon.

“I’ve not given a date in the past because we’ve disappointed so many people,” Goddard said. “But I would say probably [in] three to four weeks we will be opening.”

The temporary housing was expected to open last spring but has faced delays.

Goddard said Rhode Islanders can expect to see homeless people living in the pallet shelters before the end of February.

“I’m quite confident we’ll beat that,” she said.

Goddard answered questions about ECHO Village and other issues at a special joint hearing of the Rhode Island Senate’s Oversight and Housing committees on Tuesday afternoon. The hearing followed pressure from lawmakers across government levels for Gov. Dan McKee to declare a state of emergency in response to the growing homelessness crisis.

This story was reported by The Public’s Radio. You can read the entire story here.

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