BURRILLVILLE – A facility providing living space for dozens of unhoused Rhode Islanders over the past year and a half will close its doors on Monday, June 30, according to a resident who says she was informed of the plan this week.
Asked to conform that the Tri-County Community Action Agency family campus at Zambarano Hospital is slated to close once a lease on the cottages used for the shelter runs out, an official from the Rhode Island Department of Housing said a statement will be issued on the matter.
The facility, which opened in October of 2023, features space for around 50 people, and has reportedly served as living quarters for at least 25 children in recent months.
Keyara Kay-Mitchell and her two daughters, ages 1 and 14, are among the facility’s current occupants.
“I am absolutely heartbroken and terrified what the future holds,” said Kay-Mitchell, who noted she received news of the planned closing on Monday, April 21 from campus Director Ehren Hunt.
Situated inside three previously vacant structures on the sprawling Zambarano hospital grounds, the family shelter includes several small apartments in one building, and another with one-room emergency housing units, similar to dorm rooms. The third building holds a community room, where residents have access to a shared kitchen as well as counseling services.
The shelter, operated by the Johnston-based non-profit Tri-County, employs a staff of 14, with two people on site around the clock, as well as three case managers. Previously, the cottages had been used by Phoenix House for substance-abuse recovery for adolescents and teens, and also served as space for quarantine during the pandemic.
But the decision to locate such emergency housing units in Burrillville has been somewhat controversial from the start, with local leaders questioning if its clients would be best served in an area of the state with better access to services. Town Council President Donald Fox has been among those to express concern about costs, pointing to the difficulty of transporting students living on the campus back to their home districts from the state’s most northwest corner, as required under federal law.
Recently, the Burrillville Town Council and School Committee sent a joint letter to Rhode Island Department of Housing Program Development Chief Benjamin Haynie noting that transportation costs for students living in the shelter were totaling from $25,000 to $40,000 a month – an unsustainable expense for the small school district. The town received a $75,000 grant for the expense through the state’s Municipal Homelessness Support Initiative, but school officials have noted that some of the children in the shelter also require special education, an additional cost that typically exceeds $75,000 per student.
Supt. Michael Sollitto told NRI NOW on Wednesday that the district’s estimated cost for transportation of all homeless students – both housed at Zambarano and elsewhere – is anticipated at around $325,000 for the current fiscal year. Of the total, he said about $250,000 is a direct result of transportation costs for Zambarano residents.
“To date, we have not received any relief other than the $75,000 from the state and the additional funds that were insignificant when compared to the total cost,” he said, noting that the expenses are split between the sending and receiving districts, and that his figures only account for Burrillville’s share. “We have reached out to several state officials and state agencies about this and even met with Governor McKee and Housing Secretary Goddard.”
Kay-Mitchell said she was told that the planned closing comes as a result of the facility’s lease not being renewed.
“There are no plans for any families’ alternative placements at this time,” she said.
She believes much of the opposition to the facility has been based on a misunderstanding of the population it serves, noting that she’s often seen locals referred to the occupants as “outsiders.”
“I’m a long term resident of this town,” she said, noting that her older child has attended the Burrillville School District for the majority of her academic career.
A single mom, Kay-Mitchell said she suffers from a seizure disorder, and has no family support. She notes that it was only thanks to the Burrillville shelter, where she’s lived since last fall, that she was finally able to get testing and treatment for the issue, which prevents her from working or even driving a vehicle.
“I’m a townie,” Kay-Mitchell said, noting many of those currently living in the Burrillville shelter hold full time jobs. “These people are friends of your children, your cashiers, your lunch ladies, your gas attendants, your friends, and forgotten or dismissed family.”
“Not a single individual here from my knowledge uses substances nor has a problem with substances,” she added.
In discussion on social media, Fox noted that the shelter was always expected to be temporary.
For Kay-Mitchell, the problem is both local and part of a larger problem.
“I’ve been struggling with hidden homelessness for three years – been on housing lists for many years – and nothing and no one has helped until this shelter,” she said. “Having safe, affordable housing should not be a luxury, but it is.”
“I’m disgusted with this community, my state officials and our governor to smile in my face, to all of our faces, then strip these wonderful people of their jobs and of our only resource,” Kay-Mitchell said.
Asked to comment early Wednesday morning Emily Marshall, chief of information and public relations for the Rhode Island Department of Housing said a statement would be coming “shortly.” No information had been provided as of publication of this story.
Officials from Tri-County also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
NRI NOW will update this story as more information becomes available.
