Figures released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development show more than 18 hundred Rhode Island residents were homeless in early 2023.
That number is more than 70-percent higher since the coronavirus pandemic.
Among these, 334 people are living in places not meant for human habitation, meaning abandoned buildings, vehicles, and parks.
uan Espinoza of the RI Coalition to End Homelessness notes that housing stocks are also in short supply.
The federal data shows about 12 hundred residents live in emergency shelters, and only 187 are in transitional housing.
(Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Photo: Brandon Bell / Getty Images News / Getty Images