Russ Partridge is executive director of three homeless shelters in Rhode Island’s shoreline communities, He’s been working in homeless shelters, saving so many families and individuals, for four decades, and is respected as among the most knowledgeable about that population and affordable housing in Rhode Island.
As temperatures plummeted to near zero wind-chill, we sat down with Russ to talk about homelessness, the state of our shelters, and the dangers to those who remain in the cold.
A CONVERSATION WITH RUSS PARTRIDGE.
Russ: It’s cold and it’s going to be for the next couple of days.
WUN: What kind of pressure does that put on you?
RUSS: It puts a lot of pressure on the system in general. We’re getting a lot of phone calls, a lot of inquiries about shelter. All of our shelter beds are full. We have, I think the count this morning was a total of 12 families and individuals in our emergency overflow shelter.
WUN: These are the motels?
RUSS: They are not motels. We have a couple of apartments we are currently using as emergency shelters. The word is out if people need to come in, they should come in. We’re available to public service, police department, rescue, if you find somebody who needs a place to stay, we can put them on a cot overnight, and then work with them in the morning to find appropriate placement.
WUN: Are we also talking about WARM Center in Westerly and URI facility?
RUSS: The URI facility is for families. That is full, but the same mantra.
WUN: Also in Wakefield, Welcome House?
RUSS: The same thing.
WUN: That’s a pretty broad community.
RUSS: All three facilities are well known, and people will go. We didn’t have any walk-ins at the shelter in Westerly overnight, but all of our beds are full. But if people need to come in and are ready then they should come to the door.
WUN: We understood that in some of the shelters, like New London, people come in and are sleeping on chairs.
RUSS: Sure. I’ve seen that in previous employment, where folks are using community rooms as a place to get warm and that does happen. What we try to do at least for the overnight is give some comfort. The most important thing, I think, is people to stay and work with the case managers during the day.
WUN; I read somewhere that our homelessness situation was getting better nationally, since the last HUD Point in Time survey, which is coming up.
RUSS: That’s a good point, Point in Time will be coming up. Over the last year we haven’t seen a big change here. I know there are numbers that go back and forth, 600 people on the street, and I know that here I haven’t seen a big change.
WUN: Do we know of people who are still out on the street in this area?
RUSS: We do, and my outreach team is in touch with folks on a regular basis and we know where people are staying in cars. The thing is you can come in, you can stay and spend the night. But sometimes, coming into a shelter for some people is difficult.
WUN: Why don’t they want to come?
RUSS: Mostly toward things such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and fear of the unknown in some places, and not wanting to be around a lot of other people. Shelter is not easy and sometimes folks choose to stay in their car and elsewhere because it’s where they feel safer. I don’t think it’s the safest thing, but that’s my thinking.
WUN: Have we run into any situations that you can recall in this state of people staying outside and literally freezing to death.
RUSS: Yes. Not to make this about me, these are the nights I don’t sleep well because I’m always afraid we’re going to find someone. And, yes, do I know of those things happening. Absolutely, and that’s why under these conditions, our mantra is all bets are off, the doors are open. The only thing we ask is people maintain decorum and not be disruptive.
WUN: People in shelters overnight presume they are fed, but what happens during the day?
RUSS: People can certainly come to the WARM Center or Welcome House for food. Many people choose not to stay at the shelter. They may go to the library. And don’t forget, as hard as it may be to believe, many of these people have jobs during the day. I walk into the Shelter this morning, talking to people who are there, I say the best thing is to stay close, stay in and one of the women raises her hand and says that would be nice, but I have to go to work, and she does. It’s not as if many of these folks are not doing anything at all.
WUN: So, what brings them to the Shelter? They just can’t make ends meet?
RUSS: They can’t make ends meet. It’s the one life changing event for many of the folks, and that can be, as I’ve spoken about many times, the flat tire with the car, and I can’t get it fixed. I lose my car, I lose my job, and here I am. It can be the illness of a partner, themselves, a child, often.
WUN: Do we have any of the motel units that you’ve had in the past as emergency shelters?
RUSS: We have a couple. This is where things get a little bit tougher. We do not have motel vouchers, we have the ability for an overnight or two until we can find some open space. That’s a little bit different for families. Family space is really hard to find. We may put families in motels for a longer period of time. Depends on financial resources.
WUN: I know we’ve talked in the past that the money was a little slow coming from the state. Has it gotten better?
RUSS: It has gotten better, it’s not great. The new (housing) secretary is focused on that as well. We’re getting to a better point, but we’re not there yet. This is the way the state works, so we’re trying.
WUN: We’ve often talked that the solution is affordable housing. But there are still people who will not be able to afford affordable housing. Are we doing any better with affordable housing?
RUSS: Yes, I can speak to here and somewhat across the state. There are many projects that have been approved that can start … are we getting better, to some degree.
WUN: In some ways you are an aberration. Let me tell you how I mean that. You speak openly about conditions. I reach out to other shelters. I have a really tough time getting people in similar positions to speak out. They seem to prefer silence.
RUSS: Interesting, because to me it really is two-fold. These kinds of conditions can bring homelessness to the forefront, but it also puts people on display. I really have a difficult time with that, and I think other organizations may see that as well. We’re managing this, and making sure people are safe, not wanting to use this type of situation to put people on display. We have homeless people, here and on Aquidneck Island and across the state and in some cases certainly I don’t really like to put people on display because they are homeless. How about we say we need housing, and that we focus on that. Homelessness is a really difficult problem. If we use the people who are really experiencing homelessness to our advantage, we’re doing the wrong thing.
WUN: So, we’re coming up to this Point in Time Survey in mid-January. Do people hide? Are people afraid to be counted.
RUSS: Yes, I think there is a degree of that for sure, and labels and questions…
WUN: And families being broken up.
RUSS: We hear a lot from families that DCYF is going to come and take my children.
WUN: How are we defining homelessness?
RUSS: Not having a place that is meant for human habitation.
WUN: Are we talking about people who are couch surfing?
RUSS: No longer. Tough to count. Today I may be on my cousin’s couch and tomorrow on the street. And the following day … When we’re talking numbers, those are the important things to remember, I may be literally on the street today, but not tomorrow.
WUN: From what you’re hearing around the state, is it pretty much a mirror of what happens here?
RUSS: I have to say no. Southern Rhode Island is really unique. Many of our folks have problems with town administrators and city officials. I don’t have that here. I have a community that says what’s going on and how can we help? To me that says a lot about the community and about the compassion that exists in this community.
