To the editor;

The “public peace, morals, and welfare” ordinance proposal is a moral embarrassment for Cranston.
This week when I was checking out at Target, the cashier and I chatted and she shared a little about her life with me. In this five minute interaction I learned about this woman’s reality, and thought it could offer some insight into the reality that many Rhode Islanders find themselves in currently. I learned that this woman, who was probably in her 60s, was living in a hotel room with her daughter, son in law and her toddler granddaughter. I learned that she had not had a day off in weeks, and couldn’t afford to take a day off. Reading between the lines, my takeaway was that if she did not work every single day, she and her family risked ending up on the streets, just like many that are on the verge of being criminalized by this proposed ordinance. It wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that this woman and her family are likely lumped into the 60% of Rhode Islanders that are one unexpected financial hardship away from homelessness.
At its core, homelessness is a housing problem. The city of Cranston has a responsibility to ensure we have enough affordable housing in our community; we are supposed to ensure that 10% of our housing is considered affordable according to a state mandate, and yet, Cranston only has about 5%, according to HousingWorksRI. It is time that anyone who takes a hardline against tax stabilization or abatement incentives to build desperately needed housing in Cranston, take a hard look in the mirror. These and other austerity tactics are doing nothing but worsen this pervasive societal problem. While Cranston cannot alone solve the homeless crisis, we could be doing more than we are.
Here are some additional supporting numbers: The Providence area has seen an astonishing 50% or so increase in the cost of housing in the last 4 years, leaving more than a third of Rhode Islanders as being housing cost burdened. It is no wonder that homelessness has increased by a staggering 35% in the last calendar year, and that 38% of Rhode Islanders are currently experiencing food insecurity. Cranston is not immune to these problems, and we cannot punish people for their poverty and expect that to fix the problem. Taking away people’s only possessions will not magically make it easier for them to claw out of the complicated mess that is homelessness, especially when there is nowhere for them to go. State agencies and homeless shelters are overburdened and cannot meet the demand. There are not enough shelter beds for people to sleep in, plain and simple.
Cranston can do more than we are, so therefore we should.

Heidi Lavigne
Meshanticut