Kennedy Plaza Plan: Paolino Tackles Social Services, Crime with Community Ahead of Proposal

Kennedy Plaza Plan: Paolino Tackles Social Services, Crime with Community Ahead of Proposal

Former Providence Mayor Joseph Paolino spearheaded two working groups on Tuesday to address ongoing issues of panhandling, homelessness, and drug use in Kennedy Plaza, ahead of an anticipated draft plan of action to be released on September 14. 

Paolino, who recently was named chair of the Providence Downtown Improvement District (DID), joined DID Senior Director Frank LaTorre at the Chamber of Commerce to discuss issues related to social service needs, as well as enforcement and legal issues, with close to twenty-five stakeholders on Tuesday.

The meeting comes following the August 18 gathering of nearly fifty individuals -- including Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza --  for a kick-off meeting to jointly address the issues facing Kennedy Plaza. Following that meeting, Paolino said that he expected a joint plan with Elorza this month. 

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"The last few weeks have been the most productive and interactive dialogue, and I've learned so much," said Paolino at the meeting's outset. "We have taken a lot of suggestions made, and nothing's concrete - we want to bounce things off everybody."

"Between now and the 14th, we'll meet with the Mayor, the Governor, DID, to see where they stand, to go public with this, and the legislative proposal," continued Paolino, who noted the additional help would be to support the various social service agencies. DID is funded through fees on downtown properties. 

Social Service Outreach

Representatives from Amos House, Crossroads, House of Hope, Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, RIPTA Riders Alliance, Providence Foundation, and the City of Providence were at the first session. 

Paolino brought up examples of other cities undertaking street outreach, and mentioned that years ago, the city had social service clinicians going out on certain patrols.

"The question is finding funding for specific ones," said Paolino, who also mentioned utilizing fire stations as "safe stations" where people could go to seek help. 

The group discussed a proposed "Hand Up" program, where individuals could seek day work with the goal of finding permanent jobs.  

Eileen Hayes with Amos House noted "Identification of places where work needs to be done" as the first step -- and that Amos House has an anonymous donor who has already made a financial commitment. 

"[Providence City Councilperons] Harris and Aponte are very interested in this in the South Providence area," said Hayes. 

The meeting agenda also raised the the possibility of identifying new housing vouchers for the chronically homeless, and whether any of the the $50 million housing bond on the ballot in November could be used to tackle the issue of housing for the homeless.