Woonsocket residents will now benefit from statewide protections against losing their homes in a tax sale after the state housing finance agency announced Thursday it would no longer exclude local homeowners from a program designed to prevent foreclosure. Under the Madeline Walker Act, Rhode Island Housing has the authority to purchase tax liens placed on […]
Nina Sparling
Nina Sparling is a reporter with The Public's Radio's investigative team. She has written for outlets including The New York Times, The Paris Review, Vogue, Logic Magazine, and the Global Investigative Journalism Network. Her radio work has appeared on Marketplace, KQED, Alaska Public Media, Capital Public Radio, and with the podcast 70 Million.
Posted inHousing, Local
How racist restrictions in housing deeds helped shape where Rhode Islanders live today
Mark Brown was flipping through property records in Warwick City Hall when he encountered something unexpected. As part of his volunteer work with the local historic cemetery commission, he was looking to see if a small cemetery had a right-of-way attached to it. What he found in a deed from 1940 for a neighboring house […]
Posted inEn Español, Housing
¿Qué sabes sobre el alojamiento asequible en Rhode Island? Dinos.
The Public ‘s Radio quiere oír de ustedes sobre cómo están tratando acceder a alojamiento asequible. A medida que el estado de Rhode Island invierte millones de dólares en la construcción de miles de nuevos alojamientos asequibles, queremos entender qué sucede una vez que se construyen las unidades y las personas solicitan vivir en ellas. […]
Posted inStories
What do you know about affordable housing in Rhode Island? Tell us.
The Public’s Radio wants to hear from you about what it’s like to try and access affordable housing. As the state pours millions of dollars into constructing thousands of new affordable homes, we want to understand what happens once the units are built, and people apply to live in them. We created this short questionnaire […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Housing, Local
Why homelessness advocates in RI are watching a U.S. Supreme Court case
Several bags of belongings, a bicycle and small furniture sat just outside one of the entrances to a clearing off Houghton Street in Providence, where until recently roughly 35 homeless people lived. The encampment’s unhoused residents had gathered their belongings so they could move them gradually, sometimes on foot, to new locations. In early May, […]
Posted inHousing, Local
Advocates, outreach workers pressure Mayor Smiley to delay plans to clear homeless encampments
Advocates gathered at Providence City Hall on Wednesday to pressure Mayor Brett Smiley and other officials to delay plans to evict the residents of two encampments in the city. “This is a violent process,” said Karen Andes, director of the Master of Public Health program at Brown University. “Removing people by police and bulldozer is […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Housing, Local
Providence Police plan to clear two of the city’s largest encampments of homeless people
The Providence Police Department plans to clear out two of the city’s largest homeless encampments next week, according to a letter PPD sent to homelessness advocates and obtained by The Public’s Radio. Roughly 50 people currently live in tents in the encampments, which are off different sections of Branch Ave., according to Paula Hudson, director […]
Posted inHealth, Housing, Local
Why a Central Falls pediatrician decided to invest in affordable housing
Since Dr. Beata Nelken opened Jenks Parks Pediatrics in Central Falls in 2020, she has noticed a pattern. Many of the medical conditions her patients face can be traced back to the same problem: housing. “ I can treat your asthma, but how can I make a dent if you’re going home to a moldy kitchen […]
Posted inHousing, Local
Rhode Island housing advocates fear funding ‘cliff’ could force cuts to shelter beds
Shelter providers are raising alarm bells about a looming crisis in funding to combat homelessness as the number of unsheltered Rhode Islanders continues to grow. An influx of federal COVID-19 relief dollars has helped the state more than double the number of shelter beds since 2020. But that funding has dried up, and providers worry […]
Posted inHousing, Local
Fed up with pests, erratic heat, and burst pipes, these Cranston renters are launching a tenants union
After a six-foot deep trench appeared outside her front door, Melissa Potter decided to help organize the Elmwood Tenants Union. “There’s nothing covering it,” she said in late February. “There’s nothing warning that it’s here.” The trench, apparently part of ongoing construction on the apartment building in which she lives, was just her latest grievance. […]