Providence officials are negotiating with the city's Occupy movement over the opening of a day center for the homeless that the protesters have demanded as a condition of leaving the public park where they have been encamped for three
months.
The location under discussion is Emmanuel House in south Providence, where the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence operates an emergency winter shelter.
Occupy Providence last month narrowly approved a proposal to leave Burnside Park, where it has had an encampment since Oct. 15, if the city opened a day-time facility to serve the homeless population.
Many details concerning the opening of any day center are still being worked out, including how it would be paid for.
Spokespeople for Mayor Angel Taveras and Occupy Providence did not immediately return messages Tuesday. The diocese had no immediate comment.
Taveras told The Associated Press earlier this month he did not expect the city would open a day center to meet Occupy Providence's demand.
Jim Ryczek, executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, said he had approached the diocese about using Emmanuel House as a possible location for the day center and officials were interested in pursuing the idea. Ryczek said the Emmanuel Center building previously served as a day care center and is large enough that it could be well-suited to serving as a homeless day shelter.
He estimates it would cost about $10,000 a month to operate a day center at the most basic level. The coalition has said it would help facilitate the center's opening, but not run it.
Homeless advocates have said for years the city needs a facility, to supplement existing overnight shelters, where the homeless could go during the day. According to the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, about 4,400 people in the state experienced homelessness at some point in 2010. Rhode Island has
the highest rate of home foreclosures in New England and one of the
top rates in the country.
"At least it's in talks, and talks usually have some sort of outcomes and hopefully it's positive," John Joyce, of the Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project, said of the day center proposal. "Will it happen? I don't know."
Occupy Providence was to vote on the city's counter-proposal at its General Assembly meeting on Monday night, but some activists said they wanted to tour the facility before they decide whether it would meet their demand, according to the minutes of that meeting.
A vote is expected Wednesday.
Citing health and safety concerns, the city demanded that Occupy Providence leave Burnside Park at the end of October. The activists refused, saying they had a constitutional right to stay. The two sides have been in legal mediation.
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