This story was originally published in Rhode Island Current, a publication partner of Ocean State Stories.

PROVIDENCE — The state’s housing leaders and homeless care providers are raising the alarm over a new Trump administration directive they say could put over 1,000 formerly unhoused Rhode Islanders back out on the street.

That estimate represents two-thirds of the 1,500 Rhode Islanders now living in what is known as permanent supportive housing — or housing units that provide a subsidized, stable residence for formerly homeless people, often those who have experienced mental illness or spent years on the streets. 

Permanent supportive housing is a cornerstone of the “Housing First” model, which prioritizes providing immediate housing without preconditions, such as sobriety or treatment programs, to stabilize lives of residents.

But on Nov. 13, the same day the federal government reopened, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a policy change to redirect the majority of its $3.9 billion Continuum of Care funding from permanent supportive housing to transitional housing with work requirements. HUD’s new policy — it aligns with President Donald Trump’s July 24 Executive Order titled “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets” — also attacks diversity and inclusion efforts, support of transgender clients and use of “harm reduction” strategies that seek to reduce overdose deaths by helping people in active addiction use drugs more safely.

“Unfortunately, we had some warning this was the direction they were going in, but you try not to believe it until it’s real,” Crossroads Rhode Island CEO Michelle Wilcox said in an interview Thursday. “Now it’s real.”

Wilcox, who leads the state’s largest provider of housing and homeless services, fears that HUD’s changes could mean 14 residents would no longer live at the Harold Lewis House managed by Crossroads. Opened in 2006, the 14-unit building in West Warwick houses formerly homeless people ages 50 and up who have mental health issues or have been unhoused for years — with preference given to veterans.

“We’re serving high needs folks,” Wilcox said. “It’s a really great community for folks where they can have privacy and dignity.”

Wilcox will join other housing leaders outside the Harold Lewis House on Providence Street at 10:30 a.m. Friday to call more attention to the impact the cuts will have on the populations their organizations serve.

HUD has framed the policy change as a way to promote “self-sufficiency among vulnerable Americans.”

“Our philosophy for addressing the homelessness crisis will now define success not by dollars spent or housing units filled, but by how many people achieve long-term self-sufficiency and recovery,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner said in a Nov. 13 statement. “We are stopping the Biden-era slush fund that fueled the homelessness crisis, shut out faith-based providers simply because of their values, and incentivized never-ending government dependency.”

The HUD Press Press Office on Friday morning responded to an inquiry from Rhode Island Current with the following  statement:

“HUD is ready and willing to work with Continuums of Cares (CoCs) to ensure they are informed on the changes and are best positioned to prevent any unnecessary gaps in funding. In fact, we have already engaged with thousands of CoCs across the country to do just that. HUD strongly refutes any claim or assertion that reforms will result in increased homelessness – our sole focus is to address the failures that we know have, in fact, resulted in increased homelessness thanks to failed so-called ‘Housing First’ policies. We hope current permanent supportive housing providers will shift to transitional housing by providing robust wraparound support services for mental health and addiction to promote self-sufficiency. We also want to bring new players to the table by encouraging faith-based organizations to step up. There are more than 650 religious organizations in Rhode Island. Thanks to the reforms outlined in HUD’s CoC Notice of Funding Opportunity, faith-based organizations can apply for funding, allowing more resources to be available for at-risk populations across Rhode Island.”

Organizations that don’t rely on federal Continuum of Care grants could end up seeing fewer places to direct Rhode Island’s unhoused population if the state loses permanent housing options.

“The goal that we’ve all been working so hard together on across the state seems like it will come to an end,” said Nick Horton, co-executive director of OpenDoors, a Providence nonprofit that helps formerly incarcerated people, those struggling with addiction and other unhoused people. “This just seems like it’s destroying one of the only resources that we have to help people out of homelessness.”

A 30% cap on permanent housing spending

Rhode Island last year received over $9 million in HUD grants toward permanent supportive housing. HUD’s latest Notice of Funding Opportunity for continuum of care grants is open though Jan. 14, 2026.

Grant awards are expected to be made May 1, according to the funding notice issued Nov. 13. The funding notice limits how much Continuum of Care funding communities can spend on permanent housing to 30%. The National Alliance to End Homelessness has warned that cap will force communities and organizations to reallocate funds from permanent housing programs to less effective programs.

Based on that math, Wilcox said an estimated 1,020 of the roughly 1,500 Rhode Islanders in federally-funded permanent supportive housing could be out on the street. 

But Brenda Clement, director of housing policy research group HousingWorks RI, said she’s hopeful that drastic scenario can be avoided as the state’s own Continuum of Care board crafts its request for proposals for providers

“We’re hoping to be able to craft things so that we can continue to meet the requirements of the new restrictions,” Clement, who serves on the Continuum of Care’s Finance Committee, said. “The last outcome that anyone wants is to see more people on the street.”

Still, Clement said her preference is that the federal government stick to the “Housing First” model adopted in the 1990s.

“It helps people get into recovery, it helps people get into a better economic situation,” Clement said. “But for whatever reason, this administration does not share this philosophy.”