Urge your State Senator and Representative to support an investment of $500 million in housing to expand access to safe, healthy, affordable homes for low-income Rhode Islanders.

Housing is a top concern for most Rhode Islanders. Due to decades of underinvestment and systemic barriers to development and access, Rhode Islanders are experiencing a housing crisis of serious magnitude:

• There is a gap over 24,000 rental homes affordable and available to meet the needs of our lowest-income households.
• There are only 51 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely low-income households – those with incomes at or below the poverty level (30% of the area median income) – and housing costs keep rising!
• More than 1 in 3 households in RI are cost burdened (spending more than 30% of their income on housing) and about 43% are severely cost burdened (spending more than 50%).
• There is no city/town where the median income household ($67,167/ yr) could afford to own a home. There is only one municipality where the median renter income household ($36,078/ yr) could affordably rent.
• 73% of Rhode Island's housing stock was built before 1978 when lead paint was banned.

Critical housing needs across the state underscore the urgency of making substantial investments to meet the scale of Rhode Island's housing crisis. The American Rescue Plan funds are an extraordinary one-time opportunity to invest in our affordable housing stock and housing stability services. The current state budget proposal calls for a $250 million investment in housing. Homes RI has put forward comprehensive and community informed recommendations for increasing these investments in affordable homes and housing stability using $500 million of American Rescue Plan funds.

Join us in calling on Rhode Island State Leaders to address our state’s serious housing needs by supporting a robust investment of $500 million in affordable housing and housing stability.