Crossroads RI opens four apartments for the unhoused in former family shelter

Wheeler Cowperthwaite, The Providence Journal
·3 min read

WARWICK − What was once a convent and then a 10-room family emergency shelter on Beach Avenue in Warwick has become four apartments for people who would otherwise be unhoused.

The non-profit Crossroads RI is moving families into the four new apartments this week, after a ceremonial ribbon cutting on Thursday by one of the people who will live there.

The former shelter, on the first floor of the former St. Benedict Church convent, was turned into the four units: two three-bedroom apartments, one two-bedroom apartment and one accessible one-bedroom apartment.

Board member Julie Duffy gave resident Michelle Lee the keys to her new apartment after Lee talked about how grateful she was for the housing help.

The doors under the sink in this accessible apartment unit can be removed for someone in a wheelchair. The apartment is one of four in a former convent in Warwick.
The doors under the sink in this accessible apartment unit can be removed for someone in a wheelchair. The apartment is one of four in a former convent in Warwick.

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Lee said giving families housing is so important because of the stability it gives children.

Crossroads RI CEO Karen Santilli said the only way out of the housing crisis in Rhode Island is to build more housing, and every little bit, even four apartments, helps.

What happened to the emergency family shelter?

Crossroads RI has been running the 10-room Warwick Family Shelter for a few years before buying it from the now-defunct Rhode Island Family Shelter in 2018. That same year, with a grant from the Bezos One Day Families Fund, they moved the families who had been living there into permanent housing, Wilcox said.

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The idea, since Crossroads RI had been running the shelter, was to find the families permanent housing and turn the space into something else, she said. Construction on the apartments started a year ago.

What do the apartments look like?

Since the space had been a convent, architects had to get creative to turn the space into apartments. In practice, that means long hallways between bedrooms.

Crossroads RI President Michelle Wilcox said once families move in, the long spaces will feel less institutional and more homelike as art and photographs and personality begin to line the walls. Each apartment also comes with new electric appliances.

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The single Americans with Disabilities Act compliant apartment has a larger bathroom, a large front door and a slight ramp into the living space. Cabinet doors under the kitchen sink can be removed to make it accessible to someone using a wheelchair, Wilcox said.

The additional four apartments bring the total number in the building to 11.

The first floor of this former convent on Beach Avenue in Warwick was a 10-room family shelter and is now four apartments.
The first floor of this former convent on Beach Avenue in Warwick was a 10-room family shelter and is now four apartments.

Homeless populations have exploded since the pandemic

Before the pandemic, Crossroads officials believed the construction of a new apartment building in Upper South Providence and the renovation of the current tower would go a long way toward bringing about the end of chronic homelessness in the state, Wilcox said.

The pandemic, which spurred increased rents, has drastically increased the number of people experiencing homelessness in Rhode Island. Some faced rent increases, and some people who were couch-surfing found themselves out of a place to stay as fears of the coronavirus spreading took hold, and the number of people without a place to sleep at night drastically increased, she said.

Crossroads RI President Michelle Wilcox, center, talks during a ribbon cutting for four apartments on Thursday.
Crossroads RI President Michelle Wilcox, center, talks during a ribbon cutting for four apartments on Thursday.

The conversion to apartments means the emergency family shelter beds have been taken out of circulation. Crossroads RI is offering more help to keep people from losing their housing, or to find housing, she said.

"The average problem we solve costs $2,000," Wilcox said.

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Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at wcowperthwaite@providencejournal.com or follow him on Twitter @WheelerReporter.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Non-profit Crossroads RI opens apartments in former homeless shelter