Monthly Archive for February, 2011

By Stan Kapelewski

An actor and television director who achieved his greatest success towards the end of his career, Colasanto was born January 19, 1924 in Providence, Rhode Island; he was one of seven children. He attended Providence’s Central High School but did not graduate because of World War II, as he joined the Navy.

After being discharged at the end of the war, Colasanto returned to Rhode Island to finished his high school education, then went on to Bryant College, earning money for tuition and board by working construction jobs. Then, after graduating from Bryant in 1949, he worked as an accountant for an oil company.   Continue reading ‘Who Was Nicholas Colasanto?’

By Melissa Howard

On January 11 at the State House, there was a special legislative hearing by the Senate Housing and Municipal Government Committee, to hear about the needs and to talk about possible solutions to the emergency winter shelter crisis and the growing homeless problem.

The 2010 annual shelter homeless numbers show that in December, that 1408 people used the shelters, the highest in years.  51% of those people are first time users, 39% are families and 23% are children. Continue reading ‘Will Existing Homelessness Issues in RI be Solved?’

By William Harter

Portland, Oregon had an Old Town/Chinatown area that was run down and neglected.  It has a large concentration of mentally ill, addicts and poor folks.

Businesses were leaving and was becoming a homeless hangout.  The city decided this is not what it wanted.

A $47 million Resource Access Center (RAC) complex is being built there to provide affordable housing, shelter, addiction and homeless services.  It is part of a 10 year plan to end homelessness.  They are building an eight story 106,000 sq. ft. building expected to open this year.

It is to be a showcase for the city. It will have a 90 bed men’s shelter, 130 rental apartments, barbershop, laundry, job and housing assistance areas.  A “one stop center to get folks where we want them to be—self-sufficient,” city commissioner N. Fish said.  It will have a municipal court so people accused of minor offenses can be tried there and given community service instead of jail time.   Continue reading ‘Portland Is Doing It! Can We?’

By Tom Deighan

A homeless man named, Ted Williams, age 53, was discovered on the side of the road in Columbus, Ohio.

Ted Williams was on the Hudson Street ramp, off the northbound I 71 in Columbus, holding a sign, which read, “I have a god giving gift of voice. I’m an ex-radio announcer who has fallen on hard times. Please any thing will be gratefully appreciated. Thank you and god bless.”

A Columbus dispatch videographer, Doral Chenoweth III, was intrigued by this sign, he asked him to prove his talent on video. That was in October 2010 now in January it’s big news everywhere. It quickly became a sensational story. Continue reading ‘Golden Opportunity’

By William Harter

Who and where are the homeless?  What do they do?   What is being done for them?  What do they look like?  These are some of the questions brought up recently at a workshop.

The West Warwick Senior Center at 145 Washington St. in West Warwick held an information seminar to inform the community about homelessness in R.I. on January 19th.  There were four guest speakers.  A question and answer period followed. The meeting lasted about two hours.  About 35 people attended.

Kyle Macdonald gave us an update on the situation in R.I., including challenges and services to the homeless.

She is the Vice President of adult services at Crossroads, overseeing emergency and crisis intervention services, outreach, case management, emergency and program shelters and transitional and permanent housing.

She states R.I. is second only to Nevada having the highest percent of homeless in the state.  Families are the second fastest growing homeless group in R.I.  Poverty is first. Continue reading ‘Homless Challenges and Solutions Workshop’