Rhode Island’s cultural diversity is one of our great assets, but our communities often experience different opportunities to engage and enjoy. If we want our state to be more equitable, we require courageous leadership and intentional investments in racial and economic equity and access.

As organizations committed to racial justice, we feel the issue of race has been missing from the discussion about Kennedy Plaza. We all want to see vibrant community commons that support our economic and community development. But we recognize that strategies like increased policing will continue to disadvantage the poor, especially people of color, and siphon dollars away from social safety net programs that uplift those most marginalized.

New England communities were built with public “commons,” but despite their name these public spaces have always excluded the most disenfranchised: the indigenous people whose land was stolen, the enslaved Africans who quite literally built our communities, and those who did not fit society’s image of proper decorum. This continues today, with increase policing and criminalization of black and brown bodies, those exhibiting impact of addiction or mental illness, and the poor and homeless.

As our allies who are advocating for the homeless pointed out in their excellent “Reclaiming our Public Spaces” report, we cannot simply sweep away the poverty that many don’t want to see. Poverty and homelessness have disproportionate impact on communities of color, in large part because of public policies that exclude particular racial and ethnic groups from the supports that help build wealth and economic stability. Public policies fit together like bricks to shape our society, and our vision for racial justice requires some shifts in thinking. More people with criminal records, out of our workforce and warehoused at public cost, doesn’t help us build the society we envision.

Rather than seeking to invest our resources in short-sighted efforts to remove people we have deemed “undesirable,” let’s make real investments in the type of community supports and assets that eliminate the need for panhandling, support mental health and addiction recovery, and provide living wage jobs for everyone, including those with criminal records. Let’s engage our business community support in increased wages, publicly funded detox and recovery support, development of affordable housing, and compliance with First Source and Ban the Box laws. Let’s provide meaningful, well-paying work opportunities for adults with moderate education, and support public access to skilled training and higher education for our youth. Let’s recognize that amenities like public restrooms, drinking fountains, increased seating, and charging stations will support many types of users. And let’s bring love and compassion to the struggle of all those in our community, even those whose circumstances or behavior might make us uncomfortable.

Mike Araujo, Executive Director, Rhode Island Jobs with Justice

James Vincent, President, NAACP Providence Branch

Chanda Womack, President, Board of Directors, Cambodian Society of Rhode Island

On behalf of the Racial Justice Coalition.

As is the tradition at Occupy, the event took the form of an open microphone, where anyone was invited to stand up and address their concerns and ideas to the crowd. A sampling of the speakers is presented blow. Technical difficulties marred the video, but the audio is clear.

People spoke about the issues surrounding homelessness, the persecution of panhandlers, and the increase in the bus fares that will be impacting the most vulnerable come January. Three student from the Alpert Medical School at Brown University attended, arguing that public transportation is a health issue.

Randall Rose, a member of Occupy Providence, said, “The Kennedy Plaza area should be kept safe for everyone, and not put under the sway of a few owners who want to use their insider connections to make more money from a more tightly restricted downtown.”

The MAE Organization for the Homeless and AHOPE (Americans Helping Others ProspEr) held their first annual “banquet luncheon event” Saturday in Cathedral Square. For two hours the groups served delicious Middle Eastern style meal and more traditional pasta to the homeless and hungry of Providence.

About four dozen people managed to serve about 300 meals in two hours. During that time it was not our difference that mattered, it was our shared humanity.

AHOPE is a volunteer based organization that was established to assist new refugees coming to Rhode Island with little to their name. Since its inception 6 months ago, A HOPE has been able to help over 30 families, over 150 people, resettle in RI. The MAE Organization is a spiritually based but not religious organization that seeks to serve the homeless population in Rhode Island.

For the effort in Cathedral Square these groups were assisted by the Islamic School of Rhode Island, Masjid al-Islam, the Universalist Unitarian Church, Rhode Island Belleza Latina, Rhode Island Miss Galaxy, and others.

The organizations hope to offer another meal like this sometime in the spring.

Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza attended an East Side forum on the Community Safety Act (CSA), saying that despite some differences, he doesn’t “think it will be a problem getting this done before the end of the year.”

East Side City Councillors Kevin Jackson and Sam Zurier were in attendance. Councillor Seth Yurdin was out of town. While Jackson is fully in support of the CSA, Zurier and Yurdin have both publicly registered doubts.

After Elorza heard the speakers below, he spoke about his own encounters with the police, due to racial profiling. Though in broad agreement with the CSA, Elorza did outline some points of disagreement, including issues around the use of canines in policing, requesting proof of ID from juveniles, a prohibition against photographing juveniles, the eradication of the gang identification database and concerns that a “community safety review board” clashes with the police officers bill of rights.

On the gang database, Elorza believes that there will be a way to make the process more open, so that people will be able to have some measure of oversight. He also feels that there may be ways to craft policies that will satisfy both sides of the issue.

“There are many more places where there is agreement than disagreement,” said Elorza, “and on the areas where there are disagreements, I still remain very hopeful.”

There was little doubt that the community members in attendance were squarely behind the CSA. Nine residents spoke passionately about the need for expanded oversight of the police. Resident Don Baier told a very personal story of when he called the police to help find his sister, who was roaming the streets, delusional. Because of the excellent work of the police, his sister was recovered unharmed and received treatment. Not everybody has such positive interactions with the police, said Baier. He wishes that “every neighborhood could get the same kind of swift, thoughtful action” from the police.

Resident Maureen Reddy is a white East Side resident with a black husband and children, and she is afraid to call the police, for fear that her family might be imperiled. “Both of my children have been hassled by police, repeatedly,” said Reddy. Her son simply assumed that when he left the house, he would be stopped by the police and asked to explain himself. Her daughter was stopped on Benefit St by officers with guns drawn. Had it been her son in that position, she fears he would be dead.

Once a man pulled into Reddy’s driveway and asked her to call the police. Before she did so, she made sure to tell her husband to wait inside the house, so he wouldn’t be a target when the police arrived. Another time, when a woman was yelling in the middle of the night, Reddy did not call the police. Her husband and other neighbors went outside to assist the woman, but before the police arrived, her husband went back into the house. Again, he did not want to be a target of police suspicion, simply because he was black.

Julia Carson is the Principal of Central High School in Providence and an East Side resident. “I am heartbroken when I am ordered, by police officers, to clear the plaza [at Central High school], ‘get the trouble out.’ I don’t know about any of you, but high school was my safe haven growing up. We used to hang out every day after school and I don’t understand why my kids can’t do the same thing.”

Criminal Justice Attorney Annie Voss-Altman cited research that shows that non-whites are more likely to experience the use of non-deadly force in their encounters with police. “Subject compliance didn’t matter,” said Voss-Altman, “across the board, you’re fifty percent more likely to experience the use of force in your encounter with the police is you are black or Hispanic than if you are white or Asian.”

East Side resident Doug Best made the financial case for the CSA. “…the cost of paying settlements for police misconduct,” said Best, is “our major contributor to poor ROI [return on investment].” In other words, when the police mess up, it costs the city money to settle cases.

East Side resident Mark Santow is an American historian provided a historical context for the CSA. Present policing policies in communities of color drive resentment towards the police, said Santow, “and resentment can prevent the type of effective policing needed to keep communities safe and officers safe.”

Libby Edgerly highlighted the positive efforts the Providence Police department has made in addressing some of the concerns presented this evening. Including Mayor Elorza’s recent announcements regarding plans to address concerns about homelessness downtown. “Other notable recent police department initiatives,” said Edgerly, “include requiring police to use department phones, not personal phones, when videoing non-violent demonstrators. Also, supporting a youth basketball group. Also, instituting additional police training on how to work with people suffering mental health disturbances and, finally, choosing not to purchase military equipment offered by the federal government to police departments nationwide.”

The last item generated appreciative applause.

Ondine Sniffin is a resident of the East Side, a Latina, “and I’ve been arrested at a traffic stop… I learned that even though I’m an educated, English speaking U.S. citizen, I can still be mistreated, solely on account of my gender and/or ethnicity.”

East Side resident Sarah Morenon said that having theses practices established as policies is not enough. Policies change and are enforced at the whims of whoever is in charge. “My concern,” said Morenon, “is codifying the desired practices, to put into writing the police behavior guidelines, and get them into law… where subjectivity will not play such a major part.”

“I would like to see the city policy about non-compliance with ICE holds codified,” said Morenon, right ow the policy is “an informal directive.”

Councillor Sam Zurier expressed some doubts about the CSA, and talked about legislation he plans to introduce as a kind of a “stop-gap” measure.

Councillor Kevin Jackson has black sons, and he’s been a stalwart supporter of the CSA.

Moderator Wendy Becker

Martha Yager of the AFSC helped organize the event.

Vanessa Flores-Maldonado is the CSA coordinator.

Elorza’s support for the CSA was clear. Zurier may need more convincing, and Seth Yurdin’s present opinion is unknown.

Who among us has never asked for help? Who among us is so self-sufficient that they have never relied on the kindness of strangers? And when we ask for help, or lean on our friends, family or even strangers for support, have we given up our dignity, or are we simply demonstrating our humanity? What, after all, is more human than relying on our greatest strength, each other?

“There is nothing dignified about standing on street corners, or venturing into the middle of the street, dressed in dirty, shabby clothes, in all sorts of weather, with a crude cardboard sign, begging passersby for help,” wrote Bishop Thomas Tobin in a letter to the Providence Journal last week, but he was wrong. Dignity, the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect, is, by Catholic principle, “inherent and inviolable.” Human dignity has been called the “cornerstone of all Catholic social teaching.”

Humanists affirm the dignity of every human being. A cornerstone Humanist document is the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 1 states, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” No distinction is made in the declaration based on class or property.

I’ll avoid the sexist term “brotherhood” (the Declaration was written in 1948 after all) and call it our “spirit of kinship.” This idea, that we are one large human family, reminds us to rely on each other when things go wrong in our lives. Our kinship is a fundamental part of what makes us human, and without it, our society and our lives fracture.

Through this fracturing, people end up on the street, homeless, hungry and alone with their demons. The truth of human dignity means that it should not be the responsibility of the downtrodden to ask for our help. Our own human dignity requires us to offer it.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights also affirms the human right to expression, the human right to freely move within our cities and as a consequence, affirms our right to ask for assistance.

“The problems [associated with panhandling] have spread since Mayor Jorge Elorza, responding to the threat of action from the American Civil Liberties Union and others, directed that the police should no longer enforce ordinances dealing with panhandling and loitering,” said Tobin in his letter. “The ACLU, while presumably well-intentioned, has done no one a favor.”

In defending the human and constitutional rights of panhandlers, the ACLU respected human dignity in a way Bishop Tobin seems unprepared to do. The “favor” the ACLU did was to remind us that rather than sweeping people in need out of sight, it is far better to provide the things they need to live their lives comfortably.

Some religious leaders understand this, but many others don’t get it, even as they wonder why their moral authority is crumbling.

I applaud the efforts of the Downtown Improvement District’s (DID) willingness to convene a range of stakeholders to look for solutions to the increase in panhandling and vagrancy. It will certainly require a robust and sustained public-private partnership to address these issues.

But I am concerned with the notion that there is a quick fix solution, or that one more service program will provide the answer. Before jumping to solutions, I believe it is essential that we ask ourselves: Why? What are the underlying reasons for panhandling and vagrancy in our community?

Changes in the enforcement of the law explains the visibility of panhandling, but poverty is the root cause. Over 14 percent of Rhode Islanders live in poverty today. Given these numbers, the dearth of affordable housing, the lack of adequate mental health care and low wage jobs that don’t allow workers to earn enough to support themselves and their families, it is surprising that this has been underground for so long.

It makes us uncomfortable, and it should, to encounter so many people in our public spaces who seem to have no place to go and are struggling with mental health issues and/or addictions.  These are our neighbors, they are suffering and we don’t know what to do. But the solution is not to empower police to move these people out of sight so that others can enjoy a “clean, safe city.”  I am not saying, that police should not intervene when law-breaking occurs.  I am saying that our efforts to address these issues should not focus on criminalizing people who are poor, homeless or mentally ill by depriving them of their rights to congregate in public space, to engage in conversation, or just enjoy the outdoors.

The Scripture I know teaches us to leave the corners of our fields and the gleanings of our harvest to the poor and to open our hands and lend to people whatever it is they need. We learn that helping fellow human beings in need is not simply a matter of charity, but of responsibility, righteousness, and justice. The Bible does not merely command us to give to the poor, but to advocate on their behalf.

I call upon business leaders, public officials and all of us to act with wisdom and compassion, to focus on the larger structural issues of poverty. And I hope that any proposed interventions are sustainably funded, based on models of best practice and built with inclusive community participation.

Rabbi Alan Flam is the executive director, Helen Hudson Foundation for Homeless America.

The one in seven Rhode Islanders with income below the poverty level do not have enough to meet basic needs. Child Care Assistance, SNAP and health insurance coverage help working families make ends meet when earnings are not enough.  Rhode Islanders unable to work on a temporary or permanent basis turn to cash assistance and other programs to protect themselves and their children. The new on-line integrated eligibility system can facilitate enrollment in these vital programs. But the new technology cannot replace the need for staff.   “In the two years that the HealthSource RI on-line system has been operative, most new applicants have required help either over the phone or in-person to complete their application.  Access to computers and knowing how to navigate an on-line application have also been issues.” said Rachel Flum, Executive Director of the Institute. “With more programs accessible through the system, the need for one-on-one assistance is even greater. The state must ensure that there are sufficient staff to help people access these critical benefits.”

The Ocean State had the highest rate of its residents living in poverty among the New England state and ranked 26th among all states.

Today’s data also show that Rhode Island’s communities of color were much more likely to struggle to meet basic needs with nearly one in three Latinos, close to one in four African Americans and more than one in six Asians living in poverty.  While the one-year census data does not permit sub-group analysis, multi-year analysis shows that South East Asians are not as economically secure as the Asian population as a whole (See analysis of five-year median wage data in “State of Working Rhode Island, 2015: Workers of Color”).

“It is unacceptable that so many Rhode Islanders are living in poverty and shocking that Black, Latino, and Asian households face such deeper economic distress compared to the white majority. To truly achieve economic equity  now and into the future, our state must be intentional about targeted policies to address racial disparities in wages, income, and total wealth,” said Jenn Steinfeld, facilitator for the Racial Justice Coalition, a new collaborative effort to address shared barriers faced by all non-white Rhode Islanders.

The Census Bureau released extensive information on the economic and health insurance status of Americans. The Economic Progress Institute website provides additional analysis of the new data for Rhode Island, including the more positive news that median income increased in 2015 to $58,073 from $54,959 in 2014.

After workers and activists from Fuerza Laboral gave David Civetti a 6am wake up call last August, he agreed to meet with the 8 workers who claim that his company owes them for work they completed but were never paid for. Civetti, the CEO of  Dependable and Affordable Cleaning Inc, met the workers at the Fuerza Laboral offices, said organizer Raul Figueroa, but maintained he owed the workers nothing, became frustrated, and left. Hence the need for a second action, this timed aimed at Civetti’s offices in the neighborhood next to Providence College.

Fuerza maintains that on May 26-29, Civetti’s company “assigned a group of workers to clean apartments located in the area surrounding Providence College. The workers say that Civetti assigned workers to the houses that needed cleaning and supplied them with company tee shirts and cleaning supplies. After the job was completed, 8 workers were not compensated for those 4 days, 11 hours a day.” Civetti claimed that the people who cleaned his apartments were hired by subcontractors, and that the the subcontractors owe the money, not him.

On Thursday about a dozen workers and activists showed up at Civetti’s offices near Providence College, and began leafleting houses and passing students. Organizer Raul Figueroa carried a megaphone and broadcast the workers’ complaints to the neighborhood. Once the workers arrived at Civetti’s offices, Fabian, one of the workers, called Civetti on the phone and asked him to come down and pay him the money he is owed. When Civetti would not commit to do so, the protest continued.

Eventually, as can be seen towards the end of the third video below, Civetti agreed by phone to meet with the workers at the Fuerza Laboral offices for a second time. According to Fuerza organizer Raoul Figueroa and Mike Araujo of RI Jobs with Justice, Civetti agreed that he did owe the workers their unpaid wages at this meeting. He has agreed to pay the workers on Friday.

This story will be updated.

UPDATE: Raoul Figueroa has informed me that the employees have been paid.

At the first press event, activists who advocate for people who are poor and/or homeless said the plan being announced by Paolino later in the morning didn’t address the root causes of poverty but instead moved destitute residents away from the economic center of the city.

“The people [Joe Paolino] houses in the gentrified downtown evidently don’t want to see the results of gentrification, the results of luxury housing development and that’s poor people also living in Providence,” said Eric Hirsch, formerly the executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless. “We call on Joe Paolino to not announce this plan. We call on him to come back to the table to discuss with us real poverty measures like increasing the minimum wage, like doing something about the fact that if you are totlally disabled and on supplemental security income you get $700 a month, how are you supposed to afford the thousand dollar a month apartments that Joe Paolino is renting.”

In the previous interview with RI Future, Paolino said his efforts to address poverty in downtown Providence represented an opportunity for activists to work with the downtown business community. The activists, at the early morning press event, said it did not think it work out this way.

Then, less than an hour later, Paolino and the Providence Center allowed some members of the media to attend Paolino’s press event but not others. RI Future, the Providence Journal and Rhode Island Public Radio and Providence Business News were not allowed to attend while WPRO, WPRI and ABC6 were allowed.

The seemingly arbitrary decision by was lambasted by members of the media that were allowed to report on the incident.

Not cool that Providence Foundation didn't let some people in the room – including a reporter (@bobplain)

— Dan McGowan (@DanMcGowan) September 14, 2016

And even members of the business community, who largely agree with Paolino more than progressive activists on how to handle poverty and panhandling downtown, took issue with the selective admittance.

Important voice excluded. Diminishes process. https://t.co/rz84Ez2CnB

— Robert Cusack (@RECusack) September 14, 2016

After the meeting, Paolino said RI Future and a Providence Journal reporter were inadvertently denied access. But two people told this reporter during the meeting they asked Paolino specifically if RI Future could gain access and both said he told them only people on a designated list were allowed to attend the press conference.

Previously, Paolino had told RI Future that it was an important voice in bringing all sides together in addressing poverty and panhandling in dowtown Providence. Paolino, who is RI Future’s landlord, scheduled a interview with this reporter for later in the day.

Here is audio from the Paolino press event that some media organizations, including this one, were denied access to.

Two new avenues for affordable health insurance made available through the ACA have helped significant numbers of Rhode Islanders gain coverage.  First, new Medicaid eligibility for adults (Medicaid expansion) allowed around 60,000 single adults with income marginally above the poverty line to have health insurance coverage.

Second, the new state exchange, HealthSourceRI, provided a pathway to coverage for another 35,000 Rhode Islanders who purchase private insurance. Almost 90 percent of enrollees, those with income below four times the poverty level, quality for federal tax credits to help pay their monthly premium. The majority of enrollees (60 percent) have income below two and half times the poverty level ($29,000) and also receive assistance paying for out of pocket costs including co-pays and deductibles. (Source: HealthSourceRI, Open Enrollment 2016)

According to the Rhode Island Annual Medicaid Expenditure Report for SFY 2015, the federal/state Medicaid program provides health insurance to one in four Rhode Islanders.  In addition to the 60,000 newly eligible single adults, 150,000 children and families with lower income and 12,000 children with special health care needs have comprehensive insurance through Medicaid.  Seniors (19,000) and people with disabilities (32,000) rely on Medicaid for the services they need to live safely in the community or in a facility when home-based care is not feasible.

“Rhode Islanders should be proud that we are 7th in the nation for the percent of residents who have health insurance coverage”, said Linda Katz, Policy Director at the Economic Progress Institute. “With health insurance, people are more likely to keep up with yearly preventive care visits and people with chronic conditions can get the treatment they need to promote their well-being.  Besides the obvious benefits for families and individuals, having a healthy work force is a good selling point for our state.  Medicaid and coverage through HealthSourceRI are vital to ensuring that thousands of our residents can afford comprehensive health insurance.”