More than 300,000 (72%) Rhode Island housing units were built before 1980—making them at risk for lead paint. Of those, 41 percent are 2-family or multifamily (3+) units, putting renters, who occupy 78 percent of this stock, at much greater risk.
Approximately 75,000 Rhode Islanders live with an ambulatory disability. For this segment of the population, older housing correlates with an increased risk of falls and home related injuries.
Despite an overall decrease in calls to United Way of Rhode Island’s 211 call center, the ratio of those calls seeking housing assistance returned to the pre-pandemic ratio of more than 50 percent of all calls.
Rhode Island student homelessness continues to rise since the end of the pandemic’s assistance programs. From SY2020-21’s low of 1,109, there was a 32 percent increase to 1,461 in SY2021-22, to another 12 percent increase in SY2022-23, which brings the state to 1,739 students experiencing homelessness.
