On January 9, due to extreme cold temperatures from a polar vortex in Rhode Island, Providence converted the DaVinci Center into an emergency shelter for its unhoused residents. With volunteers staffing the facility, this initiative, spearheaded by city council members Justin Roias and Miguel Sanchez, came against the backdrop of increasing criminalization of homelessness across urban areas. This timely effort helped ensure that despite the severe weather conditions, there were no reported fatalities among the homeless during this frigid period, contrasting with the alarming state of homelessness in previous years.
LaPierre knows this: "It's too fucking cold out there, and people are dying." He expressed gratitude for the shelter, highlighting the dire conditions facing the homeless.
For the final two days of the polar vortex, the city of Providence sanctioned the conversion of DaVinci Center into a shelter, staffed entirely by volunteers.
Currently, the city is facing a wave of criminalization of and callousness toward homelessness. Councilmen Roias and Sanchez took a stand against this trend.
Despite the extreme cold, there were no reported deaths among the unhoused, a notable achievement of the emergency shelter operation initiated by city council members.
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