About the Housing Network of Rhode Island
The Housing Network of Rhode Island (HNRI) is the state association of nonprofit Community Development Corporations. HNRI exists to support the work of our members, and to promote public awareness and policies that address Rhode Island’s housing and community economic needs. Our members have built and developed thousands of affordable homes and initiated numerous revitalization efforts in neighborhoods and communities across Rhode Island.
Stone Soup Farm Way
The house at Stone Soup Farm Way is a single-family 3-bedroom, 1.5 bath homeownership unit in South Kingstown. This home includes 1,300 square feet of living space, a full basement, and was built to maximize long-term comfort and efficiency for the resident while minimizing environmental impact.
King Street Commons
The 2.5-acre King Street Commons development includes 30 new affordable rental apartments and a state-of-the-art child care center along King Street in Olneyville, plus the recapitalization and preservation of 32 affordable apartments in Providence’s Elmwood neighborhood.
Maplewoods
Maplewoods is a 40-unit affordable rental apartment complex in the Manton Neighborhood of Providence. The units are large and ideal for families with children.
RECENT NEWS
Recent news articles from the Housing Network of Rhode Island.
Shortage of affordable housing has worsened, RI supply is insufficient
PROVIDENCE – The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes, a new report released today by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), finds a national shortage of 7.3 million affordable and available rental homes for extremely low-income renter households. Between 2019 and 2021, the shortage of affordable housing for extremely low-income renters worsened by more than half a million units. While rental inflation has cooled going into 2023, extremely low-income renters will continue to face significant barriers to finding and maintaining affordable housing, as their incomes are insufficient to cover even modest rental prices. Every year, The Gap reports on the severe shortage of affordable rental homes available to extremely low-income families and individuals. The new Gap report finds that the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by significant rent increases, drastically impacted the supply of affordable and available rental homes in recent years. As households lost income and rental prices increased, the number of extremely low-income households rose, while the number of units affordable to them shrank. In Rhode Island, there are 51,596 extremely low-income households but only 27,547 affordable rental homes available to them. Rhode Island has just 74 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 households with extremely low incomes. Facing a shortage of 24,049 affordable and available rental homes, 60 percent of Rhode Island renter households are severely housing cost-burdened, spending more than 50 percent of their monthly income on housing. “According to this year’s Gap report, more than half Rhode Island’s renter households are severely housing cost-burdened. Since a disproportionate share of their income is being spent on monthly housing costs, this makes it difficult for these households to afford other essential needs, such as food, child and healthcare expenses,” said Housing Network of Rhode Island executive director Melina Lodge. “The staggering shortage of affordable and available rental homes means that it is imperative that Rhode Island continue to invest in policies and programs that will expand our stock of affordable homes, and we must act with urgency. Fortunately, there is a window of opportunity for us to capitalize on, with strong leadership in the House of Representatives by Speaker Shekarchi and the availability of federal resources to make initial investments – Rhode Island can still turn its housing crisis around.” “Each week, the Coordinated Entry System Help Center receives over 1,000 calls from Rhode Islanders suffering due to the devastating housing crisis in our state. This Gap report demonstrates what we are all experiencing, the supply of housing does not meet demand,” said Caitlin Frumerie, executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness. “When there isn’t enough supply, people are left with nowhere to go and often end up living outdoors. In the last two weeks, there were 379 Rhode Islanders who are unsheltered and scores more who are housing insecure. We must address this gap before the crisis worsens.” “The Gap report is a great resource to help us think about how we are serving the needs of our
Housing Network celebrates Rhode Island’s Community Development Corporations
PROVIDENCE – The Housing Network of Rhode Island is pleased to kick-off Rhode Island Community Development Corporation Week (March 13-17) with the release of the Network’s 2021-2022 Membership Impact Report. The Housing Network of Rhode Island (HNRI) is the state’s membership organization of Community Development Corporations (CDCs) and nonprofit housing developers, who are committed to expanding equitable housing and economic opportunities for low-income Rhode Islanders. The Housing Network’s members are a critical piece of the state’s housing development sector and essential to ensuring every Rhode Islander has a safe, healthy, affordable home in a thriving community. The Impact Report details the contributions to Rhode Island’s communities and economy of our 15 member nonprofits from 2021 to 2022.
