FRCA Golf Tournament June 7 to Benefit Woonsocket Shelter

Proceeds support the Woonsocket Shelter, homelessness prevention.

  Family Resources Community Action is hosting its eighth Annual Golf Tournament, Friday, June 7 at Crystal Lake Golf Club, Mapleville, RI.  Proceeds will support the Woonsocket Shelter and homelessness prevention programs. The entry fee is $125 per person or $500 for a foursome that includes greens fee (for 18 holes of golf), golf cart, tournament gift bag, lunch and prizes. Hole in One Prizes include: $10,000 cash, Sharp LCD Flat Screen TV, Set of Big Bertha Irons by Calloway and 2 Domestic Round Trip Airline Tickets. Sponsorship opportunities also available. Golfers who register and pay by May 20 will be entered into an early bird raffle for a $100 gift card at the golf pro shop. David Soucy, President of the Soucy Insurance Agency and …

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Tassoni: Homeless Deserve Compassion, Respect

Senator: Homeless Bill of Rights a step in the right direction.

  TO THE EDITOR -  Many Rhode Islanders – perhaps even most Rhode Islanders – are a missed paycheck or two away from homelessness. So it never ceases to amaze me how insensitive so many of us can be about the plight of the homeless in our state. Homeless individuals are not really all that different from those who have homes. They have needs and goals. They have families – many are children. Many have jobs. What they lack is a safe place to lay their heads down at night. Crossroads Rhode Island has provided the following very stark statistics about homelessness in Rhode Island. From Jan. 1, 2012, through Nov. 30, 2012, Crossroads alone served 214 families in shelter. Those families included 385 children. During the same period in 2011, the…

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Police Log: Man Arrested For Stabbing Another Man In The Face

The following arrest information was provided by the Woonsocket Police Department. An arrest does not indicate a conviction.

  When police arrived at the rear of Imperial Packaging on East School Street Dec. 14, at 3:15 p.m., they met Gregory Robert Dunton, 37, who lives in a nearby campsite. According to police reports, Dunton had a small cut and a swollen finger on his left hand. Patrolman Steven Fairley Jr. reported Dunton said he had just been in a fight with James Manning, who camps with him, but had not injured him. An EMT who had walked to the campsite called for an officer, and Fairley follwed him to find Manning being tended to for a bad cut under his left eye. Manning had blood under his eye and on his jacket.  Fairley reported that Manning said he had been arguing with Dunton when the man pulled out a sharp object and lunged at him with it, cutting …

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Letters To the Editor

Hilton: Thank You For The Tents

The River United Methodist Church thanks donors for helping homeless.

  TO THE EDITOR: I would like to take a moment to thank all the community that assisted The River United Methodist Church and Harvest Community Church in Woonsocket, RI in their efforts to raise tents and sleeping bags for the 30 homeless men in the community. Your efforts have gone beyond being a temporary Band-Aid and manifested God's Mercy and Christ's Love on earth. I would like to make you aware that some of these men have moved beyond their situation. Three men have found housing and employment. These men were homeless not due to drugs or alcohol, but because of the loss of employment, housing, and the lack of family/friend emotional assistance. The River United Methodist RISEM Men's Group and Spiritual Practices Women's Group as …

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la_mouffette

2:01 am on Monday, May 21, 2012

Agreed! =)   more ›

The River UMC Is Seeking Tents For The Homeless

The men's shelter is closed for the season, but spring is still harsh for the homeless.

  Sanctuary — the only winter shelter for men in the city, at Main Street's Harvest Community Church, is closed for the season, but spring is still a little harsh for Woonsocket's homeless. That's why the people at The River United Methodist Church are collecting tents and sleeping bags to give out. So far, they've got about half a dozen sleeping bags, and one tent. The tent was purchased by James Lambert, a parishioner at the church, also husband to Pastor Rebecca Lambert. They've run a collection for tents and sleeping bags every year, said Rebecca, for the last two years. The first time, they'd collected 100 tents, and gave them all away. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough for everyone who needed one, Rebecca said. "That's when we …

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Woonsocket Citizens Who Became Homelessness Numbered 304 in 2011

New data shows 304 people who ended up spending the night in a homeless shelter last year reported their last physical address was in Woonsocket.

Of the 4,410 people who spent at least one night in a homeless shelter last year, 304 were from Woonsocket. That's almost twice as many as Warwick, which has about 40,000 more residents. It's two less than Cranston - a city with nearly 30,000 more residents and 10 more than Pawtucket. The new data comes from the Homeless Management Information System. The chairman of its committee, Eric Hirsch, a professor at Providence College, said the numbers show which communities have been hit harder than the others during the bad economy. Many of the homeless lost their homes to foreclosure — a trend that is continuing. Woosocket, in particular, has been undergoing a lengthy bottoming-out of its real estate market. As of today, there are 114 bank-…

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Homeless Advocates take Soup Kitchen to State House

The state's homeless population is at a five-year high. Homeless advocates brought the increasing problem to state leaders by setting up a soup kitchen in the State House rotunda yesterday.

Advocates for the homeless set up a soup kitchen in the State House rotunda  yesterday to bring the state’s increasing homeless problem right to the feet of state legislators. The state’s homeless population is at a five-year high and thousands are near or facing homelessness in the imminent future due to high rents, an increasing cost of living and low and stagnant wages, the advocates said, calling upon members of the General Assembly to support a series of legislative initiatives that would expand affordable housing, fund homeless prevention and create a Homeless Bill of Rights. The “State House Soup Kitchen” will be open every Wednesday from 3 to 4 p.m. hereafter, managed each week by a different community group. This week, rows of …

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