OpenDoors

Thank you to everyone who visited the Fair Chance Job Fair last week! With dozens of businesses and hundreds of attendees, the fair was a huge success for connecting skilled workers with employers who know you're more than your BCI.

The October Fair Chance Job Fair brought together hundreds of jobseekers and dozens of employers committed to fair hiring for people with criminal records. Read the article to learn more about how fair chance hiring is helping people get a fresh start. www.providencejournal.com/story/news/c...

Women in OpenDoors recovery houses can now access an innovative treatment for addiction: GLP-1 medications. There's compelling evidence that this medication can treat substance use disorder, but it isn't accessible to those who need it most.

Read the full story here: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/o...

Thank you everyone who attended our screening and discussion of Paint Me A Road Out of Here—the story of Faith Ringgold's painting 'For the Women's House' and the many lives it touched. It was an inspiring story about art, incarceration, and the strength of women overcoming adversity.

Please join us for a screening of Paint Me A Road Out of Here, a documentary following Faith Ringgold's mural from Riker's Island to the Brooklyn Museum. After, deputy director Dina Bruce will host a discussion on creative paths for formerly incarcerated people and the power of art to inspire change

We're hiring! Apply for our Coalition Coordinator position now through October 3rd on Indeed.
www.indeed.com/job/coalitio...

Please join us for a screening and discussion of Paint Me A Road Out of Here in collaboration with the RISD museum and AS220. The documentary follows an iconic mural by artist Faith Ringgold on its journey from Riker's Island to the Brooklyn Museum.

risdmuseum.org/exhibitions-...

Work for OpenDoors! Now hiring: -Coalition Coordinator for the Clean Slate RI legislative campaign -Homeless Outreach and Regional Access Point Case Manager Apply on Indeed

We're hiring! OpenDoors is now accepting applications on Indeed for two new positions. People with a criminal record are encouraged to apply.
www.indeed.com/job/homeless...
www.indeed.com/job/coalitio...

We're excited to announce the details of the next Fair Chance Job Fair! Please join us on Friday, October 10th from 10am-2pm to find employment opportunities that look at your skills, not your background.
Are you an employer? You can register and learn more opendoorsri.org/jobfair

Want to make a difference? Join us for the 2025 OpenDoors Necessity Fund—by staying home! With your help, we want to raise $35,000 to give formerly incarcerated individuals and those experiencing homelessness the essentials they need to rebuild their lives.
secure.givelively.org/donate/opend...

The Providence Journal spoke with residents and staff of OpenDoors' Pawtucket shelter about the threatened budget cuts to shelter services.

Read the full article here: www.providencejournal.com/story/news/p...

Thank you to everyone who showed up yesterday to support affordable housing and homelessness services! We filled the State House rotunda with over 250 people to ask our legislature to prioritize the homelessness crisis and close the $17 million gap in shelter funding.

RI's proposed budget includes a 61% cut to shelter capacity, despite the fact that the number of Rhode Islanders experiencing homelessness has doubled in the past five years. We're calling on unhoused Rhode Islanders, advocates, and service providers to protect funding to homelessness services!

Please join us for the Save Our Shelters rally to advocate for continued funding to homelessness services! The rally will take place on May 27th at the State House from 3:15-4:15.

The Fair Chance Job Fair is tomorrow! Check out the list of employers who will attend.

This job fair connects talented jobseekers who have a criminal background with employers who promise to consider their skills fairly. Join us on Friday, May 16th from 10am-2pm at 1 Empire Plaza in Providence.

Are you looking for your next great hire? Willing to consider folks who might have criminal backgrounds? There's still time to register the Fair Chance Job Fair! Visit opendoorsri.org/jobfair to learn more about Fair Chance Hiring and how it can help your business—and your community—thrive!

OpenDoors and Roger Williams University are excited to announce the fifth Fair Chance Job Fair! The fair connects justice-involved jobseekers with employers who promise to value your skills, not your record. Businesses interested in attending can visit www.opendoorsri.org/jobfair to reserve a table.

Full house at the Woonsocket City Council, where an anti-camping ordinance will be introduced that targets and fines people experiencing homelessness.

Homeless Bill of Rights HB 5665 says that no person's rights, privileges, or access to public services may be denied solely because they are homeless. A person experiencing homelessness has... 1: The right to use and move freely in public spaces 2: The right to equal treatment by all state and municipal agencies 3: The right to not face employment discrimination due to the lack of a permanent mailing address 4: The right to receive emergency medical care without discrimination 5: The right to access trash receptacles and toilet facilities to live in sanitary conditions 6: The right to vote, register to vote, and receive identification necessary for voting 7: The right to confidentiality of personal records and information 8: The right to a reasonable expectation of privacy in personal property

Homeless Bill of Rights This bill would give people living in tents the same rights to privacy and property as those in permanent homes. This means: -Tents cannot be searched without reason -People living in encampments must be given sixty days' notice before being evicted -Police must collaborate with an outreach worker to help people in the encampment relocate -Police must keep unclaimed personal property for thirty days after evicting an encampment -Anyone intentionally violating the Homeless Bill of Rights can be sued and fined

What's in HB 5665, the bill to expand the Homeless Bill of Rights?
If passed, this bill will give people experiencing homelessness the same rights as those in permanent homes. This includes the right to clean living conditions, the right to privacy, and stronger protections for personal property.

Support OpenDoors | 401 Gives 2025 I’m ready to support OpenDoors on April 1, 2025 during 401 Gives 2025. Learn more about OpenDoors and all the other organizations participating in 401 Gives 2025.

Today is the 401Gives day of giving! We hope to raise $10,000 to support renovations of our Women & Children's Home. The building needs a new kitchen to allow 30 additional women and children move in, preventing them from becoming homeless or incarcerated.

'A penalty on poverty': Bill would stop driver's license suspensions over unpaid fines “People who are already struggling financially don’t need any more barriers to maintaining their employment," said the bill's lead sponsor.

In 2023, OpenDoors offered a program to reinstate driver's licenses that had been suspended for unpaid fees and other issues unrelated to road safety. Suspended licenses unfairly target low-income drivers, interfere with employment, and trap people in a cycle of poverty and court interactions.

He was 25 and died at the ACI. For over a year, no one would tell his family why. The family of Willie Washington Jr. worked for more than year to learn what caused the 25-year-old's death.

The Willie Washington Jr. Act would require correctional officers to wear body cameras and establish an independent review board for greater oversight in prisons. The bill was unveiled last Tuesday by the Stop Torture RI Coalition in response to Washington's death while incarcerated at the ACI.

The Willie Washington Jr. act would require correctional officers to wear body cameras Stop Torture RI Coalition supports the Willie Washington Jr. Act, a bill that would require correctional officers to be equipped with body-worn cameras.

Listen to Brandon Robinson, campaign manager for the Stop Torture RI Coalition, speak about the Willie Washington Jr. Act at its launch.

www.providencejournal.com/videos/news/...

Rhode Island's proposed budget for FY26 includes massive cuts to homelessness supportive services. This would close shelter beds, shut down life-saving programs, and force thousands of Rhode Islanders onto the streets. Call your legislators and ask them to ensure funding for these crucial programs.

Yesterday we asked the Senate Finance Committee to keep funding crucial homelessness services. The proposed budget for FY26 would see catastrophic cuts—about 70%—to programs that keep people off the streets. Thank you to our team for sharing your stories and asking the Senate to save these programs.

Our new Master Leasing Program rents apartments directly from landlords and sublets them to clients, making the housing process more accessible and affordable.

We're seeking kitchen and living room furniture, including curtains, to furnish the units. To donate, email lfenner@opendoorsri.org.

Our kitchen manager Lashara has been working here for three years, cooking daily dinners for the 155 shelter residents. The food is donated by our partners at Feast & Fettle and local soup kitchens and prepared at St. Martin's Church. Thanks to Lashara, our residents eat a healthy meal each evening.

Former Pawtucket hospital will once again be used as a homeless shelter • Rhode Island Current After flooding led to the closure of a homeless shelter in the former Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket two years ago, plans call for reopening the site in March with 120 beds, many reserved for people n...

Many of the 120 beds that will be available at the former Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket, tentatively scheduled to reopen as a homeless shelter in March, are reserved for people now living at Motel 6 in Warwick. By @krish-eh.bsky.social

rhodeislandcurrent.com/2025/02/17/f...

The Pay For Success program aims to reduce homelessness by helping the highest-risk individuals find and keep stable, long-term housing. If successful, the program will reduce time spent in hospitals, jails, and shelters—proving that supportive services work. We plan to house 25 PFS clients by 2027.

Last week, we invited Governor McKee to the Warming & Cooling Center. Our clients shared their stories and discussed the programs and policy changes that would help them to find stability again. Thank you Governor McKee, Mayor Grebien, and the Pawtucket Housing Authority for making this possible!