Dear Neighbor, Rental and utility assistance is now available again in Rhode Island. The new Rent Relief RI (RRR) program has opened and is now accepting applications. This program is the successor to the Safe Harbor program and has taken on the responsibility of processing unfinished Safe Harbor applications. Although RRR will be prioritizing and processing…

Update, March 5, 2021: Rhode Island has received $200 million dollars in rent relief funds from the federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program. If you are having difficulty making rent or utility payments or owe past due rent, go to https://www.rihousing.com/rentreliefri/ for additional information and to sign up for updates on when Rent Relief RI will…

Updated on April 10, 2021. If you are an au pair on a J1 visa with a valid DS-2019, living anywhere in the United States, you may be eligible for free or low-cost, comprehensive health insurance that covers primary care, prescriptions, pre-existing conditions, sports injuries, mental health care, vaccinations, COVID-19 care, emergency room visits, surgeries,…

The Rhode Island Center for Justice stands with Jose Batista, Executive Director of the Providence External Review Authority (PERA), established by the Providence City Council to function as a civilian police oversight board. On November 10th, Director Batista released two videos from an April 19, 2020 incident showing Sergeant Hanley handcuffing and being physically and…

Plaintiffs will appeal, saying the decision gives them a road map to the  First Circuit  PRESS RELEASE – OCTOBER 13, 2020 New York, NY — Judge William Smith of the U.S. District Court for  Rhode Island today issued his long-awaited decision in Cook v.  Raimondo. The case was filed in November 2018 by a group…

The Rhode Island Center for Justice supports the 2020 Justice Budget platform, which calls for equitable budgeting, fair taxes, and improved social safety nets in a balanced economy. We call on legislators and state leaders to pass the provisions in the Justice Budget and make Rhode Island a state of shared prosperity for all. Economic…

The Providence Journal recently published a salacious story of a tenant-landlord dispute, where the landlord of a luxury apartment was unable to remove a tenant when her lease expired. The piece depicted the tenant as a charlatan lawyer who decided to overstay her lease. However, this article does not reflect the reality of most tenant-landlord…

All National Grid residential customers are protected from utility shutoff due to the pandemic, but this protection will expire at the end of September unless you are enrolled in low-income discount rates. If you are enrolled in discount rates, you are protected from shutoff until April 2021. You may be newly eligible for this rate…

The information in this post is now partially out-of-date. Please see our updated blog post for more information. Está en riesgo de ser desalojado por falta de pagar la renta? Vea el Formulario de Notificación y Declaración de Moratoria de Desalojo y solicite ayuda para pagar la renta aquí. On September 5, 2020 the Centers…

The Rhode Island Center for Justice is grateful for a 2020 BlueAngel Community Health Grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island (BCBSRI) to prevent homelessness and the serious negative health impacts of housing insecurity for Rhode Islanders. The BlueAngel Grant supports our work to help Rhode Islanders remain stably housed and keep prevent…