Will tenants unions make a difference in R I s housing crisis? bostonglobe.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bostonglobe.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Flannery, with decades of experience in the housing field, will serve as deputy secretary of housing, a newly created position intended to assist in the creation and expansion of new housing in Rhode Island.
“We have not successfully found facilities to put more shelter beds online . So we need to think outside of the box,” said Jennifer Barrera of the Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness.
On Thursday, Rhode Island Housing’s Board of Commissioners voted to award more than $100 million in funding to support the construction and preservation of more than 1,480 units across the state.
The collaborative – Crossroads, One Neighborhood Builders, Foster Forward and Family Service – want the state to invest in a $60 million plan to convert a long-vacant nursing home into 160 affordable housing units.