More than 300,000 (72%) Rhode Island housing units were built before 1980—making them at risk for lead paint. Of those, 41 percent are 2-family or multifamily (3+) units, putting renters, who occupy 78 percent of this stock, at much greater risk.
Approximately 80,000 Rhode Islanders live with an ambulatory disability. For this segment of the population, older housing correlates with an increased risk of falls and home-related injuries.
Despite an overall decrease in calls to United Way of Rhode Island’s 211 call center, the ratio of those calls seeking housing assistance returned to the pre-pandemic ratio of more than 50 percent of all calls.
