The largest homeless shelter for men in Rhode Island has 88 beds, three showers and no doors on the bathroom stalls. Here, privacy is an unknown luxury.
But the men line up at Harrington Hall anyway, often 100 or more a night. Those left without a bed sleep on the floor or leave, perhaps heading to a moving truck business that sometimes leaves its trucks unlocked overnight.
"These are people that have fallen down and can't get back up and I'm one of them," said Mike Dalba, a 50-year-old who worked as a computer specialist before becoming homeless six years ago following the death of his son. "You're nuts just to be here. If you're not nuts, you will be."
The group that runs Harrington Hall has plans to move to better quarters at a shuttered women's prison nearby. But the proposal is being fought by local leaders and residents concerned about a handful of sex offenders who call Harrington Hall home.
"There are other areas that you could use that are more rural where there isn't such a concentration of children," said Suzanne Arena, a Cranston resident who has two children ages eight and 10.
"I don't think sex offenders belong somewhere like this. I never wanted them here."
Harrington Hall was never meant to be a permanent part of the community -- or a long-term solution to the state's homelessness problem.
The Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless estimates that 4,400 people in the state, which has a population of just over 1 million, experienced homelessness in 2010.
Harrington opened as an emergency winter shelter in 2005 to address a rise in the state's homeless population. But the numbers kept growing and Harrington stayed open -- to the dismay of nearby residents.
The shelter occupies a former gymnasium on the grounds of the state's Adult Correctional Institutions. Several other nearby buildings have been converted into state government offices.
Harrington is within walking distance to a youth athletic field, a library, day-care centers and elementary schools.
Harrington's main room features row upon row of beds. Microwaves and a large food-warmer sit at one end where they're used to prepare dinner.
The doors open at 5 p.m., though several men typically show up early, smoking and talking outside. At night they read, play chess or watch a television that's rolled out in the front of the room.
Large fans circulate the air, which is heavy and warm even though it's early spring. The air conditioning doesn't work.
"The food's not bad, but the bathrooms are awful," said longtime Harrington resident Wayne Mackie, 60. "No privacy at all."
The state recently installed new windows and exterior doors. Yet the three bathrooms have no doors on the toilet stalls. Floor tiles are cracked or missing. Black mold fills the crevices and corners. One bathroom has no toilet paper -- the dispenser is bolted to the wall in the hallway instead.
"How do I say this? This is screwed up," said Sen. John Tassoni, D-Smithfield, during a recent tour of the shelter. "This is not fit for man. The people in Guantanamo Bay have better accommodations."
Tassoni is the leading legislative supporter of plans to move the shelter to the closed women's prison a few blocks away. That facility has enough space for a full-service kitchen and room for job training, educational programs and substance abuse help, said Jean Johnson, executive director at the House of Hope Community Development Corp., which has run Harrington since 2009. The new facility would also feature small apartments for men trying to get their lives back on track.
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