BOSTON – The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending more than $2 million to the State of Rhode Island to reimburse the state for the costs of providing quarantine housing to the public and to homeless populations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The $2,026,009 FEMA Public Assistance grant will reimburse the Rhode Island Department of Administration for the cost of contracting with several hotels for temporary housing between March 2020 and April 2021.
During that time period, the department contacted to operate non-congregate shelters at the Wyndham Providence Airport, and at Pawhi Pawtucket Hilton & Hampton Inn to serve adults who had tested positive, were symptomatic and awaiting test results, or were asymptomatic but had known direct contact with an infected person.
The state also contracted with Fellowship Health Resources Inc. to provide healthcare services to homeless individuals with mental health issues and COVID-19, and Universal Protection Services LP to provide security services.
“FEMA is pleased to be able to assist the State of Rhode Island with these costs,” said FEMA Region 1 Regional Administrator Lori Ehrlich. “Providing resources for our partners on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic fight is critical to their success, and to our success as a nation.”
FEMA’s Public Assistance program is an essential source of funding for states and communities recovering from a federally declared disaster or emergency.
This grant brings the total awarded by FEMA to the State of Rhode Island to almost $611 million to reimburse the state for pandemic-related expenses.