Help in Rhode Island
For people starting over after prison, foster care, treatment, homelessness, abuse, or trafficking
We've verified 24 places in Rhode Island, most of them in Providence, Pawtucket and Warwick, plus 16 that serve the whole state. The most help we've found here is for people leaving homelessness (14) and leaving an abuser (12).
United Way 211 Rhode Island
Free statewide information line that routes callers to housing, food, utility help, childcare, mental health, and addiction treatment resources. Trained Rhode Island staff answer around the clock and can bring in interpreters.
Refugee Assistance Program
State office that funds resettlement and placement, language classes, job development, and social services for refugees, asylees, Cuban and Haitian entrants, Afghan and Iraqi SIVs, and trafficking victims. Services are delivered through Dorcas International and the Refugee Dream Center.
Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island
Rhode Island's largest resettlement and immigration nonprofit. Newly arrived refugees get housing placement, case management, English classes, and job help; the agency also runs citizenship and immigration legal services and a program for unaccompanied youth.
Crossroads Rhode Island
Largest homeless services provider in the state and the Regional Access Point for the Providence metro. A hotline screens people who are homeless or about to lose housing for emergency shelter and Coordinated Entry; the Broad Street campus also offers housing search, education, and job help.
Amos House
South Providence hospitality center with the state's largest soup kitchen, a 90-day recovery-based shelter, job training, and a walk-in social services desk that helps with birth certificates, state IDs, mail, and clothing. No ID or proof of need is required for meals.
OpenDoors Resource Center
Reentry hub run largely by formerly incarcerated staff. Helps anyone with a criminal record get a Social Security card, birth certificate, or free state ID voucher, use a temporary mailing address, sign up for Coordinated Entry or recovery housing, and connect with a peer recovery coach or job program.
Rhode Island Legal Services
Free civil legal aid for low-income Rhode Islanders in eviction defense, public benefits denials, consumer debt, family safety and protective orders, and veterans' issues. Applicants are screened for income and case type before an attorney is assigned.
State ID Card
Explains how a Rhode Island resident without a driver's license gets a state photo ID: one proof of identity, a Social Security number or SSA ineligibility letter, and two proofs of Rhode Island address. Free for people 59 and older; checks not accepted.
Center for Vital Records
State office for certified birth, death, and marriage certificates. Rhode Island births from 1960 on can also be pulled at any city or town hall. Bring a government photo ID, or two documents showing your name and current address if you have none.
SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)
Monthly food benefits on an EBT card for low-income households. Apply online, by phone, by paper, or at a DHS regional office; most applicants get a phone interview and a decision within 30 days, or within 7 days if they have almost no cash or income.
BH Link
Rhode Island's 24/7 walk-in crisis center for adults in a mental health or substance use crisis. No appointment or referral needed; staff assess, stabilize, and link people to treatment and community supports as an alternative to the emergency room.
House of Hope Community Development Corporation
Warwick-based nonprofit that runs shelter, permanent supportive housing, and street outreach for people experiencing homelessness across Rhode Island. Its Shower to Empower trailer brings showers, haircuts, case management, and medical navigation to people living outside in Providence, Pawtucket, and Woonsocket.
Providence Rescue Mission
Faith-based mission on Cranston Street serving a hot dinner every evening after chapel and providing overnight emergency beds for about 70 men and 30 women, with showers, hygiene items, and breakfast. Also runs a residential recovery and discipleship program with Spanish-speaking staff.
Blackstone Valley Community Action Program
Community action agency for Pawtucket, Central Falls, Cumberland, Lincoln, and Woonsocket. Staff help residents with emergency assistance, heating and weatherization, housing, family services, and education and job training, and reflect the languages of the neighborhoods served.
National lines that work in Rhode Island
SAMHSA National Helpline
Free, confidential treatment referral for substance use and mental health. Finds local programs that take your insurance or none.
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Call or text 988 for any mental health or substance use crisis. Available to anyone in any program.
Lifeline free phone program
Free or discounted phone and service for people on Medicaid, SNAP, SSI, or low income. Apply online or through a carrier.
National Human Trafficking Hotline
24/7 confidential hotline for survivors of trafficking and people who suspect it. Connects to vetted local services.
National Domestic Violence Hotline
24/7 confidential help for anyone affected by domestic violence. Advocates connect you to local shelters and legal help.
Start right where you are
Each program has a step-by-step checklist for the first 72 hours, 30 days, and 90 days, so you always know your next step.