Christian Lachapelle-Miller is struggling to find a safe, affordable place to live in Providence. (Photo by Michael Salerno/Rhode Island Current)
I’m a 31-year-old single professional, born and raised in Providence. Having spent more than half of my life shifting through foster care, I now work full-time for the State of Rhode Island and have over a decade of human and public service experience. And yet, despite my steady income and deep roots in this community, I find myself increasingly concerned about my housing stability. I’m struggling to find a safe, affordable place to live in the city I’ve always called home.
A part of the housing crisis we don’t talk about enough is the growing number of middle-income Rhode Islanders who are falling through the cracks. People like me — earning between $65,000 and $75,000 a year — are often excluded from affordable housing programs and don’t qualify for most public assistance. But the private market is simply out of reach.
I earn approximately $73,500 annually. After taxes, health care premiums, retirement contributions, and other deductions, my take-home pay is just under $4,200 a month. I live in a 400 square-foot studio because a modest two-bedroom apartment in Providence easily costs over $2,000 a month. That’s nearly half my income — far above the recommended 30% threshold for housing affordability.
And it’s not just the rent. It’s the rising cost of groceries, utilities, transportation, and student loan payments. For regular wage earners like me, the math simply doesn’t add up. We are trapped in what many call the “missing middle” — making too much to qualify for help, yet not enough to afford a basic standard of living in the city we serve.
My housing challenges are made even more difficult by a limited rental history. I lived in on-campus housing while attending Rhode Island College, followed by years of unstable or temporary living arrangements after I ran out of Federal Student Aid. This reality, coupled with a credit score that has been a consistent work in progress, creates significant barriers to accessing quality housing — barriers that are often invisible in policy frameworks but deeply felt in practice.
This isn’t just a personal hardship — it’s a structural failure. Middle-income workers like me are often invisible in housing policy conversations. But we’re not a fringe case. We’re the case managers, teachers, social workers, nonprofit staffers, and early-career nurses who are doing everything “right” and still getting left behind.
If Rhode Island is serious about solving its housing crisis, we need to stop treating middle-income earners as if we don’t need support. We need new strategies that include:
Expanding income eligibility thresholds to serve people earning 80% to 120% of Area Median Income;
Developing mixed-income housing models that reflect a broader range of lived experiences;
Adjusting credit and rental history requirements to account for the realities of those who’ve experienced systemic barriers;
Drafting a robust statewide housing plan — including a separate, targeted strategy to prevent homelessness.
Middle-income workers like me are often invisible in housing policy conversations. But we’re not a fringe case. We’re the case managers, teachers, social workers, nonprofit staffers, and early-career nurses who are doing everything “right” and still getting left behind.
Housing is a human right — and one that must be extended to more than just those at the extremes of need. As a full-time public employee, I contribute daily to the well-being of my neighbors, and yet I’m on the verge of being priced out of the very community I serve. The fear of living in my car is not distant or dramatic — it’s real and immediate.
This isn’t a theoretical problem. It’s happening right now, to people you work with, rely on, and care for. Rhode Island’s housing crisis isn’t just about poverty — it’s about the collapse of affordability across the entire working class. We need housing policies and solutions that reflect the full range of our economic realities.
I share my story not to ask for pity, but to demand action — because this problem isn’t mine alone. It belongs to all of us. If we want to build a just and livable Rhode Island, we must ensure that housing honors the full spectrum of the people who live and work here.
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