Support Ryan and Rhyno's Fight Against Homelessness

January 7th we met Ryan Yergeau while he was living in his car. He was for outside BJs in Middletown holding up a sign for help. It was 15* in the wind chill and Ryan's body was visibly shaking. It could be easy to prejudge Ryan due to his appearance , but he is a soft-spoken, unassuming, intelligent, kind young man with a progressive disease that destroys his skin and leaves him unable to feel the cold. To find out better how to help him, we found the ProJo article about his family from 2023. Please take a look at it for more background. (https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/local/2022/11/27/ri-homeless-familys-story-and-good-samaritan-helping/69594177007/)

His mother, now deceased, was worried about his future when she passed away, with good reason. Ryan is connected with all the services available in our area, but there is no housing for him or other young men like him. In 2014, another homeless man, Michael Bourque, 34, died in a fire in a moving truck in Newport while trying to keep warm overnight. We cannot let this happen again.

You can see from the original article to the current picture that Ryan's skin disease has worsened, leaving him vulnerable to infection. The disease affects every part of his body. He lives in a broken car with his dog "Rhyno", the last remnant of his family which he cannot give up. Rhyno also helps keep Ryan warm at night. OUR GOAL: TO GET RYAN INTO A SAFE CAR TO SLEEP IN AND TO DRIVE TO HIS APPOINTMENTS AND THE FOOD BANK.

Ryan is not a stranger. He is one of us. He was raised in Middletown. He could be any one of our children. The system may be broken, but WE can get around him. Homelessness in our nation is at it's worst ever, but living in a clean, working car can save this man's life. Please share this with everyone you can, and thank you for whatever help you can give Ryan now.