Each year, thousands of Rhode Islanders experience homelessness – and their stories are as diverse as the people themselves. They are men, women and children. They may be employed or jobless. They may be veterans, suffer from addiction or be scarred by abuse. No matter their situation, homelessness is an issue that all of us need to better understand so we can address it in our community.

St. Gregory the Great Church is bringing together community leaders for a three-part series on consecutive Tuesdays from October 16 through October 30 to discuss various aspects of homelessness.

On October 16, Dotty Perrault, the director of Emmanuel House and Ralph Davis of Midnight Moment Outreach will discuss “The Forgotten: Homelessness in Rhode Island.” The series continues October 23 with William Facente of Warwick Community Outreach, Laura Jaworski of the House of Hope Community Development Corp. and Deborah Ferrante of the Elizabeth Buffum Chace Center discussing “Solutions for Ending Homelessness in Rhode Island. On Oct. 30, Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser of Temple Sinai and Victoria Strang of the RI Interfaith Coalition to Reduce Poverty will discuss “Judaism and the Call to Tikkun Olam.”

These discussions are free and open to all. The discussions begin at 7 p.m. and will be held in the St. Gregory Church Hall, 360 Cowesett Road in Warwick.