PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Mark your calendars for the next joint appearance by the candidates for governor.

A group calling itself the Save Our Mental Health Services (SOS) Coalition gubernatorial has invited the aspirants to participate in a forum on Wednesday where they "will come face-to-face" with people dealing with "the growing hardships of mental health care in Rhode Island today."

Free and open to the public, the event starts at 5:30 p.m. with a reception, followed by the 6-7:30 p.m. forum in the Metcalf Auditorium of the Rhode Island School of Design's Chase Center, at 20 North Main St., Street, Providence.

To ensure a seat, people should phone: 401-331-3060.

Among the questions provided to the candidates in advance: "There is a high level of homelessness among people with major mental illness. What is your plan for reducing homelessness in Rhode Island?"

And this: "How do you intend to protect from budget cuts the mass transit routes and bus pass system for people with mental illness and other disabilities?....

And this: "Rhode Island now has hundreds of men and women living with mental illness, who are institutionalized in our prisons...How would you advance treatment options, rather than incarceration, for the non-violent offender?"