Author: Abby DeRigo
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HOMEWARD BOUND: Housing chief and adovcates demand more funding
At a Boston City Council budget hearing on May 5, the mayor’s chief of housing and local advocates called for increased funds to the housing budget—albeit in different ways. Councilors first heard from Sheila Dillon, Boston’s chief of housing and director of the Department of Neighborhood Development (DND). Dillon, on behalf of Boston Mayor Marty…
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CRISIS MODE: Long Island refugees demand state intervention
Advocates marched and rallied on Thursday, April 23 to call for the state to replace the beds and programs that were lost after the city closed the Long Island shelter and detox unit last October. They say that the city has not done enough to help displaced homeless people and recovering addicts. “We’re here to…
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SIX MONTHS: Activists rally outside of Boston's City Hall
On April 8, six months to the day after the city of Boston closed the Long Island bridge, homelessness and substance abuse treatment activists rallied outside city hall and scored an impromptu meeting with the chief of health and human services. The rally and a follow up press conference was organized by the Boston Homeless…
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CENSUS SHOCKER: Walsh spearheads efforts to count the city’s unsheltered
Mayor Martin J. Walsh and over 300 volunteers took to the streets of Boston for the 35th Annual Homeless Census on Thursday, Feb. 25. Alongside the Boston mayor were city officials like Boston Public Health Commission Director Huy Nguyen, Emergency Shelter Commission Director Jim Greene, Chief of Health and Human Services Chief Felix Arroyo, Commonwealth…
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UNSHELTERED DANGERS: Where do Boston's homeless go and is it safe?
A group of six takes up an isolated corner of South Station’s food court, on the second floor, talking loudly, joking and keeping warm. The group takes up two tables, four men, two women. All six are homeless and unsheltered. One couple in the group has a tall wire caddy filled with trash bags. Despite…
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BOSTON 2024: Mayor addresses Olympics and homeless-related issues
Citizens voiced concerns, hopes, supports and opposing opinions at the first public meeting for Boston 2024 last Thursday. Among the concerns many citizens have about Boston hosting the Olympics were future treatment of the homeless and the availability of affordable housing. Cleve Rae, a homeless member of the Boston Homeless Solidarity Committee, raised two concerns:…
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LOVE LESSONS: Warm centers open in Boston and Cambridge
Nine round tables are strewn across the hardwood floor at First Church Cambridge, with a pitcher of water in the center of each and a couple of people at each table—mostly men this early afternoon—enjoying warm soup prepared by a local restaurant. The room is quiet at first, but as more people walk in off…
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EXCLUSIVE: Boston’s Long Island slotted for Olympic shooting range
The Boston 2024 Olympic committee hopes to use Long Island for an Olympic shooting event, should Boston win its bid to host the Summer Games. The event would feature a 57-acre venue that could seat 7,000 spectators. The proposed idea and many other Olympic plans were revealed when Boston 2024 made its bid documents publicly…
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GIMME SHELTER: Mayor Walsh unveils Southampton Street shelter
Three months after the Long Island bridge was closed, the city has a new location for a long-term shelter. Located at 112 Southampton St. in the South End, the new facility operates in what used to be a sign store for the transportation department. The two-floor building is not fully finished or operational yet, but…
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Going for the Gold: The 1996 Summer Olympics pushed out Atlanta’s poorest residents. What will happen if Boston wins its bid?
On December 16, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh went to California to speak to the US Olympic Committee in support Boston’s bid for the 2024 Olympic Games, despite mixed feelings back East. Boston is competing with Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, DC to host the Games, and the topic’s been a source of debate among…