Category: Homelessness & Poverty

  • UNSHELTERED DANGERS: Where do Boston's homeless go and is it safe?

    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…

  • LOVE LESSONS:  Warm centers open in Boston and Cambridge

    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…

  • EDITOR’S NOTE: God bless you

    EDITOR’S NOTE: God bless you

    The night before Blizzard Juno wallops our city, I’m running around Harvard Square looking for one of our younger vendors, Jon, to make sure he’s OK. The forecast looks scary, and people like our newly elected governor, Charlie Baker, are slinging around words like “historic” and “snowmageddon.” I find Jon shivering in front of the…

  • WARM INTENTIONS: BostonWarm @ Old South Church

    WARM INTENTIONS: BostonWarm @ Old South Church

    This Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a new co-ed day shelter called BostonWarm opened in Copley Square at Old South Church. Located three doors down from the historic church’s main entrance on Dartmouth and Beacon streets, the day center is located in the church’s lower level club room. It’s a warm, safe haven for homeless…

  • FORGOTTEN WOMEN? Southampton Street shelter will be a men's-only facility

    FORGOTTEN WOMEN? Southampton Street shelter will be a men's-only facility

    The new shelter on Southampton Street in Boston’s South End, built over a two-and-a-half-week period, is located less than a five minute walk from the Woods-Mullen Shelter and the Barbara McInnis House. City leaders came together to prepare the transportation sign building located at 112 Southampton St. The new shelter will house 100 homeless men.…

  • GIMME SHELTER: Mayor Walsh unveils Southampton Street shelter

    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…

  • The Adventures of Casey and Seth, Part Three

    Larry laughed again. “It doesn’t matter. Profits are what count. My wife and kids have a nice place in another suburban town not far from here. The money I save on the drainage buys them plenty.” “But we’re talking about poisoning the world here, the world that your children will inherit in the future.” Larry…

  • We Can Do Better

    We Can Do Better

    “We can do better.” That was part of the opening speech given at the beginning of the 25th Interfaith Homeless Memorial Service that is held annually at the Church on the Hill in Boston. It’s a somber event, as the names of those who have passed away on the street in the previous year are…

  • Going for the Gold: The 1996 Summer Olympics pushed out Atlanta’s poorest residents. What will happen if Boston wins its bid?

    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…

  • MHSA Honors Rosenberg and Brunson for Tackling Homelessness

    MHSA Honors Rosenberg and Brunson for Tackling Homelessness

    BOSTON, Mass.—State Senate Majority Leader, Stanley C. Rosenberg, and the Interim Clinical Coordinator at Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Richard Brunson, were honored for their outstanding contributions to reducing homelessness in Massachusetts at the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance (MHSA) annual meeting this year. “This year’s Canon Brian S. Kelley Public Servant Award is particularly a…