Homelessness

Homeless encampment on Cambridge side of BU Bridge erupts in flames; propane tanks explode

By adamg - 10/8/23 - 1:36 pm

Smoke coming up from below the bridge before it was shut. Photo by Danny.

The Cambridge Fire Department reports firefighters responded to a homeless encampment underneath the BU Bridge for a fire that sent thick black smoke into the air - and forcing firefighters to back away after multiple propane tanks exploded. Read more.

Troopers, firefighters recover homeless man's body from Neponset River in Hyde Park

By adamg - 8/30/23 - 8:42 pm

State Police and Boston Fire Department divers today recovered the body of a 60-year-old homeless man reported missing Monday morning from a homeless encampment near where the Mother Brook meets the Neponset River in Hyde Park. Read more.

Officials announce new Mass and Cass proposals; police say they will start new patrols to keep its problems from spreading to other neighborhoods

By adamg - 8/25/23 - 11:10 am

Wu announces new Mass and Cass initiative

Wu announces new initiatives at the Base on Shirley Street.

Mayor Wu and other officials today announced a second drive to rid Mass and Cass of the tents that have sprung up there again - coupled with new programs to get people into transitional housing and to quickly squelch the rise of new encampments elsewhere in the city. Read more.

Morrissey Boulevard hotel could become affordable apartments aimed at helping people get out of homelessness

By adamg - 11/11/22 - 9:34 am

Rendering of proposed 900 Morrissey Blvd apartments

Rendering by BWA Architecture.

Pine Street Inn and the Community Builders have filed plans with the BPDA to convert the Comfort Inn at 900 Morrissey Blvd. into a 104-unit apartment building with ground-floor retail space. Read more.

Frisco columnist finds Boston far more world classy than his town, because we hide our homeless from visitors

By adamg - 6/11/22 - 4:09 pm

A columnist for the San Francisco Examiner who is in for the NBA finals waxes lyrical at how much more welcoming downtown Boston is to world-class people such as himself than its SF equivalent, which he credits in large part to the way Boston banishes all its homeless to some distant area called Roxbury. Read more.

Apartment building for homeless families approved on Wales Street in Dorchester after it's reduced in size

By adamg - 9/28/21 - 11:58 am

Rendering by Studio G Architects.

The Zoning Board of Appeal today unanimously approved a non-profit group's plan to replace a crumbling 10-unit apartment building at 37 Wales St. with a new four-story building with 20 apartments for families coming out of homelessness. Read more.

Group proposes apartment building in Dorchester to house homeless families

By adamg - 9/30/20 - 11:04 am

Architect's rendering of Wales Street proposal

Rendering by Studio G Architects.

Heading Home, Inc., has filed plans with the BPDA to build a five-story, 23-unit apartment at 37 Wales St. in Dorchester for families trying to get out of homelessness. Read more.

Putting the super in superspreader: Researchers say Covid-19 from that Biogen conference led to widespread infection among Boston homeless, spread around the world

By adamg - 8/25/20 - 2:50 pm

An analysis of the genetic makeup of Covid-19 samples from the early days of the pandemic in Massachusetts suggests a two-day conference at the Marriott Long Wharf provided the spark that set off a Covid-19 conflagration in a state not yet fully prepared to deal with it. Read more.

Being homeless during Covid-19

By adamg - 6/30/20 - 9:21 am

Kayvon tells his story.

Inside the South Boston convention center's shelter for homeless people with mild or no coronavirus symptoms

By adamg - 5/7/20 - 8:24 am

WBUR gives us a tour of the "respite shelter" at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center for people who have tested positive for Covid-19 who have no or only very mild symptoms but who want to self isolate.

Inside a shelter for homeless people recovering from coronavirus

By adamg - 4/28/20 - 9:14 am

DigBoton takes us inside the East Newton Pavillion, a closed Boston Medical Center building that was re-opened to provide a place for homeless people to stay as they recover from Covid-19.

The building had been slated to be turned into the new inpatient facility for the Shattuck Hospital before the current crisis.

'Stunning' asymptomatic coronavirus spread among Boston homeless

By adamg - 4/15/20 - 9:46 am

WBUR reports on the results of "universal" Covid-19 testing at the Pine Street Inn - a high rate of positive results among people who are mostly not showing any symptoms. Because the Pine Street Inn is in 02118, that explains why the South End now has the city's highest rate of infection. Read more.

Cambridge to turn city recreation center into temporary shelter for the homeless during coronavirus crisis

By adamg - 3/30/20 - 9:45 pm

City Manager Louis DePasquale announced tonight that the city will convert the War Memorial Recreation Center and garage at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School into a temporary shelter for the homeless - one large enough to be split into three areas, one for people with confirmed Covid-19 diagnoses who don't need hospitalization, one for people who are showing symptoms but have yet to get test results and a third for symptomless people who want to get off the street. Read more.

Former Brighton hospital that was supposed to be torn down for a residential tower will re-open tomorrow to treat homeless Covid-19 patients

By adamg - 3/29/20 - 12:36 pm

Boston tomorrow re-opens the long shuttered Kindred Hospital at 1515 Commonwealth Ave. in Brighton to house homeless people in need of isolation who don't need more intensive hospital care - and will use a Suffolk University dorm for housing the homeless, Mayor Walsh said today. Read more.

South End building slated to become the new Shattuck Hospital next year to open now as coronavirus facility for the homeless

By adamg - 3/26/20 - 11:33 pm

WBUR reports on Gov. Baker's decision to open the Newton Pavilion in the South End as a place to care for homeless people who need less intensive Covid-19-related medical care than what they'd get in the neighboring Boston Medical Center. Read more.

Cambridge to contract with local restaurants to help feed the homeless during the present crisis

By adamg - 3/21/20 - 9:11 pm

Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui and City Manager Louis. DePasquale announced today they're signing contracts with several restaurants in Harvard and Central squares to cook meals for the city's homeless population, at a time when local homeless shelters are having trouble with staffing for their own kitchens. Read more.

The fund has been launched in partnership with Pine Street Inn and Bank of America - which donated $250,000 to the effort.