Pubdate: Thu, 22 Jun 2017
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2017 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact: http://services.bostonglobe.com/news/opeds/letter.aspx?id=6340
Website: http://bostonglobe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52

A START, BUT NOT A SOLUTION, FOR 'METHADONE MILE'

A city-run day shelter that will house the homeless along Methadone
Mile.

ON A RECENT afternoon at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea
Cass Boulevard, a group of people tried to revive an unconscious man
lying on a strip of grass. Only the white soles of the man's sneakers
were visible to motorists as they waited for the light to change.
Another man darted between the idling cars toward a Boston firetruck
and said, "A guy over there OD'd, he needs help."

It was a shocking, but not at all surprising occurrence in an area
near Boston Medical Center known as "Methadone Mile."

Mayor Martin J. Walsh wants to eliminate such harrowing scenes with a
plan to spend as much as $1 million a year on a new day shelter for
addicts and the homeless. This summer, the backyard at the Southampton
Street Shelter will be renovated into a barracks-style tent, complete
with air conditioners, televisions, cushy seating, coffee, and snacks.
To encourage attendance, there will be few rules or restrictions.
"It's about getting people off the streets, and creating a safe
space," Walsh told the Globe. "We want to make it a warm, welcoming
space."

Methadone Mile, in the city's Newmarket area, burgeoned after the Long
Island Bridge was condemned, in 2014, leaving addicts and the homeless
without shelters and treatment facilities on the island. The problem
was also exacerbated after an underpass across from Suffolk County
Jail, where people often congregated, was fenced off earlier this year.
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MAP posted-by: Matt