BOSTON — There’s mixed reaction from community activists and harm reduction advocates over a plan to open Boston’s first “temporary cottage community” for unhoused individuals next month.
It’s not the structures themselves that are the source of some debate but rather where they will be located.
Boston 25 News first learned on Monday of the state’s plan to create a shelter village for up to 30 people on the Shattuck Campus in Franklin Park. The 13-acre state-owned property in Jamaica Plain, four miles away from the Mass and Cass corridor, has long provided essential care and social services for the homeless and substance-dependent.
Through the years, many of those programs moved. Some are worried that the relocation may isolate people who have already developed service connections and meaningful contacts in the South End & lower Roxbury area.
>>>MORE: City, state partnering on changes at Mass. and Cass
“The people they’re proposing to move have complex needs, and it’s not clear to me at this time that this plan will respond to their needs,” said Jim Stewart, with SIFMA NOW, a group that advocates for safe injection sites.
The state says it will be partnering with a local human service provider to provide wraparound support services to people over at the community of pre-fabricated sleeping cabins.
According to an internal email from Massachusetts Secretary of Health and Human Services Maylou Sudders, the temporary community “represents the first phase of implementation of the longer-term plans for supportive housing and services envisioned on the campus.”
The email announcement said meals, laundry, case management and mental health and addiction services will be provided “with the goal of supporting residents in their transition from the streets to permanent housing and longer-term stability.”
A state spokesperson confirmed that 24/7 security will be provided on-site.
“I’m hoping it will be a success,” said South End neighbor Andy Brand. “With it getting cold, I really worry about the people are still living in these tents.”
South End and Roxbury neighbors Boston 25 News spoke with were optimistic about the state’s partnership with Pallet to create new, immediate housing opportunities.
The company, based in Washington state, has been creating “temporary cottage communities” for people experiencing homelessness in several West Coast communities.
“I hope it continues not only on state property but also elsewhere in the state,” Brand said.
The housing that’s coming to Jamaica Plain will be provided in the form of 18 private lockable sleeping cabins, each with one or two beds, personal climate control and storage for possessions.
A spokesperson with Pallet told Boston 25 News that each individual cabin can be assembled in 30-to-60 minutes.
©2021 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
