On Thursday, June 25, the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) completed the opening of 368 beds for homeless men at the 112 Southampton Street shelter, taking another major step in restoring services to the hundreds of homeless who were displaced by the last-minute closing on October 8, 2014 of the Long Island Bridge and the island's social-service programs. The Southampton Street facility has opened in phases, beginning in January with 100 beds on the second floor, 150 more beds in April and 190 on June 25.
Further development plans for the shelter include a permanent kitchen in the dining area, an outdoor space for guests and a medical clinic. The facility is open all day, allowing guests to stay on the premises as well as to check in during the day. The shelter Southampton Street is all-male with space designated for young adults and transgender guests, while the Woods-Mullen shelter at 784 Mass. Ave. is now for homeless women only.
In a written statement, Mayor Martin Walsh said, "This is not just a shelter, but a front door to counseling, support and permanent housing. It is a critical part of our strategy to end veteran homelessness this year, and chronic homelessness by 2018. Together, we can make Boston a city where no one is left behind, no matter your income, your past, your struggles."
The South End News visited Southampton Street this week to tour the new accommodations, guided by Beth Grand, director of BPHC's Homeless Services Bureau; Corey Grier, services administrator for the shelter, and PJ McCann, BPHC assistant general counsel. The visit began at 3:00 PM as the shift changed, and a line formed out the door for check-in.
Both Grand and Grier said that improvements are being made to ensure smoother check-in at shift change time within a matter of days. Inside, incoming guests went through a security checkpoint and registered at the front desk for a bed. "They get their ID checked to make sure they are not barred from the shelter and they go through the search area," Grand said, adding, "We have a limited number of rules that would get people barred such as starting a fire, stealing, threatening people, threatening or violent behavior, and we have a grievance process to mitigate that." Since it is an all-day shelter, guests have the choice to remain indoors at 112 Southampton.
"Today we have 135 staying in the shelter (during the day) and yesterday we had 200, which is really high," Grier reported. "Our goal is helping people to re-house rapidly from shelters, so we are doing a front-door triage system where we meet with everybody, figure out what their quickest way out of homelessness is and facilitate that," Grand said. The first floor has offices for case-management workers and others who assist guests in making a plan to transition to a permanent home.
The first-floor sleeping areas, like the upstairs area opened in January, hold 318 bunk beds in large rooms with windows on two or three sides, freshly painted in pastel colors to give an airy feel to the rooms. Upper bunks are reserved for guests who leave during the day for school or work or who are working with counselors on job and housing searches, while the lower bunks are assigned on a first-come, first served basis.
A smaller dorm with about 50 beds, located near the restrooms, is intended for guests with visual and mobility impairments as well as those who are further along the road to independence. The first-floor living area also includes two TV rooms. A large, garage-like area has been converted to a dining area, and later this year it will be renovated and divided to encompass a dining room with an expanded serving kitchen, while part of the space will become a clinic for Boston Health Care for the Homeless to include three examination rooms with primary-care physicians on site.
A spacious parking area in the back of the building now has a few picnic tables and benches for guests, and will be redeveloped with greenery and more seating. "We are going to be creating an outside park area to try to help with some of the neighborhood issues by allowing people to stay outside without having to come into the shelter and check in. We are hoping to have that up and running in a few weeks," Grand said. "We want it to be as positive as possible for our guests, so we are going to make it as nice as we can," Grier added.
Turner Construction, one of the four companies that worked around the clock to convert the former Boston Transportation Department sign shop into a shelter, is donating some of the supplies and labor for the outdoor space.
The first floor is a "wet" shelter, allowing guests who are not sober while the second floor is for guests who are sober and working on recovery. BPHC offers Project SOAR (Stability, Opportunity, Achievement, and Recovery) to support those who want to leave addiction behind and achieve permanent housing, education and other personal goals. One Southampton Street guest who is making progress in Project SOAR is Terrance, a 45 year old man from New York who came to Boston in 2000 "looking for a change." "When I came here, I was chasing drugs and I had family here, but then I went to prison. I got clean, and I found out about the Long Island Shelter when I was in prison," Terrance said.
Once on parole, Terrance graduated re-entry and became a guest at Long Island and entered Project SOAR. Terrance continues in project SOAR and works in food service at 112 Southampton Street with the goal of attending school for culinary arts. When Long Island closed, Terrance said he felt "Distraught, uncomfortable, but I had good counselors to give me inspiration to stick it out." Terrance plans to stay in Boston long-term so that he can spend more time with his children. Now he says, "I feel good; clean, sober and focused."