Dr. Jim O’Connell, president of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, said the Pine Street Inn has about 400 people staying at its shelter, and those most at risk will be prioritized.
Dr. Jim O’Connell, president of Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, said that living outdoors carries severe health risks, but that right now, given the potential for transmission of COVID-19 indoors, “allowing the encampments to be is probably safer during these immediate times."
Olivia Allison, a care coordinator at Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program who works with Welcome Home to provide goods for newly housed individuals, said she was nervous at the beginning of the stay at home order that many organizations were working entirely remotely. But when she emailed Welcome Home about providing items for one of her clients, they were able to fulfill the request with curbside pickup.
By the time he died on Oct. 29 at the age of 70, Adams had gone from a man living on the streets to a fierce advocate for the street people he viewed as his community.
A visible epicenter of the state's opioid epidemic is in Boston — at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard, an area commonly called "Mass/Cass."
Last flu season, about 3,500 homeless Boston residents, roughly half the city’s estimated homeless population, agreed to get the flu shot, said Dr. Denise De Las Nueces, medical director of Boston’s Health Care for the Homeless Program.
"I feel very humbled by it because I feel like I'm just doing my job," says Dr. Jennifer Tan, a dermatologist at Massachusetts General Hospotal and Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program.
