"Great progress" made in effort to clear tents from Mass and Cass in Boston
BOSTON – Mayor Michelle Wu said it's been an "all hands on deck" situation as the city again works to clear homeless encampments in the area of Boston known as Mass and Cass.
Last week the Boston City Council approved an ordinance allowing police to remove tents at the intersection of Melnea Cass Boulevard and Massachusetts Avenue starting Wednesday.
A coordinated response team is working to relocate homeless residents either to shelters or with family.
"It's been all hands on deck and everyone working together really closely," Wu told reporters Wednesday.
The area is heavily populated by an encampment for Boston's homeless community. It is well known for open drug use and violence.
Tania Del Rio, director of the coordinated response team, said that 52 people have completed their moves to new locations. Another 25 people have accepted the offer and are in the process of packing up, nine have friends or family housing reunifications pending, and seven others have been identified and will be assigned on Wednesday.
No one has outright declined offers for housing. Del Rio said some people have said their initial offer was not the best fit, so they are working to find a better option.
Del Rio said Mass and Cass has been hovering around 50-55 structures in recent weeks. As of Tuesday, there were 14 left.
"We've made great progress," she said.
Outreach workers will make sure whoever is left Wednesday is given shelter before cleanup begins on the street.
"We see this as a community of people who we are determined to ensure are moving forward with their recovery journey and also contributing to the community and plugging back into the families they love, the neighborhoods they grew up in, and the city that they want to be a part of and are eagerly working to contribute to as well," Wu said.
From May through July, there were about 400 EMS calls each week to Mass and Cass, according to Boston City Inspectional Services.
Wu introduced a plan to remove the homeless camp in August, and Wednesday was later determined to be the date tents would be removed.
In May, city crews removed shelters from the area.
Four members of the Boston City Council asked Wu to declare a state of emergency in the area last month.