Do you remember? Today, October 8, marks the 5 year anniversary of the closure of Long Island Bridge in #Boston, which cut hundreds of people off from shelter and recovery services. #BostonWarm #StillLongIsland #Bospoli 1/ 
"when the bridge was finally deemed unsafe for travel on the afternoon of Oct. 8, the city had no emergency evacuation plan in place." It was a disaster for the city of #Boston. So many lives were uprooted. #StillLongIsland #BostonWarm 2/ www3.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/12/…
Oh, deferred maintenance! Long Island Bridge was crumbling slowly and all of the sudden came down. "We've known for seven or eight years. As did the city. Not a surprise to a lot of folks who know about transportation," #StillLongIsland wgbh.org/news/post/form…
In May 2014, 5 months before the bridge would be condemned @SpareChangeNews ran a long investigation of the Long Island Bridge. "Infrastructure Inequality: The Battle to Fix the Long Island Bridge." God bless the journalists and #homeless activists! 4/ sparechangenews.net/2014/05/infras…
@SpareChangeNews And then, on October 8, 2015 "City evacuates homeless & recovery residents using bridge deemed unsafe for load-bearing" 5/ #Bospoli #StillLongIsland #BostonWarm www3.bostonglobe.com/2014/11/25/tim…
@SpareChangeNews The evacuation was a mess. Recovery programs had two hours to leave. 'Merri Cunniff, a Nurse at Andrews House on Long Island said. “These are the most vulnerable people in our society and they were just put out, like trash. It’s wrong; it’s so wrong.” 6/ bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/10/…
@SpareChangeNews Part of what was so hard about the Long Island closure was the strain on existing #Boston programs, like @VictoryPrograms @RosiesPlace @BHCHP. So many homeless and recovery programs were already at max capacity. Then Long Island closed #StillLongIsland 7/ www3.bostonglobe.com/news/local/mas…
@SpareChangeNews @VictoryPrograms @RosiesPlace @BHCHP Five years ago on Oct 8, overnight, #Boston ended up with 700 people and employees displaced. Men slept on cots in a South End school gym. "“This has been a very destabilizing time for us,” he said. “We don’t know what’s going on.” #StillLongIsland 8/ bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/10/…
@SpareChangeNews @VictoryPrograms @RosiesPlace @BHCHP I will forever remember this neighborhood meeting, and the woman shouting "We are not dogs!" Tensions were high across the city, services strained, and the most vulnerable in #Boston severly impacted. 9/ bostonherald.com/2014/11/13/cas…
@SpareChangeNews @VictoryPrograms @RosiesPlace @BHCHP The "temporary long-term" solution that gets us some of the way to where we are now with Mass & Cass/ Methadone Mile comes from the Long Island shelter closing 5 years ago. @davabel reporting 5 years ago on the homeless plan. #StillLongIsland 10/ bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/11/…
@SpareChangeNews @VictoryPrograms @RosiesPlace @BHCHP @davabel 5 years ago today, Boston: Remember and Rebuild #StillLongIsland. When the Long Island Bridge was closed, 400 overnight, year round beds for people experiencing #homelessness were lost, AND multiple detox & recovery programs. 11/ @necn reported: necn.com/news/new-engla…
@SpareChangeNews @VictoryPrograms @RosiesPlace @BHCHP @davabel @NECN Think of the traumatic experience of evacuation #Boston "There were people crying, knowing that they would be separated from friends and staff. Some complained that it was like they were being evicted all over again" 12/ @VictoryPrograms #StillLongIsland www3.bostonglobe.com/news/local/mas…
@SpareChangeNews @VictoryPrograms @RosiesPlace @BHCHP @davabel @NECN The first public meeting held after the closure of Long Island Bridge (5 years ago today) was a full month after the closure on Oct 8, 2014, @bostonherald reports. #BostonWarm #StillLongIsland #Boston 13/ bostonherald.com/2014/11/13/cas…
@SpareChangeNews @VictoryPrograms @RosiesPlace @BHCHP @davabel @NECN @bostonherald In November 2014, 65 religious leaders across greater Boston gathered for the first time to learn, listen and strategize for a collective response to Long Island. Initially called "Boston Religious Leaders for Long Island Refugees" then #BostonWarm 14/ bostonwarm.weebly.com
#BostonWarm asked people to pray for Long Island refugees at their Thanksgiving Table. @BostonGlobe covered those displaced by @GlobeKMcCabe, @NestorARamos @jrussglobe @wangsness. We didn't yet know of the winter to come in #Boston #StillLongIsland 15/ bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/11/…
@BostonGlobe @GlobeKMcCabe @NestorARamos @jrussglobe @wangsness SO many people worked on #BostonWarm, calling for "safe, adequate, and dignified shelter" and the rebuilding of Long Island. I'll forever remember the time when Rev. Tina Rathbone of @StPaulsCathedr1 said "We have no enemy except cold and despair." 16/ bostonwarm.weebly.com/history.html
@BostonGlobe @GlobeKMcCabe @NestorARamos @jrussglobe @wangsness @StPaulsCathedr1 5 years ago, part of what was so hard after Long Island closed was WHERE in #Boston to re-locate 400 homeless beds, storage and hundreds of detox/recovery beds. Many neighborhoods were already overwhelmed with need. @AnneMostue reported for @wgbhnews 17/ wgbh.org/news/post/matt…
@BostonGlobe @GlobeKMcCabe @NestorARamos @jrussglobe @wangsness @StPaulsCathedr1 @AnneMostue @wgbhnews By December 2014, the days were getting colder, 3 public meetings, and still no consensus on where to replace 700 beds. “We don’t feel like we’re treated as human beings. We feel like we’re treated more like livestock," said Cleve Rea, a homeless man" 18/ bostonwarm.weebly.com/history.html
@BostonGlobe @GlobeKMcCabe @NestorARamos @jrussglobe @wangsness @StPaulsCathedr1 @AnneMostue @wgbhnews By December 2014, #BostonWarm Clergy begin postcard campaign to City Hall. "The average temperature for Boston in January is 29F, Average wind chill 20F." We had no idea how much snow was coming. Established shelters were overtaxed already. 19/ #Bospoli #StillLongIsland
@BostonGlobe @GlobeKMcCabe @NestorARamos @jrussglobe @wangsness @StPaulsCathedr1 @AnneMostue @wgbhnews @NancyatOldSouth @NahmaNadich @BurtonJM @CityMissionBOS @MassChurches @isbcc By Dec 2014, "US Conference of Mayors nationwide survey and report shows #Boston as the major city with the highest number of residents in emergency shelters" (the whole timeline is here: bostonwarm.weebly.com/history.html) #BostonWarm We need #StillLongIsland 20/
@BostonGlobe @GlobeKMcCabe @NestorARamos @jrussglobe @wangsness @StPaulsCathedr1 @AnneMostue @wgbhnews @NancyatOldSouth @NahmaNadich @BurtonJM @CityMissionBOS @MassChurches @isbcc 5 yrs ago Long Island was closed Oct 8,2014 without a plan for where to house Boston's most vulnerable. On Dec 14, 2014, City of #Boston names 112 Southampton St. as the building to be rehabbed for shelter. This was all before opioid, #StillLongIsland 21/ www3.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/12/…
@BostonGlobe @GlobeKMcCabe @NestorARamos @jrussglobe @wangsness @StPaulsCathedr1 @AnneMostue @wgbhnews @NancyatOldSouth @NahmaNadich @BurtonJM @CityMissionBOS @MassChurches @isbcc #BostonWarm was such a lesson to me to LISTEN to what people actually need, and not presume to know. Homeless folks displaced on Long Island needed lots. Churches are not detox providers but daytime warming shelters & lockers religious we could do. 22/ bostonwarm.weebly.com/history.html
By December 2018, #BostonWarm clergy were looking to set up, staff, run, feed, provide storage lockers for those displaced from Long Island. @OSCboston offered to share their space. We had LOTS of $ to raise. 23/
@OSCboston We saw so much generosity! King's Chapel Boston and United Parish Brookline donate the entirety of their 2014 Christmas Eve offering to #BostonWarm efforts to open a warming shelter. @TI_Boston, @isbcc shared in the effort. Across MA, people gave generously. #StillLongIsland 24/
@OSCboston @TI_Boston @isbcc By Jan 2015, temps dropped fast. Winter shelter space is tight in general, "even before city officials condemned the rickety bridge to Long Island, where more than 500 homeless people often spent the night during the winter months" @davabel reports 25/ bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/01/…
@OSCboston @TI_Boston @isbcc @davabel In Jan 2015, @GlobeOpinion ran a column by #BostonWarm clergy: "Is it necessary, at this point, to remind ourselves that we are talking about persons, human beings, no less intrinsically valuable than you or I?" #StillLongIsland #MethadoneMile #Boston 26/ bostonglobe.com/opinion/2015/0…
@OSCboston @TI_Boston @isbcc @davabel @GlobeOpinion And beautifully, on MLK Day 2015 #BostonWarm opened a daytime warming shelter at @OSCboston and Emmanuel Church, Boston. @wangsness reports. 27/ bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/01/…
“Our fellow Bostonians are suffering now, and we simply cannot tell them to wait 90 days or hold on through this cold until we implement a new plan,” said @RevEverett , Exec of @MassChurches , which convened the coalition together with @OSCboston and @CityMissionBOS 28/
@MassChurches @OSCboston @CityMissionBOS “This is a crisis that really needs the government to be front and center in coming up with a solution,” said @NahmaNadich associate director of @BostonJCRC “The faith community has a role, but it can’t take the place of government.” #StillLongIsland 29/ bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/01/…
@MassChurches @OSCboston @CityMissionBOS @NahmaNadich @BostonJCRC "The #Boston2024 Olympic committee hopes to use #LongIsland for an Olympic shooting event, should Boston win its bid to host the Summer Games. The event would feature a 57-acre venue that could seat 7,000 spectators." No Comment. #StillLongIsland 30/ sparechangenews.net/2015/01/exclus…
@MassChurches @OSCboston @CityMissionBOS @NahmaNadich @BostonJCRC And then, the snow came. After Long Island, Boston is down 700+ homeless beds, lived turned upside down, then the worst winter in Boston's history: “The goal right now is to get people off the streets.”said @PineStreetInn. #BostonWarm #StillLongIsland 31/ bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/01/…
@MassChurches @OSCboston @CityMissionBOS @NahmaNadich @BostonJCRC @PineStreetInn Point of Personal Privilege: We pulled together #BostonWarm effort w/ little budget. So dang proud of the teamwork. When you have no publicity $, you find an "Earned Media Opportunity" on any snowbank in a storm. #Bospoli we still need to rebuild Long Island #StillLongIsland 32/
@MassChurches @OSCboston @CityMissionBOS @NahmaNadich @BostonJCRC @PineStreetInn So by Jan 2015, #Boston is still short 500 beds, in the worst winter on record, and making do as best we can. Lost on Long Island were storage lockers for homeless folks to leave their possessions while they went to work. Here are temp #BostonWarm lockers at @OSCboston 33/
@MassChurches @OSCboston @CityMissionBOS @NahmaNadich @BostonJCRC @PineStreetInn In Feb, a miracle of #Boston's generosity! #BostonWarm came up w/ the idea of an Amazon gift registry, so during the worst winter on record, people could give what those living outside most needed. Special thanks to @universalhub and @ConciergeBoston. 34/ amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls…
@MassChurches @OSCboston @CityMissionBOS @NahmaNadich @BostonJCRC @PineStreetInn @universalhub @ConciergeBoston After so much heartache and suffering when Long Island closed, it lifted everyone's spirits to see #Boston give generously. Our city filled the rooms of @OSCboston! You can give today to #BostonWarm as we wait to rebuild Long Island #StillLongIsland 35/ amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls…
@MassChurches @OSCboston @CityMissionBOS @NahmaNadich @BostonJCRC @PineStreetInn @universalhub @ConciergeBoston My God, Boston is resilient and generous. When tragedy struck the Muslim community in the deaths of dental students in NC, @ISBCC & Muslim student association at @BUdental took up a collection that helped Boston's homeless. #StillLongIsland 36/ bu.edu/dental/2015/04…
@MassChurches @OSCboston @CityMissionBOS @NahmaNadich @BostonJCRC @PineStreetInn @universalhub @ConciergeBoston @isbcc @budental People without stable housing also were guiding the #BostonWarm effort. @CityMissionBOS has a stellar public speaking program that offered training. "He then explained how the program gave him a chance to get in out of the cold, to be treated with dignity and respect." 37/
But the infrastructure wasn't in place after Long Island. @davabel reported "Only 100 men have moved in so far, and city officials acknowledged that the rest of the beds won’t become available until at least this summer." #StillLongIsland 38/ bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/03/…
@davabel 6 m anniv., 183 days, Only 100 homeless and 75 detox beds have been restored, out of the 450 homeless & 250 detox beds lost. #BostonWarm declared "No church, mosque or synagogue can open a detox program. We need our city government to step up." 5 years later #StillLongIsland 39/
@davabel 5 Years after #LongIslandBridge closure: There is STILL need for a recovery campus. The Opioid crisis rages. Advocate, #Boston. Give. Shout. Volunteer with #BostonWarm. As much as we're #BostonStrong, I'm grateful we're also #BostonWarm #bospoli 40/40. commoncathedral.org/bostonwarm
@davabel @NancyatOldSouth @OSCboston @MassChurches @universalhub @ConciergeBoston @NahmaNadich @BostonJCRC @SpareChangeNews @threadreaderapp unroll please and thanks!
