Rally supports better housing for those displaced by Long Island shelter closure

The Boston Homeless Solidarity Committee (BHSC) along with many homeless people, activists, students and others rallied in front of City Hall on April 8 to urge the city to build permanent shelters promised to Long Island displacees, affordable housing for the growing number of the homeless and for help in dealing with the epidemic of substance abuse which leads to homelessness.

The city closed the Long Island bridge on Oct. 8, 2014, when the bridge was deemed unsafe by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. The Island has the largest shelter in Boston and recovery facilities for treatments such as drug addiction and detox. Those on the island were abruptly transferred to different locations within only five hours.

Cherai Mills, who is currently staying at the Pine Street Inn Shelter, shares her story of having to stay at a crowded shelter, with no guarantee for a bed. An activist shares his story of how residents were suddenly evacuated off the island and those displaced said they didn’t have much direction to where they were heading.