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Two bodies discovered during Mass and Cass cleanup

Live Boston reports crews removing tents from the Mass and Cass area or patrolling the area n Monday and Tuesday found two bodies.

Around 11:20 a.m. on Monday, Live Boston reports, crews removing tents outside 34 Newmarket Square found what they thought at first was just some wrapped up tarp - until they started moving it and uncovered a human hand. Inside the tarp and wrapped in several blankets, was the body of a 29 year-old man.

It appears the man died from a fentanyl overdose, a sadly common cause of death in the area, combined with exposure to the recently frigid temperatures.

Around 9 p.m. on Tuesday, EMTs and police found a second body, on Southampton Street, under a truck at a loading dock, possibly a victim of hypothermia.

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Comments

This is why we need more than “cleanup”, we need actual, actionable outreach and help for these people.

You can bulldoze tents as much as you want, but until you resolve the systemic issues that make Mass & Cass what it is, it’ll just keep coming back. People will keep dying.

Thanks a lot, Tom Koch.

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Seems to me this discovery only underlines the need for the tent removal.

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Seems like both of these things can be true.

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They didn't find these people with a bulldozer - they found them with street workers offering help. This isn't Marty's Tough On Homeless People Rampage. There are people on the ground going tent to tent and interacting with the residents and getting them housing and services.

But you can't force people into custody if they refuse help, and you can't help people who have already died from exposure, overdose, or some combination thereof.

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But you can't force people into custody if they refuse help,

Exactly why involuntary open ended commitment is needed brought back.
The ONLY solution that will ever work.

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But the reality of the era where that was done was rather different.

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I worked in Recovery services for 6 years in 3 different agencies and had collateral contact with dozens. I honestly don't know how many of my former clients are dead but two were murdered; one beaten to death the other shot. I know of multiple fatal overdoses and Worked with hundreds brain damaged by opioid overdoses and meth addiction. Not one of my clients ever received proper time and attention for their needs, not one. As a Bostonian I still see them in the city, on mass cass, the t and downtown, The continuum of care is a disgusting, sleazy mess, money goes for agencies, medical facilities, pharmaceutical companies, its all hands off choice harm reduction and death.treatment is strip of subs a charlie card and an empty box. Frontline workers mean well, but they are often living on poverty wages unable to keep themselves well. I have seen addicts kicked into street by ignorant egomaniac and seen beds held for family using heroin in a program for months, resources misused for personal missions to save a " favorite" client while another vulnerable person is crushed. Having a Dual Diagnosis and experiencing homelessness means a ten year morbidity window. Mass Cass is an open air psych ward with no attendants. Check the salaries of non profit homeless CEO's. Sec 35 is not a bad thing, nope.

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Why would it now?

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people will keep dying anyway. You think these two weren't offered help before? The difference now is that they used to be hidden away in institutions, not on Mass and Cass.

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For writing stories that the mainstream media refuses to write because it doesn't fit the narrative. RIP to these lost souls.

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Awful. Absolutely heartbreaking for their families - it's terrible to watch a family member in the throes of addiction, offering help and support and resources and having them squandered to the dysfunction in the person's mind. The adage that people have to want help is true but deeply, deeply sad when it's somebody's family member. Then to get a call from the cops that your brother/son/father was found dead in a tent in a homeless encampment due to overdose. Terrible.

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Thank you for saying this. I’ve been horrified by how callously this has been reported. With neighborhood orgs actually tweeting “check out the video on social media!” This is a person. With family and loved ones who are reading and watching this play out. Addiction is an awful disease and no one should die alone on the street.

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Swilly make of all this stupid stuff!?

ADAM, PLEASE BLOCK ANYONE WITHOUT A PHD OR A POSITION AT THE DMH.

“We’re sick of your shit!”

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Believe it or not, the Greater Boston recovery scene may be the best in the country. There are thousands of men and women in the area who have gotten well. It’s a tight knit community that looks out for each other.

There’s a common denominator amongst people aged 18-40 with multiple years sobriety. That is rigorous 12 step programs. I’m not talking about sticking people into AA meetings. There are incredible organizations that provide 3-8 month programs where you eat sleep and breath the steps. The best ones employ 12 step practitioners for addiction and clinical therapists to deal with trauma.

My personal experience is anecdotal. But I literally have 300+ people in my extended network. 98% of them did it this way. The city and state will go nowhere near these places because they’re not co-signed by people in lab coats.

I’m not saying this is the ONLY way. But there needs to be room for this option. The people I spent time around are dead, still out there, or just like me. The ones like me did exactly what I did.

If you want to have your mind blown type “Matt Howe NH” into YouTube.

Look into the organizations that fund this kind of treatment. The Family Restored, The Dennis Messing Memorial Fund, The Pelican Fund, and many more.

The Mayor and Governor should forget everything they THINK they know about addiction. They should NOT put blind faith in the local medical establishment. They SHOULD poll people with real recovery and use what they find as a roadmap going forward.

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