BROCKTON, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Brockton city officials said that they are considering adding more public restrooms to the downtown area to help homeless people.
The Brockton Mayor, along with Social Services, said that adding more bathrooms will hopefully alleviate the problems facing the homeless population, who have been forced to use public and private property to use the bathroom because of limited access to public restrooms.
Currently, the only public restrooms in downtown Brockton are in the City Hall and the public library, both of which close at night. This leaves homeless people without bathrooms for a significant amount of time every day.
Director of Brockton Social Services Jazmine Bradsher explained what the public stalls would be like and the safety measures the city would implement. “All the options are graffiti-proof. They would be washable and very sanitary and we’d be able to monitor. They’d be well-lit,” she said.
“The floor section would be open so you could see people’s feet,” which would help them to monitor for overdoses or people living in the stalls.
Bradsher emphasized that safety is a priority as city officials discuss the various options for creating more public restrooms. “And the idea of that is to provide safety."
Another issue facing this project is where to put the new public stalls. “Trying to find a location that we could easily connect to the city sewer would be difficult,” said Bradsher.
Bradsher added that “there are green options that we’re looking into as well, where they don’t necessarily connect to the sewer but can be emptied and then disposed of.”
New public restrooms in downtown Brockton could be completed in the next few months, said city officials.
Mayor Robert Sullivan expressed his support for residents both homed and homeless. “I’m the mayor of everybody that resides in the city of Brockton – those that have a home and those, unfortunately, that are homeless.”
He explained his commitment to helping Brockton residents who are homeless in general. “We will continue to help those people that are facing homelessness because we have an obligation to do so.”
WBZ’s Kim Tunnicliffe (@KimWBZ) reports.
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