Photo: Karyn Regal
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio)— The area near Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard, known as Mass. and Cass, is home to a colorful assortment of tents, serving as housing for a large amount of the city's unhoused residents.
Mass. and Cass is a hotspot for the debate around how the city should handle its growing issues with homelessness and substance abuse. These issues and the situation at Mass. and Cass have been exacerbated due to the COVID pandemic.
WBZ's Karyn Regal (@karynregal) visited the area and got a tour with a local volunteer to observe the situation.
She saw a man overdose and get revived by volunteer medics while a Boston Police cruiser with an official from the Boson Public Health Commission watched on.
Regal got the opportunity to speak with several people in Mass. and Cass. She spoke with a woman named Diamond, who said she was living there as a result of a car accident.
Next, Regal spoke with a man named Kenny, who is disabled and living out of a shelter ever since he was discharged from a nursing home.
Regal then spoke with a man named Alex, who had been trying to seek treatment for his addiction. He said that the treatment options are available, but the wait for them is extremely long.
Regal then spoke to a mother from Cape Cod named Paulina. She travels to Mass. & Cass to look for her daughter, Juliana.
Paulina provided this photo of her daughter Juliana.Photo: Karyn Regal
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