BOSTON (WHDH) - Mayor Martin J. Walsh released a strategic plan Friday aimed at addressing public health and safety in a troubled Boston neighborhood.
The Melnea Cass/Mass Ave. 2.0 plan represents a short-term, action-oriented strategy that will focus on Newmarket Square and surrounding areas, where a high number of individuals who have a substance use disorder seek health care and shelter.
The plan includes hiring new staff members designated to work in the area, funding for new programs and initiatives, improved coordination between existing services, and a renewed focus on the services and efforts being employed by city officials to address the national opioid crisis.
“What we have on our hands is an opioid epidemic of historic proportions that is taking hold of too many lives, and tearing apart families in every city and town in our nation,” Walsh said in a statement. “As a society, we will never turn our backs on people who are at the most vulnerable time in their life. Through this plan, we are focusing on the area of Melnea Cass/Mass Ave to make the needed improvements for those who are struggling: those with a substance use disorder, and the residents impacted by this epidemic throughout Boston’s neighborhoods. There is not one perfect solution to dealing with this crisis, but we are committed to doing everything we can. Our primary focus will always be on the safety and wellbeing of all people in the City of Boston, and I’m asking for us all to work together hand in hand as a community to confront this national crisis.”
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