{"id":1997960,"date":"2023-08-11T14:46:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-11T18:46:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/boston-plans-35-acre-island-facility-to-combat-homelessness-and-addiction\/"},"modified":"2023-08-11T14:47:08","modified_gmt":"2023-08-11T18:47:08","slug":"boston-plans-35-acre-island-facility-to-combat-homelessness-and-addiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/boston-plans-35-acre-island-facility-to-combat-homelessness-and-addiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Boston to build 35-acre island facility to address homelessness and addiction."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fboston-plans-35-acre-island-facility-to-combat-homelessness-and-addiction%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1997960&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Boston Mayor Announces\u2063 Plans to Rebuild Long Island Bridge \u2062and Combat Homelessness, Addiction, \u200cand Mental \u200bHealth<\/h2>\n<p>Boston\u2062 Mayor Michelle Wu has unveiled an\u2064 ambitious plan to \u2064rebuild the city&#8217;s Long Island Bridge and establish\u2063 a\u200c comprehensive facility to address the pressing issues of homelessness, \u200baddiction, and mental health. The bridge, which was demolished in 2014 due to safety concerns, severed access to\u200c an addiction \u200drecovery center that\u200d was once operational on the island.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;We are now taking this as a sign that the city will move\u2062 ahead with the reconstruction of the Long Island Bridge,&#8221; said Mayor Wu during a press briefing. &#8220;We can&#8217;t waste any more time on this project. This is \u2062about creating an island of opportunity that will connect people to the lives and community \u2063they deserve.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>While Boston&#8217;s homelessness rate is lower compared to many other major cities in the \u200dUnited States, it remains a significant issue. According to the city&#8217;s annual homelessness census, there was a 24.7% increase in homelessness from\u200c 2020. However, there has been a 2.4% decrease from 2021 to 2022, with a total of 1,545 people experiencing homelessness.<\/p>\n<p>Opioid overdose is also a major concern in Boston, overwhelming the city&#8217;s healthcare \u200bsystem.\u2062 Since 2019, the overdose death rate has spiked by 36%,\u2064 highlighting \u200bthe urgent need for comprehensive solutions.<\/p>\n<p>The proposed\u2064 plans for\u2062 the facility on Long Island go beyond the previous operation that existed before\u200b 2014. Mayor Wu envisions a \u206435-acre &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/boston-plans-35-acre-island-facility-to-combat-homelessness-and-addiction\/\" title=\"Boston to build 35-acre island facility to address homelessness and addiction.\">regional public health\u200c campus<\/a>&#8221; that will have the capacity to \u2062serve \u2063hundreds of\u2062 individuals. The facility\u200d will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/top-reasons-dental-implants-fail-and-what-to-look-for-in-a-dentist\/\" title=\"Top Reasons Dental Implants Fail, and What to Look for in a Dentist\">offer long-term care<\/a>, mental health treatment, housing assistance, job training, and \u200caddiction recovery services.<\/p>\n<p>To support\u2063 these initiatives, Boston has allocated $38 million to \u200brenovate existing buildings and an additional $81 million for the reconstruction of the bridge.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;The new Long Island \u200bcampus will be a hub\u2063 for innovation and will provide an integrated continuum of care that I believe, and I \u2063think we all believe, will strengthen our system to \u2063promote the \u200chealth and \u200dwell-being of\u2064 the people who inhabit the campus,&#8221; said Dr.\u200d Bisola Ojikutu, the Public Health Commissioner. She emphasized that the current\u2062 system only <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/eleven-year-old-raises-4k-for-childrens-shelter-i-love-knowing-im-helping\/\" title=\"Eleven-Year-Old Raises K for Children's Shelter: 'I Love Knowing I'm Helping'\">offers short-term care<\/a> \u2064and lacks coordination \u2062in the recovery process.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>However, the plans have faced opposition from officials\u2064 in the \u200bQuincy suburb of Boston. They\u2062 are concerned about the increased traffic and potential \u200benvironmental impact that bridge access through their \u2063Squantum neighborhood may bring.<\/p>\n<p>Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch, who left the Democratic Party in 2018, expressed his\u2062 opposition \u200cto the plan\u2063 and stated that \u2062his office is preparing an appeal\u200c to the permits. He intends to raise concerns about traffic congestion and environmental issues.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m gonna do everything in my power to put roadblocks\u200c and \u2062obstacles\u200b in the way of Boston building that bridge,&#8221;\u2063 Mayor Koch declared. &#8220;I&#8217;m okay with what they want to do\u200b with the island, but I\u2062 find it offensive that the only route they choose is by car.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Despite Quincy&#8217;s past attempts to challenge similar projects, Wu&#8217;s infrastructure adviser, Chris Osgood, expressed confidence in the city&#8217;s success in overcoming any appeals. He cited previous instances where Boston prevailed in such challenges.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;In\u200d every single case, the city has been \u2062successful in those appeals,&#8221; Osgood stated. &#8220;We have similar confidence that if there is an appeal in\u200d this case, \u200dwe would, in\u200d the end, still be successful in receiving a Chapter 91 license \u200cfor the bridge project.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Massachusetts \u200cgovernment recently \u200cgranted approval for a license to\u200b build the bridge, bringing the project one step closer to full approval. The final two steps involve a review \u200dfrom the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management and a permit \u2064from\u2063 the U.S. Coast Guard.<\/p>\n<p>Boston anticipates securing the necessary permits by the end of \u200bthe year, marking the beginning of a \u2064projected four-year process to reopen the 3,300-foot bridge.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Boston Mayor Michelle Wu plans to rebuild Long Island Bridge and establish a facility to address homelessness, addiction, and mental health. The bridge was demolished in 2014 due to safety concerns, disconnecting access to the former recovery center. The location for the facility is currently under discussion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1997961,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1997960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1997960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1997961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1997960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1997960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1997960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}