New showers installed in Cambridge for homeless individuals
The city hopes to keep the showers running through next year.
In an effort to help the region’s most vulnerable population, Cambridge officials have installed two trailers next to a computer lab at Harvard to offer homeless individuals a place to take a hot shower.“Quite frankly, we’re in a crisis,” Marc McGovern, a Cambridge city councilor, told Boston 25 News. “It’s a public health issue. Not to mention, for people’s dignity.”There are 10 showers total, according to WBUR, and two of them can be accessed via wheelchair. The showers are planned to be open from 1 to 4 p.m. each day.Within the trailers, there’s Narcan on the wall in case someone experiences an overdose there. There’s also a receptacle to dispose of used needles, Boston 25 reported.“We are hoping to keep it here through all of 2021,” Jim Stewart, First Church Shelter director, told the news station.The shelter is providing staff for the showers.“There are people who do not have access to shelter,” Stewart added. “They’re sleeping outside. They’re sleeping in their cars. You’ve got to spend money to keep the community safe.”Those needing a shower have 25 minutes to use one and then a member of the staff will take five minutes to clean it for the next person, according to Boston 25.McGovern told WBUR that the city began talking about putting in the new showers in April, but it took a bit to find the showers, plus identify a location that would have the proper plumbing and electricity hookups. The city is renting the lot where the trailers are parked from Harvard.
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