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Fundraiser underway to support holiday meals provided by city’s harm reduction staff to individuals at Mass. and Cass
“They’ve been dealing not just with one epidemic, but two epidemics the last few years.”
Brendan Little started a fundraiser to support AHOPE, Boston’s harm reduction and needle exchange program, with the goal of raising enough money to cater the annual Thanksgiving dinner that the city workers host for individuals struggling with homelessness and addiction in the area of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard.
Usually, the staff members at AHOPE (Access, Harm Reduction, Overdose Prevention, and Education) cook the holiday meal themselves. But dealing with the pandemic, the sudden loss of a colleague, and the surge in need around Mass. and Cass, the program put out a call for help earlier in November, asking people to donate dishes to help feed the more than 150 clients who have come to rely on the meal.
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Little, who served as the policy director for the mayor’s Office of Recovery Services for five years, thought there was more to be done.
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“I was like, no, let’s do a bit better than that,” Little said. “Let’s raise you guys some money so we can have a really good catered Thanksgiving that they don’t have to worry about. Then they can enjoy it, the clients — the people on the street — can enjoy it. That it can hopefully just take a little bit of stress off of them.”
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Nearly 200 people have donated to the effort since the fundraiser was started on Thursday, raising more than $11,400. There’s been such an outpouring of financial support that the money will go toward both Thanksgiving and a Christmas meal in December. Any leftover funds will be used to buy additional supplies for people at Mass. and Cass, such as gift cards or clothing.
Sarah Mackin, director of harm reduction services for AHOPE, took to Twitter to thank all who donated and who remember her colleague, Khrissy Marie Dinsmore, who passed away in September.
“More than just carrying the tradition of providing a hot, sit-down meal — we’re carrying on Khrissy’s legacy of love,” she wrote. “You folks stepped up when we needed help the most. I’ve cried a lot in recent weeks, but these last few days have been full of tears of gratitude. To everyone who has reached out, donated, shared this GoFundMe — thank you. On behalf of our team, on behalf of our people, on behalf of Khrissy: Thank you.”
While he’s grateful and humbled by the amount of money that has been donated, Little said he’s not surprised to see such an outpouring of support.
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The staff at AHOPE are well respected by a wide community, he said.
“The frontline recovery and harm reduction staff in the city, they do the work out there every day,” he said. “Because of that, they’ve earned a reputation and people know who they are. I’m looking at the names of people who have donated so far, and they’re peers, they’re doctors, they’re public health students, they’re people in recovery.”
The fundraiser may have started as a way to support AHOPE for just one meal, but it has turned into a way for people to show how much the staff is loved and valued for the work they do, he said.
Earlier this month, Little shared his own experiences with addiction and living on the street in Boston. He wrote in The Boston Globe about finding community in places that “many people find deplorable,” drawing a parallel between his own experience and the current debate over how to handle the humanitarian crisis at Mass. and Cass.
Boston officials began implementing encampment protocols in the area earlier this month through an executive order from acting Mayor Kim Janey that targets the removal of tents. Officials have said the goal of the mandate is to get the hundreds of people at Mass. and Cass connected with resources and services. Under the mandate, unhoused individuals in the area must be given at least 48 hours notice that tents must be removed, and no one will be required to remove their structure unless they have been offered a bed in a shelter or another service like a treatment facility.
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But under the executive order, people who have been offered placement and refuse to remove their shelter may be charged with disorderly conduct.
Doctors and advocates have condemned the measures as criminalizing a vulnerable population and stressed that the city’s actions will only cause harm and disperse the struggling individuals from the services and community they are connected with. The ACLU has filed a lawsuit to halt the protocols.
Regardless of the actions being taken by elected leaders, Little stressed that staff working on the front lines of the opioid epidemic in Boston are still hitting the streets every morning, performing outreach and saving lives by reversing dozens of overdoses.
“The people who work in homeless services, who work in substance use treatment, they’re like a real clan, like a real family,” he said. “And they’ve been dealing not just with one epidemic, but two epidemics the last few years with COVID and the drug use epidemic in the country … I think a lot of people understand these issues abstractly, or they drive past [Mass. and Cass] and they think, ‘Oh what a shame the area is so run down.’ But these are the people who are actually doing something about it every single day.”
The result is a strong bond not just with one another, but with the business owners in the community, family members whose loved ones are struggling in the area, and the people on the street who are doing their best to survive, Little said.
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There’s still so much stigma and negativity around Mass. and Cass, he said.
That’s part of why he shared his own story — to remind the public that unhoused people on the street are worthy of love, compassion, and kindness. And to point out that the people working to help those who are struggling every day, like the staff at AHOPE, are doing essential work that is valued by a large community.
“They’re the anchor for so many people,” he said. “And yet when we talk about first responders and we talk about valuing health care workers, they’re often one of the most forgotten ones. People don’t think about that. People think about paramedics, police officers, who of course do amazing work and should be valued. But I think that sometimes harm reduction workers, frontline recovery workers, get a little lost in the shuffle and they shouldn’t. They’re doing incredible work.”
To learn more about the fundraiser or to donate, visit the campaign’s GoFundMe. Restaurants or caterers interested in participating in the meals can contact Little directly at [email protected].
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