10/6/23 Day 6, Friday, Boston

Day 6

4:30 a.m. LA and I wake up on the beach. We pack up our gear, and then we go to dunkin’ donuts up the street and get a coffee. We shoot back to the L-Street bathhouse and charge our phones on the plug outside. 

6:30 a.m. LA and I go into the L-street Bathhouse. I write the blog and we update photos. 

8:00 p.m. We go to St Paul’s Church next to the Commons to get breakfast. A woman on the stairs says that they don’t serve breakfast till 9:30 am. She says they’re serving breakfast at a manual church on 15 Newbury Street so LA and myself ride over there. LA is very active in talking to some of the people he knows, and working towards getting some interviews as well as people’s thoughts on homelessness in Boston. We hang out in an auditorium with coffee and drinks and some snacks. Soon they serve grits for breakfast and I add butter and strawberry jam and have tea to drink. LA and I talked to some of the workers and some of the other homeless people there. In the day shelter they play classical music people dance.

9:30 a.m. We go down to the church basement and talk to the director of the homeless program Sierra. After Sierra, LA, and I have a deep conversation on homelessness and the causes thereof, LA and I sit down so LA can interview me and ask questions about why I’m doing this project.

10:00 a.m. while LA and I are doing my interview, a man named Mike comes down and interrupts the interview and wants to talk to me. One of the church workers told Mike that I might be able to help him with a problem. I tell Mike that once we’re finished with the interview I’ll come and talk to him upstairs. After the interview I meet Mike in the the dining room. Mike tells me that he is freshly out of prison for assaulting a man that had raped his younger sister. He says that the place that he’s staying at is a state-funded facility on 66 Fenway st. Mike says he was put in a room with a sex offender which is triggering for him, and he’s afraid he might do violence to his roommate. Mike says that he has asked the staff multiple times to move his room, or move the individual out of his room, and they refuse to do that. Mike and I come up with a plan that he will see if he can talk to the director of the program. If nothing comes about the situation by Monday he will contact me. Mike also explains that he has a history of opioid use with fentanyl as well, and his goal is to stay off of drugs, and stay away from places like Mass Ave or methadone mile.

10:45 a.m. The plan is to have Lunch, and join a trauma group the church is having in the day room. A big man with a voice like an angel sings a song about a Desperado. Other people get up and discuss things that are going on in their life. I get up and I do a freestyle poem. 

1:00 p.m. LA says his leg hurts from falling off of his bike earlier that day, instead of going to Methadone Mile we head to the Commons and chill. I buy LA some weed at Cannabist dispensary in downtown Boston, to help with the pain that LA is experiencing. We come back and chill at the Commons. While we’re hanging out at the Commons we meet a nice fellow named Kevin. He’s taking photographs, and I ask him if he wants to do a quick interview. Kevin tells us about his musical exploits with the Boston business improvement Band. 

5:00 p.m. LA and myself ride our bikes over to the Arlington Street Church on Boylston Street for dinner. We got some videos of street performers in the Boston garden. Go to Arlington Street church for dinner. One thing I’ve noticed about The Park Street Church and the Arlington Street Church is volunteers serve you the food which is really nice. I also noticed at the Arlington Street Church that the crowd is much older.  

6:10 p.m. LA and I leave the Arlington Street Church We head over to a spot so LA can grab some of his gear from there we head to the beach in South Boston near the L Street bathhouse. We get ourselves situated and ready to go to bed. Something I noticed sleeping outside is when you feel comfortable sleeping on the ground in the open air, you can fully experience how beautiful nature truly is.