As the Melnea A. Cass Recreational Complex has turned into a shelter for migrants, a Roxbury community group says the governor and mayor should look into meeting one of the neighborhood’s biggest needs: accessible health care.
The Black Community Information Center, which describes itself on social media as an “organization dedicated to independent media,” is calling for a meeting with Gov. Maura Healey and Mayor Michelle Wu to discuss what it would take to create a health clinic in Nubian Square.
Sadiki Kambon, the center’s director, says the need for accessible health care is especially pressing after Walgreens closed its store and pharmacy on Warren Street this week, leaving the area in a so-called health care desert.
A plan of action, which would be presented to Healey and Wu, looks to establish a “health plaza,” with one facility in Nubian Square and another located near Warren and Quincy streets. The meeting would be centered around “obtaining the required monetary support needed” to get the clinic up and running.
The clinic would include a “pharmacy resource as an important component,” according to a letter Kambon sent to the governor on Thursday.
Kambon spoke to reporters in front of the Cass on Friday, to highlight how he and fellow Black residents are “tired of being dictated in terms of ‘Well, this is what we’re going to do. Take it or leave it.” He said he’s not looking to “criticize the situation in regards to the plight of the immigrants.”
“We’re saying ‘End the disrespect. We need health facilities in our community. We understand what is happening here is not acceptable. Let’s meet and talk about what you can do that moves in another direction that’s positive, starting with these health clinics.’”
With Walgreens shutting down its Warren Street location after closing another in the neighborhood in late 2022 and others in Mattapan and Hyde Park, Roxbury residents plan on filing a lawsuit against the pharmacy chain, according to GBH.
A city spokesperson told the Herald Saturday afternoon that the Wu administration is “working with community stakeholders to ensure the Warren Street property continues to meet the needs of the community.” More details are anticipated in the coming days.
Kambon said Healey’s plan to turn the Cass into an overflow shelter for migrants who had been sleeping overnight at Logan Airport “caught the Roxbury community totally off guard.” He said he’s skeptical whether the governor will make good on her promise that the shelter will be only temporary through the end of May before the state converts it back for recreational use.
Roughly 200 migrants will be taking up residence at the Cass this weekend, with more coming in the days ahead. The facility has a capacity of 400.
“That dynamic that at the end of May they’re going to say ‘OK, folks, you’ve gotta go.’ It doesn’t work that way. I think we’re just being misled,” Kambon said. “When you have that many people it’d be pretty much impossible to set a deadline as to how long they’re going to be here.”
Brandon Ransom lives up the street from the Cass, a facility where his 6- and 8-year-old sons would visit multiple times a week to run with the Boston Lions track club. Now, they’re running outdoors in the cold wintry weather, the father told reporters.
Ransom agreed with Kambon that the community has been “blindsided,” adding his support for the health clinic.
“I’m 100% behind brother Sadiki with where it’s like OK, now that we have these things coming to our community, we have other community needs like the Nubian Health Clinic which I think could be a huge asset within the community,” he said. “But we haven’t necessarily gotten the support behind it.”
As of Friday, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation has secured locations for five of the 10 organizations that had current permits a the Cass to continue their programming, an agency spokeswoman told the Herald.
The remaining five have all been offered alternative sites, and DCR is working with the organizations to see whether the proposed locations will meet their needs, the spokeswoman said.
Confirmed New Locations:
BASE Baseball Program: Shelburne Community Center until Feb. 24 then Holland Community Center
24hr Fitness: Reggie Lewis Center
Boston Unity Soccer: Curtis Hall, Jamaica Plain
CPR: Roxbury Heritage
Boston City Youth Tennis: Boston University and the YMCA Menino Center
The youth track-and-field club, Boston United, planned on holding practice at the Reggie at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, a club official told the Herald.
