Hand Washing Stations,Toilets,Set Up For Homeless In Pittsfield

The city of Pittsfield and community volunteers are moving forward in response to continuing concern for the health and well being of homeless people taking up camp in Springside Park.

The Berkshire Eagle reports that on Monday, city workers installed portable toilets and hand-washing stations in the southeast section of the park, at a cost of about $2,600. The stations will be cleaned daily by the vendor and remain there until at least Labor Day, according to Roberta McCulloch-Dews, the city's director of administrative services.

Additional trash receptacles will be added to the park and the city plans to have the pavilion surface and picnic tables power-washed weekly.

City officials will continue to monitor the area, but no camping homeless person will be asked to leave.

Even as the coronavirus keeps nurses busy, volunteer nurses have been checking on homeless people's health needs at the park, health care, as well as food service and transportation, is not being consistently provided by a single agency on a regular basis.

ServiceNet staff, are now being asked by the city to collect any unclaimed items in the pavilion at the end of each day and store them at Barton's Crossing for distribution as needed.

McCulloch-Dews said.

ServiceNet, they're our partner here in this work, No city staff will remove materials in tents," she said. But she said that tents that haven't been occupied in a while are subject to being cleaned up, bagged and stored until an owner can be located