New Bedford’s Homeless Crisis Is Out in the Open

For years, homeless individuals found shelter in the woods off the railroad tracks between Mt. Pleasant Street and Shawmut Avenue, by the landfill, along Nauset Street and Route 18 or deep in the public parks.

Anywhere out of sight was generally out of mind and provided reasonable cover for those who chose not to come in from the cold.

Even as the U.S. Supreme Court has determined that cities can enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outdoors in public places, some folks without permanent shelter are emboldened by community leaders who appear reluctant to move them along.

The plazas on Kings Highway in New Bedford's North End have become an attractive open-air location for some in the homeless community who refuse help from the many social service agencies and non-profits in the area.

It is common to find someone laid out near the doorway of the Ocean State Job Lot store and the former Newport Creamery building in broad daylight.

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"We are aware of the issues in that area," New Bedford Police Chief Paul Oliveira said. "I know a number of social service providers have been dealing with those individuals."

Oliveira said there is little he can do about the problem, however.

"Nothing besides asking them to voluntarily move along," he said.

Oliveira told me in a 2021 interview, "There are people that need help, whether it's mental health, drug addiction, alcohol addiction, homelessness." He said for various reasons, it's difficult to get some folks to accept the help being offered.

Councilor at Large Brian Gomes, who chairs the City Council Committee on Public Safety & Neighborhoods, said it is a citywide "crisis."

"It's going on everywhere, including the new Frederick Douglass Park," he said.

Gomes has filed a motion seeking a city-wide summit to address the growing problem. His motion was sent to the Special City Council Committee on Affordable Housing & Homelessness, chaired by Councilor Shane Burgo, where it remains. Burgo did not respond to a request for comment for this article.

Gomes said homeless individuals "are on school property, in front of the library, City Hall, downtown businesses, bank property, Nauset Street, County Street in the South End, Cove Road, the old Fernandes Plaza on West Rodney French Blvd."

"It's a crisis, and it's detrimental to our city, our business districts, our downtown and our parks," Gomes said.

Jonathan Darling, Public Information Officer for the City of New Bedford, said that "the 2024 Point in Time Count found 110 people unsheltered on the streets" of New Bedford.

Darling noted that "the weather was warmer than usual on the night of the count, so the overflow shelter that holds 30 individuals was not open."

In September, New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell said, "Homelessness is a complex and ever-evolving challenge, and we need to constantly strive to update and improve our approach to helping those who experience it."

At that time the administration released a "comprehensive study on homelessness," offering "recommendations for improvement."

City Councilor at Large Linda Morad and Ward 1 Councilor Leo Choquette did not respond to a request for comment for this article. Choquette's district includes the Kings Highway plazas and Morad, a former Ward 1 City Councilor, resides in the district.