BROCKTON — A 30-year-old Brockton native was living on the streets of downtown Brockton for roughly one month after being discharged from Saint Elizabeth’s Medical Center in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston, he said.
The man, who asked his name not be used to protect his privacy and for fear of retaliation, spent two months in the hospital getting treatment for drug addiction and endocarditis, a bacterial heart infection, he said.
Upon discharge in late December, the hospital sent him to stay at Father Bill’s homeless shelter either in Quincy or Brockton. He chose to go to Brockton, where he grew up and his mother still lives. But when he arrived, he said the shelter was overcrowded and struggled with bed bugs.
Father Bill’s new 24-hour homeless resource center under construction on Manley Street isn’t planned to open until the end of 2024. Until then, the overnight emergency MainSpring shelter is one of the only places where Brockton’s homeless population can find a bed.
So, he left and started spending his nights underneath the MBTA commuter rail bridges downtown, which are owned by the Commonwealth.