Cambridge Shelter Hearing Surfaces Theft, Staff Misconduct, and Expiring Bed Funding

CAMBRIDGE — October 23, 2024 — Cambridge shelter guests describe theft, staff misconduct, and inadequate medical response at city-funded facilities. The Human Services and Veterans Committee, co-chaired by Vice Mayor Marc McGovern and City Councilor Ayesha Wilson, heard testimony October 23 from current and former guests of Bay Cove Human Services, First Church Shelter, Salvation Army, and other programs that together receive more than $6 million a year from the city. Speakers described staff sleeping on overnight shifts, belongings stolen with no restitution, guests expelled in winter for minor infractions, and human waste left uncleaned in a shower for two days. Dan Totten, a former city councilor staffer, argued the city has heard identical complaints for years without action: "The shelters are not supposed to be an end game." Carrie Ballinger, pastor at University Lutheran Church, warned that federal COVID-era funding supporting several programs expires in June 2025 and that beds will be lost at a time when both the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter and a church shower program are already at capacity. Bay Cove's starting wage for direct-care shelter workers is $19.20 an hour, and the program's shelter clinician position is currently vacant.