Heated tent erected behind Taunton homeless shelter to prevent coronavirus spread

TAUNTON -- That big, white tent in the basketball court on Paul Bunker Drive has been put there in the cause of social distancing.

The 1,500-plus-square-foot portable structure will provide living space for residents of the adjacent Samaritan House homeless shelter at 59 Ingell St.

Homeless people, who under normal circumstances would be living in somewhat cramped quarters in the two-story house, will now have the space they need to minimize the possibility of contracting or spreading the COVID-19 coronavirus.

The 30-by-50-foot tent is equipped with 15 beds that can be arranged in any configuration and a dozen electric, portable hot-air heaters.

A mobile unit with two separate showers and bathrooms, as well as a standalone portable toilet unit, are also part of the deal -- which was brokered by the city and its emergency management agency with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA).

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Ferreira said his agency acts as the liaison for the city and MEMA.

The company that has been contracted by MEMA to provide the tent is Woburn-based PEAK Event Services.

Riverside Apartments and its basketball court are part of Taunton Housing Authority's public-housing stock. The land on which Samaritan House sits is also owned by the local housing authority.

"The basketball court seemed to make the most sense," said Colleen Doherty, Taunton Housing Authority executive director.

"We were certainly happy to help," she said.

Samaritan House, which can accommodate 14 men and four women at any given time, falls under the auspices of Catholic Social Services in Fall River.

Its executive officer Susan Mazzarella said that only nine individuals are currently residing at Samaritan House.

Three others, Mazzarella said, in recent weeks have found lodgings in "permanent supportive programs."

"So that's a positive," she said.

Mazzarella said all Samaritan House residents for the foreseeable future will live in the tent and will be served breakfast by staff members using the kitchen in the Ingell Street house.

She hopes that everyone living in the house will move in by no later than Saturday.

"We're relieved to have the tent back there (otherwise) it's virtually impossible to practice social distancing," Mazzarella. "In that little building you cannot do that."

She said during the coronavirus crisis, and as result of the need to allow residents to stay six feet apart, the residential capacity will be reduced from 18 to 15.

The beds, she said, which are now head-to-foot in three rows, will be rearranged to comply with state and federal social distancing guidelines.

Mazzarella gives credit to Ferreira for facilitating the process of getting the green light from the state to provide the tents and other materials. She also says Mayor Shaunna O'Connell was very cooperative.

She said Doherty called her a week and a half ago letting her know that MEMA had a program to assist organizations like Catholic Social Services.

"Colleen called me last Friday to say it was approved, and by this week the tent was up," said Mazzarella, who emphasizes the need for the tent shelter.

Homeless people, she said, "have the same fears as you or I do" when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mazzarella is also appealing to local restaurants that are open for takeout orders, and also non-profit volunteer meal providers, to help Samaritan House staffers by providing some meals in takeout boxes so that the need to use plates and silverware is eliminated.

She also said Catholic Social Services is paying a private security company to keep an eye on the new facility round the clock.

Taunton Building Department Commissioner Robert Pirozzi says he issued an occupancy permit for the tent on Thursday based on submitted floor plans.

Fire safety inspector Capt. Robert Bastis says he approved the building permit. He says the last step before the tent can be occupied is for him to conduct a final, visual inspection.

Bastis said the tent has to be equipped with smoke detectors, that its material be made of non-flammable material and that a proper egress is provided.

He also says he likes the fact that they will use electric, as opposed to propane or some other kind of fossil-fuel heat.

That way, Bastis said, there's no chance of an incident resulting in carbon dioxide poisoning.

Chris Besse, spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, said his agency rolled out the new program to assist groups like Catholic Social Services in providing not just tents but also buildings as they become available across the state.

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