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The individuals and families we serve are homeless or precariously housed —but their challenges are even more complicated. The great majority have histories of trauma, chronic substance use, and mental health issues. Since 1989, the Boston Living Center (BLC) has fosterered the wellness of all HIV positive people and respond to the changing needs of the HIV/AIDS community. In March of 2012, the BLC became a part of Maverick House Overview, ensuring their vital services continue to be available for adults with HIV/AIDS. Recently, VPI and BLC leadership made the decision to widen their target populations to other populations in need, including men who have sex with other men and at high risk, releasees from correctional institutions and unhoused individuals with substance use disorders. When individuals and families are safely housed, they’re much more likely to address their health, addictions, and other issues.

1. Xylazine, also referred to as “tranq,” increases the risk of overdose and death when mixed with other sedating drugs like opioids — and it is not affected by the overdose reversal drug naloxone, according to BPHC.
2. Our housing stabilization services, including emergency shelter, transitional and permanent housing, and case management, move people off the street as quickly as possible, with as few barriers as possible.
3. “I just want to continue.” Giving the individuals that she counsels at The Victory Connector, a low-threshold navigation center in the neighborhood run by the nonprofit Maverick House Overview, a feeling of care, a sense of calm and peace, is what she aims for each day.
4. The individuals and families we serve are homeless or precariously housed —but their challenges are even more complicated.
5. A client-driven service dedicated to supporting the needs of individuals living with HIV who need assistance accessing community resources.
6. When individuals and families are safely housed, they’re much more likely to address their physical and mental health, addictions, and other issues.

By the time she was 16, she’d been introduced to drugs by one of her mother’s friends, she said. But once in the foster home, Rivera said she continued to be exposed to alcohol, drugs, and sexual violence. But she said it’s also taken her a long time to feel comfortable sharing what she experienced as a child and teenager, which resulted in her own years-long struggle with substance use, incarceration, and instability.

She provides counseling to the most entrenched individuals at Mass. and Cass. She wants you to know her story.

Last year, 4,775 people turn to Maverick House Overview for shelter, sustenance, recovery, care, and professional, compassionate support. Our team of more than 200 staff across 19 programs works with people to develop and execute creative, safe solutions to the very real challenges they face. The Victory Connector, where she is a harm reduction specialist, provides a range of services to women, transgender, and nonbinary individuals who are at high risk of overdose and who are reluctant to engage with other care systems. Maverick House Overview provides recovery, health, and housing services through thirty-three buildings in Boston, Cambridge, and now Topsfield, fourteen of which we own.

She ended up working as a staff member at Casa Esperanza for almost 12 years, becoming first a peer recovery coach, then a house manager, then a treatment coordinator, a senior treatment coordinator, and a supervisor. We are excited to bring you the latest issue of Maverick House Overview’ print newsletter, The Doorway! The Fall edition is packed with inspiring stories and messages of resilience, generosity, and hope from our clients, staff, and supporters who are transforming lives and strengthening our communities.

It’s a “housing first” approach that includes stabilization services, emergency shelter, transitional and permanent housing, and case management. It’s why the 46-year-old loves her job, working as a harm reduction specialist with individuals experiencing addiction, homelessness, and mental health issues in the area of Mass. and Cass in Boston. It’s why the 46-year-old loves her job, working as a harm reduction specialist with individuals experiencing addiction, homelessness, and mental health issues in the area of Mass. and Cass in Boston. But now, with 24 years in recovery, the Dorchester resident hopes that by talking about her own experiences, others might be encouraged to speak up.

Organizational demographics

Maverick House Overview strives to meet the needs of disadvantaged homeless families Maverick House Overview Overview and individuals in underserved communities throughout Boston. The majority of our programs are located in or serve urban Boston communities of Dorchester, Mattapan, Roxbury, and Jamaica Plain. We have permanent supported housing programs for men, women, and/or families with HIV/AIDS or other disabilities in Mattapan, Boston’s Fenway area, the South End, and Topsfield. Maverick House Overview opens doors to recovery, hope and community to individuals and families facing homelessness, addiction, or other chronic illnesses, including HIV/AIDS.

Organization Profile

Being able to provide that respite and getting to see individuals who have come in from the street smile (she calls them “members”) is the best, she told Boston.com. We follow a low-barrier housing-first clinically driven approach to guide clients towards health and safety. Coping with those deaths, and the prospect that she will likely see more as the state and country continue to grapple with the overdose crisis, Rivera said she relies on belief — and the knowledge that change doesn’t happen overnight. Rivera said whenever she learns of another fatal overdose, she finds herself wondering about how there could have been a different outcome.

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She’s also hopeful that people who are quick to judge the unsheltered individuals, still in the throes of their own crises of addiction and mental health, living around Mass. and Cass might gain greater understanding from hearing her story. On the streets, at our Boston Living Center, and across programs, we work to prevent chronic conditions and overdoses. We provide HIV, Hepatitis C, and STI testing and counseling; a healthy meals program; syringe and naloxone distribution; and an array of education, navigation, and support services. The best thing anyone can do to help those who are struggling with addiction, homelessness, or mental health issues is get educated, Rivera said.

Public health officials, including the Boston Public Health Commission, have been warning in particular that xylazine, a non-opioid veterinary tranquilizer, has been increasingly detected in street drug samples analyzed in Massachusetts. Xylazine, also referred to as “tranq,” increases the risk of overdose and death when mixed with other sedating drugs like opioids — and it is not affected by the overdose reversal drug naloxone, according to BPHC. They talk to people on the street around Mass. and Cass about the services they have and offer resources. Over the 14 years, Rivera said she found herself constantly wanting to learn more about harm reduction and the ways to help people, like herself, who deal with addiction and recovery.