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CBS News
5 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
New Jersey town bans sleeping in municipal lot in effort to stop homeless individuals from camping out
The town of Toms River in Ocean County, New Jersey, has passed an ordinance banning people from taking shelter or sleeping inside a municipal parking lot. It gives police the authority to ask anyone sleeping or camping out in the municipal parking lot behind town hall to leave. If they don't comply, they could face arrest and 90 days behind bars, along with a $2,000 fine. The ordinance passed on July 30 with four council members voting in favor and two against, with one abstaining. The mayor says he saw groups of homeless people hanging out in the lot earlier in the summer and says residents complained. "We've seen two people overdose on drugs ... We've caught people selling narcotics," Mayor Daniel Rodrick said. "We had 20-some-odd people decide they were going to live there for a few days. We had car thefts." Those who advocate for homeless individuals say the new ordinance is going to make it difficult to help those who need shelter. "Anything that is going to criminalize people experiencing unsheltered homelessness is going to make it so much harder for them to get back into housing," said Taiisa Kelly, with Monarch Housing Associates. Kelly says her organization has been working with outreach teams, helping 78 unsheltered people in Toms River and finding housing for 50 of them. "The way to help support people is not by putting on fines that they can't afford. It's not by putting them in jail and creating a record for them," she said. "It's by having outreach teams go out and work with them." "We're not looking to put people in jail, but the police need tools so that they can tell folks, 'Hey, you are not permitted to be here,'" Rodrick said. Residents are split on the ordinance. "I think that was terrible. I think in Toms River, we need to do more for the homeless. This is an affluent community," Toms River resident Carol Allan said. "It's a lose-lose situation. It's dangerous. It's not good to have, but they have to do something to help them find another alternative," Toms River resident Alex van Haak said. Other residents told CBS News New York off camera they were feeling unsafe in the lot, which is also by the library.
Yahoo
31-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NJ homeless count shows 84% surge in number of unsheltered people in Paterson
PATERSON — The number of people living unsheltered on the city's streets jumped by 84%, from 76 in 2024 to 140 last year, according to results of the latest statewide one-day homeless count. The surge in unsheltered people in the city contrasted with an 18% decrease in Paterson's overall numbers for homelessness, data that includes people staying in shelters. The total for homeless people in Paterson — combining those who are sheltered and unsheltered — dropped from 411 in 2024 to 336 in 2025, according to the annual Point-in-Time count, an effort conducted every January that is coordinated by Monarch Housing Associates and commissioned by the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency. Social service advocates and charity workers say the homeless numbers for Paterson don't tell the full story. And with housing programs facing impending federal funding cuts, experts warn that the homelessness problem in cities like Paterson will get worse before it gets better.'We know there are many more people out there than were counted,' said Kelley Brown, director of the Heart of Hannah Women's Center, which runs a 25-bed family shelter and provides housing programs like rental assistance. 'Those numbers are shockingly low,' said Vince Barra, a former mayor of Allendale who comes to Paterson weekly with northern Bergen County church groups that provide help to people living in homeless encampments. Statewide, the Monarch count for 2025 found an 8% increase in overall homelessness and a 15% rise for those people classified as unsheltered. Under fire from City Hall In the past 16 months, advocates for the needy say, the city's homeless residents have come under fire from City Hall. First, there was a proposal to regulate charity groups that have been giving out food, clothing and toiletries on Paterson streets. Then there was a plan to impose fines and jail time on people who were camping out in public. Both of those proposed City Council ordinances failed in the face of community opposition. Then, last winter, city officials moved the location of Paterson's 'Code Blue' warming center from a facility close to the middle of the city to one on the outskirts. People in the social service community said they think the change in the warming center location is part of the explanation for the jump in the number of unsheltered people in Paterson. 'I think it definitely is a factor,' said Richard Williams, director of the St. Paul's Community Development Corporation, which provided staff members who helped in the statewide homeless count. In 2024, when the warming center was at 60 Temple St., counters found more than 90 people at that spot, folks who were included in the 'sheltered' homeless data, Williams said. But this year, outreach workers who went to the new warming center on West Broadway, at the Haledon border, found just 12 people there, he noted. Brown, from the Heart of Hannah group, said officials and organizations are trying to address the problems caused by the new warming center location, either by finding a different site or by providing transportation to the current one. In the past year, there also has been a change in the way federal housing officials classify people at warming centers, said Passaic County government spokesperson Lindsay Reed. Under the revision, people staying at warming center are now classified as 'unsheltered' if they are in chairs rather than beds, Reed said. Paterson Press asked Mayor Andre Sayegh for his thoughts about the latest homeless numbers. His chief of staff, Dacil Tilos, issued a statement on his behalf. 'The mayor expresses deep concern over the sharp increase in unsheltered homelessness highlighted in this year's Point-in-Time Count,' Tilos said. 'This rise indicates both the growing demand for emergency housing in our region and the critical shortage of affordable and supportive housing options in the area. "While the city has worked hard to expand outreach, connect people to services, and implement harm reduction strategies, shelter capacity still falls short of the need,' Tilos said. Working to increase housing and shelter capacity The City Hall official said the Sayegh administration is working to develop housing solutions, increase shelter capacity in the city and provide mental health and addiction services. Roberta Farber of the Paterson Task Force, a group that runs two family shelters, said the city needs more beds for its homeless residents. She said downtown store owners tell her it's common for people to use their business vestibules as places to sleep at night. 'There's more and more people who are homeless and nowhere to put them,' Farber said. Laetitia Cairoli, development director at the Mill Street program called 'Oasis – A Haven for Women and Children,' said her organization isn't in a position to comment on the homeless count numbers but that it has encountered a significant increase in people seeking housing support. 'We anticipate that the community's needs will only increase with the upcoming cuts to SNAP, Medicaid and other government programs,' Cairoli said. 'We're strategizing to improve our ability to respond. This involves seeking new sources of [private] funding for Oasis, as — while needs increase — government funding to the organization has been reduced.' Zellie Thomas of Paterson's Black Lives Matter group and the Rev. Sarah Anthony of Grace Gospel Church in the city's 4th Ward both said they expect homelessness numbers to rise because of the federal social service cuts. 'We have a lot of work ahead of us as a city,' Anthony said. This article originally appeared on NJ homeless count shows 84% surge in unsheltered in Paterson Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
29-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Homelessness up again in New Jersey, as federal cuts loom
A homeless encampment sits in the woods off the canal path along the Delaware River. (Dana DiFilippo | New Jersey Monitor) Homelessness in New Jersey surged 8% since last year, new figures show, a jump that comes as federal cuts threaten food and housing assistance and other Medicaid benefits for thousands of residents. Affordable housing advocates identified 13,748 people who were living in shelters, hotels, or on the street Jan. 28 during the 'Point in Time' count, an annual enumeration done every January of the state's homeless population. That's about 1,068 people more than advocates counted last year, and the highest number recorded since 2014, when the state's homeless population stood at 13,900, according to Monarch Housing Associates, the nonprofit that coordinates the count. Most — 11,753 people — were living in shelters, hotels or motels, transitional housing, or safe haven programs, Monarch reported. But advocates also counted almost 2,000 people living outside, in vacant or abandoned buildings, or in other locations not meant for human habitation, with such unsheltered homelessness more than doubling in New Jersey since 2022. Sixteen percent of those counted were considered chronically homeless. Federal cuts to critical safety nets will only make things worse, with cuts implemented in a recently passed spending bill and proposed for the next federal budget threatening to 'destroy the very infrastructure we rely on to support our most vulnerable neighbors,' said Taiisa Kelly, Monarch's CEO. 'This is happening at a time when we are seeing increasing affordability issues, increases in unsheltered homelessness, and more communities criminalizing homelessness,' Kelly said. She called on policymakers to invest in solutions proven to reduce homelessness, including housing assistance strategies known as rapid rehousing and housing first, which place people in permanent housing and typically come with support services like financial assistance and landlord mediation. Homelessness has steadily risen in New Jersey since 2021, with an average increase of 14% annually, said Katelyn Ravensbergen, a senior associate at Monarch. 'While our systems are working to connect everyone they can with stable housing, the number of households entering homelessness is unfortunately increasing at a rate that outpaces the expansion of housing opportunities and other supports,' Ravensbergen said. 'This issue will be further exacerbated if federal programs historically used to rapidly rehouse these families are reduced or eliminated as proposed.' Under the federal budget bill President Donald Trump signed July 4, about 350,000 residents are expected to lose Medicaid coverage and 424,000 families likely will see some or all of their monthly Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program benefits end, advocates said. Congress members are now developing budgets for federal agencies for the coming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. Funding for housing and homeless service programs is expected to shrink, with some programs targeted for elimination altogether. That includes the Home Investment Partnerships Program, which funds the development of affordable housing. New Jersey and its counties and municipalities received $34.7 million in funding from that program last year, according to Monarch. This year's count also showed several demographic disparities persist: Families with at least one child accounted for about a third of those experiencing homelessness. Veterans continue to struggle with homelessness, with 543 veterans counted, representing a 4.8% increase since last year. Black people continue to experience homelessness at disproportionately higher rates than people of other racial or ethnic identities, comprising 47.4% of the homeless population, even though just 12% of New Jersey residents are Black. Essex County had the largest homeless population statewide. Advocates chalked the increase in unsheltered homelessness up to the overburdened shelter system. In recent months, shelters have operated at more than 90% of their capacity every day, and they cannot accommodate rising homelessness, advocates say. The latest count reveals the human toll of the worsening housing affordability crisis, said Michael Callahan, director of the state homelessness prevention office. 'The data confirms what our communities have long known: homelessness is being driven not just by poverty, but by deep structural inequities, including systemic racism and the dramatic shortage of affordable homes,' Callahan said. 'It is a call to action for bolder, better-targeted investment in prevention, housing, and justice.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Solve the daily Crossword
