Tent City and Lakewood still at odds

The Asbury Park Press reported today that the Ocean County prosecutor's office has subpoenaed Jack Ballo's film, Destiny's Bridge, as evidence in its case against the founder of a tent encampment for the homeless in Lakewood.

The Rev. Steven Brigham is accused of criminal mischief and witness tampering in connection with the destruction of a tent and removal of one of the camp's residents earlier this year. The film covers the incident through interviews after the fact, but does not show the tents being dismantled.

The subpoena is a reminder that, despite an agreement reached earlier this year to close the camp and find housing for the homeless, animosity continues to run high.

Lakewood and Brigham are supposed to be working to find housing for Tent City residents, as part of an agreement between the township and the homeless that calls for the camp to be closed early in 2014. A number of camp residents have been placed in housing, but there remain dozens still in the camp, with new residents still coming in, which would seem to violate the terms of the consent agreement. At the same time, based on conversations that I've had with Brigham and some of the current residents, the township has not been particularly cooperative in working with residents.

The issues remain the same: There is not enough housing in the Ocean County area to accommodate its own economically destitute, let alone the growing population of poor and homeless New Jerseyans damaged by corporate capitalism's destructive capacity. The camp is a magnet, to some degree, because it offers a home -- however flawed a home it may be -- to those who have been forced into the cracks and ignored. Lakewood is a poor community itself, incapable of supporting the influx and Ocean County has turned a deaf ear while the state has left it to the counties to manage the problem.

Caught in the middle of all this, unfortunately, are the homeless now living in the woods of Cedarbridge.

Lakewood Times covers the premiere

The Lakewood Times had a story and some photos from Wednesday's premiere of Jack Ballo's film Destiny's Bridge.

The Tent City Project is an artistic look at human rights issues facing residents of a homeless camp in Lakewood, NJ and its connection to the growing number of tent cities across the country. See our Facebook page for more information -- and don't forget to "Like" us.

See this film, when you can

I review the film on my blog, Channel Surfing, today. Read it here.

The Tent City Project is an artistic look at human rights issues facing residents of a homeless camp in Lakewood, NJ and its connection to the growing number of tent cities across the country. See our Facebook page for more information -- and don't forget to "Like" us.

The latest on The Tent City Project: A podcast and the film sets to open

Welcome back to the Tent City Project blog. We've allowed the blog to lay dormant for a while, but we have a lot of news to offer and we want people interested in the project -- a film, photos and a book-length poem -- to have a place to stay on top of what we have happening and on what is happening in the tent encampment.

Jack's film is set to open Aug. 7 at the Two River Theater in Red Bank.

Here's the latest coverage of the project:

• NJ News Commons did a story on the project, focusing on my poem. You can read it here.
• NJ News Commons also did a podcast last week in which Jack, Sherry and I discussed Tent City. Get it here.
• NJ Discover previews the Destiny's Bridge film opening.
• Red Bank-Shrewsbury Patch previews the film opening.
• The Asbury Park Press previews the film opening.

Check back for more updates and a review of the film.

The Tent City Project is an artistic look at human rights issues facing residents of a homeless camp in Lakewood, NJ and its connection to the growing number of tent cities across the country. See our Facebook page for more information -- and don't forget to "Like" us.

Agreement reached to close Tent City

Lawyers for Lakewood and Tent City have agreed to a plan to close the camp and find housing for its residents. Here's my piece for Patch on today's hearing.

A shortage of housing for the low-income

Crossposted from Channel Surfing:

A graph from the NLIHC report issued today.

A shortage of low-cost rental housing means that more and more low-income Americans could be facing homelessness in the future. That is one of the findings of a report issued today by the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, a Washington-based advocacy group.

Photo by Sherry Rubel

According to the NLIHC, the four-year-old National Housing Trust Fund, which "was created to address the acute shortage of rental housing the lowest income people in the U.S. can afford" remains unfunded, leading to a growing disparity between the number of units available to the poor and the number needed. Since 2008,

the number of renters in the United States has increased by almost two million households, 44% of whom have incomes at or below 50% of the area median income (AMI). At the same time, the number of homes that are affordable to renter households in this income group decreased by more than 600,000. The number of homes affordable to renters with incomes above 50% of AMI grew by 2.2 million during the same period.

The failure to fund the trust means

that the shortage of homes for the lowest income Americans grows. This shortage places more poor families at risk of homelessness.

The report found that there were about 40 million renter households in the United States, with about one in four being considered extremely low-income (at or below 30 percent of the area median).

And while the supply of rental housing grew by about 700,000 unites between 2010 and 2011, the number of renters grew by about a million -- a deficit of 300,000 added to an already large housing deficit. Exacerbating the gap, the bulk of these new rentals -- about six in 10 -- "were only affordable to renter households with incomes above 80 percent of the (Area Median Income)." Ultimately, "the growth (in units for extremely low-income families) was not enough to keep pace with the growing numbers of ELI renters."

In 2011, there were 5.6 million rental units affordable for the 10.1 million ELI renters, producing an absolute shortage of 4.6 million affordable units. This is an increase of 300,000 homes from the 2010 shortage of 4.3 million units. In 2011, for every 100 ELI renters, there were only 55 units they could potentially live in without spending more than 30% of their income on housing and utility costs.

In New Jersey, the numbers look like this: 49 units affordable to ELI renters, 31 that are affordable and available. About 75 percent of ELI households suffer "severe housing cost burden" -- they spend more than 50 percent of income on housing costs.

This is unsustainable -- and completely the fault of big business and government. Municipalities have no incentive to build low-income housing, nor to make it easy for developers to do so. They prefer more expensive housing because it generates more taxes and does not come with the stigma that suburban communities attach to those with low incomes. Builders, for their part, are uninterested in low-income housing, unless it means that they can generate new revenues. So they have conspired to do nothing.

In New Jersey, despite a relatively effective affordable housing regime -- one that has been idled by the current governor's hostility to it -- getting affordable housing units built has been nearly impossible.

The level of homelessness has held steady in recent years, but that is only because the annual count generally does not include those who fall outside the technical definition but who also lack stable housing. And while some regions of the state -- in counties like Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Mercer, Middlesex, Passaic (i.e., the northern counties) -- have worked to keep homelessness in check as best they can, others -- such as Ocean -- have not and have attempted to deal with the indigent population by chasing them to other locations.

Tent City in Lakewood is not the disease that some on Lakewood see it as being; rather, it is a symptom of a broken economic system that views society's outcasts as the inevitable and disposable byproduct of economic growth. The homeless and poor are no different than the poisonous emissions pumped out of smokestacks and tailpipes, meaning they are not the responsibilities of those who benefit from the system but costs that must be socialized and paid for by all of us.


I digress, of course. The immediate issue is the lack of housing, which all of us should see as a mark of shame.

Send me an e-mail. The Tent City Project is an artistic look at human rights issues facing residents of a homeless camp in Lakewood, NJ and its connection to the growing number of tent cities across the country. See our Facebook page for more information -- and don't forget to "Like" us.

Protesting the crackdown in #tentcitynj

 

Photo by Sherry Rubel

Check out the Tent City Project Facebook page for photos from today's protest at Lakewood Town Hall.

The Tent City Project is an artistic look at human rights issues facing residents of a homeless camp in Lakewood, NJ and its connection to the growing number of tent cities across the country. See our Facebook page for more information -- and don't forget to "Like" us.

Yes, homelessness exists outside of New Jersey and, as in New Jersey, we rarely do better than pay lip service.

The Tent City Project is an artistic look at human rights issues facing residents of a homeless camp in Lakewood, NJ and its connection to the growing number of tent cities across the country. See our Facebook page for more information -- and don't forget to "Like" us.

Kevin's story

Sherry Rubel Photo: Kevin and his puppy taking a walk in Tent City a few months ago.

Photographer Sherry Rubel tells the story of Kevin, who moved to New Jersey from Michigan to be with his girlfriend but ended up in Tent City. Something Kevin told Sherry struck me -- offering a bit of insight into why so many men and women forgo the shelter system and choose to stay out on the streets. Kevin has a dog and Tent City was one of the few places that would let him keep it.

Over the summer, Julia Orlando, who runs the amazing shelter and social sevices facility in Bergen County -- Bergen Housing, Health and Human Services -- said that those who find themselves homeless often are unwilling to give up even the most meaningless of possessions. Many are unwilling to admit that they have bottomed out and the possessions they've chosen to grasp onto are just weights tied to their ankles, keeping them from rising back to the service.

For many, this makes sense. For many, this aggressive unwillingness to let go of material things does hold them back.

But what about a pet -- like Kevin's dog. Dogs are not possessions in the traditional sense, no matter how the law treats them. They are much more. They are family members. They show us the best of our humanity, are loyal (as the cliche goes) and they are wholly dependent on their pack leaders.

We need to respect that.

The Tent City Project is an artistic look at human rights issues facing residents of a homeless camp in Lakewood, NJ and its connection to the growing number of tent cities across the country. See our Facebook page for more information -- and don't forget to "Like" us.

Lakewood Mayor on 101.5: Violations a formality

Lakewood will not be closing down Tent City -- at least for now.

Mayor Al Akerman said the violations issued to the tent encampment's leadership were "just a formality," according to this report from 101.5, and that the goal is to get the judge presiding in the ongoing litigation between the township and the homeless to order a census. He said the township's goal is to see who is eligible for programs within the county.

Advocates for the homeless have pointed out that Ocean County has traditionally been slow to address homelessness within the county, a problem that has been exacerbated by the failure of neighboring counties to address their own homeless populations. Tent City -- along with Atlantic City and Camden -- have become dumping grounds for the rest of the state's homeless. If the mayor is serious about connecting the homeless with available services and not focused on shutting the tent encampment until other alternatives can be found, then good for him. But given the state of existing services in the southern half of the state, advocates and the homeless should be wary -- especially when the state's police and regulatory powers are being used.


The Tent City Project is an artistic look at human rights issues facing residents of a homeless camp in Lakewood, NJ and its connection to the growing number of tent cities across the country. See our Facebook page for more information -- and don't forget to "Like" us.

In Lakewood, aggression passes for compassion

In a video released today by Lakewood Scoop, Lakewood Mayor Albert Ackerman promised a compassionate end to its battle with Tent City.

“People in Tent City are living in sub-human conditions, and we were shocked at what we found”, said Mayor Akerman in an exclusive video with TLS. So, “as compassionate people, we decided that we’re going to try and place as many people as we can as soon as possible. ”

The Mayor says he’s working diligently with private concerned citizens, the County and with local Pastors in order to try and find placement for the homeless.

“Our hearts go out to the people living in Tent City, and we hope we can find better placement for them”, the Mayor said, acknowledging that it may be a difficult task. “As human beings, we have to try.”

This sounds good, but the details are lacking -- as has been the actual compassion.

The township has aggressively attempted to remove the tent encampment without offering a legitimate alternative. It has said it will find housing, but Ocean County lacks the kind of shelter space or low-cost housing that the state's northern counties have made a priority. If the township and county had a real plan in mind, they'd have offered it by now -- not two-plus years after the lawsuit was filed or two weeks after it filed health and building code violations against the camp.

The conditions in the encampment have deteriorated. It has become a burden on nearby neighborhoods. But, as the courts have ruled, the township and county cannot close Tent City without ensuring a viable alternative.

To put this in perspective, one only has to consider how New Brunswick handled a homeless camp that had sprouted along the Raritan River just as the city was about to relaunch its waterfront. Initially, the city demanded the homeless men be moved, but thanks to the efforts of advocates for the poor and homeless, a committee was formed and 25 of the 60 or so men who had congregated by the river were given shelter and housing. The rest followed their own script -- something you have to allow for -- but the encampment dissolved. The city was happy. The homeless were happy and advocates were happy. And in the end, a new committee was created to address the issues of poverty and homelessness and efforts are ongoing.

This, of course, occurred in a county -- Middlesex -- with what is considered a pretty good record on these issues. Ocean, on the other hand, is viewed by advocates for the homeless as being hostile.

If Ackerman and the Lakewood Township Council, along with Ocean County, were truly interested in resolving this, they could not be talking of vague discussions with private parties and instead would be talking to the camp and advocates for the homeless. They would be drafting a detailed plan to address homelessness in the county that included construction of a temporary shelter and affordable housing, along with the provision of services to the mentally ill or addicted. That, in my view, would show real compassion.

Weather woes at Tent City

The weather is taking its toll. Photo by Sherry Rubel.

A brief update on my latest visit to Tent City, at my tumblr page.

I will have more later, including an interview with Minister Steve.

The Tent City Project is an artistic look at human rights issues facing residents of a homeless camp in Lakewood, NJ and its connection to the growing number of tent cities across the country. See our Facebook page for more information -- and don't forget to "Like" us.

Fire at Tent City

Sherry Rubel photo: The after math of the fire.

 

NJ.com is reporting that two people were hurt but not seriously during a fire at Tent City.

Lakewood police say the fire occurred around 12:15 a.m. today at Tent City, an encampment in the woods of the Ocean County community.

In the past, fires and other issues like them, have been used to condemn the camp, but that is unfair. The need for the camp, itself, should stand as a condemnation of our economic priorities.

The Tent City Project is an artistic look at human rights issues facing residents of a homeless camp in Lakewood, NJ and its connection to the growing number of tent cities across the country. See our Facebook page for more information -- and don't forget to "Like" us.

Homeless in the cold

Authorities in Camden County have issued a "code blue" warning to its homeless population asking them to find shelter rather than risk the expected extreme temperatures.

We have entered a period of dangerous conditions for those forced to live on the streets -- or in tents, as they do in Lakewood. Government agencies need to step up to ensure that the most vulnerable have some sort of shelter, because they are the only ones with bureaucracy capable of such a large job,