ARounD tHe JeRsey sHoRe 25 Homeless Permanently Housed Th is Winter

By Chris Lundy

TOMS

RIVER

– Just Believe Inc. shared their statistics for the 2022-2023 season when they care for the homeless during the winter months, including helping 25 of them fi nd permanent housing.

Just Believe is a nonprofit that runs the Code Blue shelter in Riverwood Park, which opens its doors on nights when temperatures approach freezing. They were open 81 nights, according to CEO Paul Hulse. Although the park is in Toms River, the unhoused population comes from all over Ocean County.

They had 147 different people stay for a total of 1,620 nights. But it’s not just about shelter for one night, it’s about fi nding out what issues they are having so that they can be referred to organizations that help. For example, there were 75 referrals for various services. There were 35 people who applied for Section 8 vouchers. Eleven people found temporary housing. A rental car was secured for one guest. Ten people entered a facility for substance abuse or mental health. Three went to a sober living home. Five people relocated out of state. Six found gainful employment. Nine people were denied access due to behavior or needing a higher level of care; they were instead provided emergency housing elsewhere.

Hulse thanked Fulfill, A Need We Feed, and a number of local restaurants for providing meals. In addition to the big stuff like food and housing, there were also smaller things that helped people feel good, like getting haircuts or going bowling. Showers were provided by the YMCA.

About 2,500 hours were spent by volunteers, he said.

This marks “six years of Code Blue success in Ocean County,” Hulse said. These figures represent only five months of the year. “Imagine what we could do if we were open all year long?”

Nonprofit organizations and faith-based groups house the homeless because Ocean County leaders don’t want to run a shelter. For more information, visit JustBelieveInc. org.

St. Stephen’s Family Fun Day Dance Spectacular

WHITING – St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church will have a brand-new Family Fun Day Dance Spectacular, to be held on June 4 from 12 to 4 p.m. in the Parish Hall. The event will feature DJ Louie Sauchelli, and they’ll have a luncheon as well as a Treasure Auction! There is no charge for the event; however, a free will offering will be available for donations. The Dance Spectacular is open to the public, and they invite the surrounding communities to join! New families are invited to attend their 10 a.m. service prior to the event. For further information, call Bill Bodine, Dance Spectacular Team Chairman at 848210-4206, or contact Greg at St. Stephen’s Parish Office at 732-350-2121 to register.

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Continued From Page 22 hugged him close to her body. James wanted no part of nursing and fell back to sleep for the entire night.

Kristy recounted the incident to her nurse friend, who emphasized the importance of seeking prompt medical attention for James. The nurse warned Kristy that the situation could worsen to the point where it might be difficult to intervene, leaving James in a precarious position. As both parents attempted to come to grips with the fact that something could be wrong with James, they initially downplayed their initial fears. Jeremy and Kristy wanted to believe the issue was nothing more than a case of gas interfering with their newborn’s sleep. The couple was confident that everything would be fine. Nevertheless, doctors admitted James to the hospital for two days and ran a battery of tests. Finally, they sent James home with an apnea monitor to capture his sleep patterns. Unfortunately, the answers didn’t start to make sense until after Kristy was able to video James during one of the episodes.

“He was three months old, and it was just before Christmas,” recalled Kristy. “He was asleep in his stroller like a new baby and suddenly woke up.”

James appeared to be mouthing something as he looked to the side, almost as if he was trying to communicate. Then, out of nowhere, James began crying from a deep sleep, and Kristy attempted to soothe him. Although she couldn’t pinpoint the exact problem, Kristy sensed something was off, as James seemed unusually lethargic.

Once concerned that they might be overreacting, Jeremy and Kristy wanted answers. A call to the pediatrician landed them in Jersey Shore Medical Center’s emergency room. A neurologist called for a consultation, watched the video, and determined that James had had a seizure.

James began his first course of anti-seizure medication that worked for a few days. Jeremy and Kristy became so hopeful – until the seizures broke through. Moving on to the next anti-seizure drug required weaning from the first, as many of these medicines are addictive, and James could not be abruptly taken off them. Each medication came with its side effects, from potential heart damage to peripheral vision loss. Some drugs could only be obtained from off-label pharmacies. Nonetheless, both parents felt desperate – they were willing to try anything.

“I couldn’t even count the number of ‘episodes’ as we called them back then,” Kristy said. “There were times there were over 100 in one day.”

“They needed to give him intravenous drugs to knock him out,” added Kristy. “To kind of calm his brain down.”

Medical consultants at the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania were equally puzzled why none of the medications would work. So when James was six months old, doctors suggested genetic testing to see what they could learn.

The tests revealed that James’ seizures were not caused by a genetic condition he inherited from his parents. However, James did have a form of epilepsy caused by a spontaneous gene mutation.

KCNT1 epilepsy is a rare and severe form of (Journey - See Page 33)