County Creating Homelessness Trust Fund

By Chris Lundy OCEAN COUNTY

– After many years of criticism over the way Ocean County handles homelessness, the leaders are creating a trust fund that will pay for temporary housing and other services.

The county will charge a $5 fee on certain documents filed or recorded with the County Clerk’s Office. In 2022, there were more than 130,000 documents,

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The mayor said he knew such an increase would not be acceptable to residents and thus, “we knew that with this economic climate in no way can we do that to those facing these price increases. We looked for ways to lower the necessary increase by spending a greater amount out of surplus than initially planned and was able to project additional revenues from our EMS service.”

“This enabled us to reduce our tax increase to 3.8 cents, equaling $83 per door per year, 44.6% lower than the initially proposed tax increase,” the mayor added.

Mayor Arace explained that in 2022, “the previous administration used our American Rescue Plan (ARP) money, which was a grant provided by the Federal Government for Covid relief, as a supplement to our township’s revenues, and they used it to cover township salaries.”

“The issue with this is that they used the money to artificially deflate the tax increase that was necessary to sustain the township, and they did this during an election year. It is highly recommended that the ARP money be used for one-time expenses, such as police vehicles or fi re apparatus which the township desperately needs,” the mayor added.

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The event received its name from combining June and nineteenth and is celebrated on the anniversary of the order by Major General Gordon Granger proclaiming freedom for enslaved people two and a half years after the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation “which the slaves were not made aware of - or the war that the Confederate states had lost.”

“Federal troops rolled in on this day in 1865 and told the slaves about their freedom. This Juneteenth we have another national holiday,” she added.

On this holiday, those present were invited to sing along to the Negro National Anthem. “This song was composed by an activist and NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson in 1900 and was fi rst sung to commemorate President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday,” Edwards said.

The anthem is a hymn written as a poem. Edwards noted that “it was sung at the Super Bowl this year. It is very important to African Americans”

A’Liah Moore of Monmouth University talked about “what does it mean to be free? For some it means living your life in a way that brings you joy. For others it means freedom from oppression. It goes past physical freedom. It applies to our mental, emotional and spiritual liberation. Freedom is your being in control with your life.”

“Juneteenth is a symbol of freedom for all to be free. Free to breathe, free to love, free to exist, free to express, free to laugh, free to live, free to be,” she added. She also provided an example of her writing: “You are not seeing me, you are viewing me. You have looked and have already decided what you think of me but you don’t even know me and yet you say you know my kind.”

Jordon Morris, an 11-year-old from Toms River, presented a stirring presentation of Frederick Douglass’ 4th of July address without skipping a beat. He received a standing ovation from the audience and a hug from Mike Rush, a past president of the Lakewood chapter of the NAACP. “You brought tears to my eyes,” Rush said of the boy’s moving performance.

Walter Preston spoke about the Black Five that refers to the all-Black basketball teams that existed in the United States between

1904, when the game was fi rst introduced to African Americans on a wide-scale organized basis, and 1950, when the National Basketball Association signed its first Black players. The period is known as the “Black Fives Era” or “Early Black Basketball” or simply “Black Basketball.”

Preston brought along some artifacts such as Black Five attire including shirts worn by players and others worn by referees.

“We could talk all day about the Black Five. I was a basketball player myself believe it or not. Basketball actually began in Ireland. It was played quite a bit in the Jewish community. I ended up becoming a basketball official and the Basketball Black Five began because they were not allowed to play on the other white teams,” Preston said.

He added, “many teams such as the Globetrotters came out of Harlem. One of the things that happened when Blacks began playing basketball in large numbers and consistently, it became a community activity. I was fortunate enough as a 13-year-old kid to be at one of the best games that the Harlem Renaissance played.”

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Continued From Page 1 and to communicate between them and the mayor.”

Mayor Arace said many residents in the Whiting area feel they need assistance accessing township resources “as easily as the east side, and this expansion is a step to remedy that gap.”

“It was a social event. They actually played in the Harlem Renaissance Ball room. They had a basketball game in a hall and in places this size and after the game, bands like Count Basie came out and performed. The Black Five, the championship team was from a little place, Orange, New Jersey which is 2.6 square miles,” Preston added.

Bahiyyah Abdullah of the Toms River/ Ocean NAACP, said, “not all slaves were freed in 1863 but two years later Major General Granger brought more than 2,000 soldiers when he made that announcement and he brought with him the colored soldiers that were serving our country at that time. It took them two years to get that announcement.”

Manchester Mayor Robert Arace, a Republican, also came out to the event and spoke about the historical event that crosses political party lines. He said, “the announcement in Galveston Texas was a unifying factor that we all need to celebrate regardless of political parties, regardless of our background. The words of our constitution are that we are all created equal.”

Some services and information can be found on manchestertwp.com

Police Safety Seat Event

In recent weeks the township Police Department held a special Whiting edition of their free Child Passenger Safety Seat Inspection and Installation at the Whiting Emergency Services Building on Lacey Road.

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Continued From Page 1 officials said. The fee is expected to go into effect Sept. 1.

“Based on the number of documents recorded over the last three years, the fund could raise anywhere from $275,000 to $390, 000,” Commissioner Barbara Jo Crea said. “These funds are raised annually and will be used to support ongoing homelessness and housing instability programs along with the Code Blue program.”

Code Blue is a state law that opens shelters when the temperature approaches freezing. All of the shelters are run by volunteers, church groups, and nonprofits.

The money will stay in Ocean County, officials said.

“We can use the funds raised by the Homelessness Trust Fund with more fl exibility to provide rental assistance vouchers, supportive services and prevention services,” Crea said.

The money also can be used for the acquisition, construction, or rehabilitation of housing projects or units within housing projects that supply permanent affordable housing for homeless persons or families, including those at risk of homelessness.

“Per the Homelessness Trust Fund guidelines, the funds cannot be used by the County to build a homeless shelter,” Crea said. “They will be used to provide support services.”

The county will also create a task force to oversee the fund and serve as an advisory board to the commissioners.

“We are seeing increases in the under employed and families are having a difficult time making ends meet and keeping a roof over their head,” Commissioner Gary Quinn said. “We need to do more and this is one of the tools we have available to us to create a permanent funding source that can be used to help our residents.”

The funds can be used to interact with people coming in for shelter during Code Blue and get them the resources they need, he said.

“Nineteen percent of Ocean County households struggle with factors of housing insecurity,” Quinn said. “The creation of the Homelessness Trust Fund is in response to the changes we have seen in getting assistance to those who need it.”

The public hearing on the fund is scheduled for the July 6 Commissioner Board meeting held at 4 p.m. in Room #119 on the fi rst floor of the Administration Building located at 101 Hooper Avenue, Toms River.

Advocates for the homeless welcomed the creation of the fund. Pastor Sue Jones of the Toms River Housing and Homeless Coalition said it is a very positive step, not only in how to treat people in need, but it shows a change in how the homeless are being viewed. The fact that the county government is making this decision speaks volumes.

This will provide a continual source of funding that will help people in need immediately as opposed to something like a grant that’s not sustainable, she said. There’s a stigma out there about homelessness; some people think all homeless people are mentally ill or addicts. The truth is that there are many different reasons that people end up in this situation, she said.

The majority of people calling their help line are not on the streets but one step away, she said. These are people whose landlords are giving them the boot illegally, for example. There’s also a large number of seniors, particularly women, whose spouse has died and without two Social Security checks a month, they can’t make ends meet.

The major cause of homelessness is the lack of truly affordable housing, and the lack of good-paying jobs with benefits, she said.

The people on the streets are the visible sign of homelessness, but there are many more that the average person doesn’t see, she said.

The trust fund is not the total solution to the problem, she said, because homelessness is a complex issue that requires a complex response.

“We don’t expect the county to do it all,” she said. “We continue to be working with the county and municipalities to see how we can do this job better.”

When the county creates the task force to oversee the fund, she urged them to seat members who are well-versed with the plight of the homeless here and have a track record of making a difference.

Past Controversy

In previous interviews, county leaders have said they didn’t want to create the trust fund. They compared the $5 fee on documents to a tax levied on residents. It is unclear what led to this change.

Up until now, the county’s dealt with the homelessness problem by putting them up in motels when available. Being a shore community, that means only half the year. The Asbury Park Press reported recently that the county had to pay out $1.5 million to the estate of a homeless woman who they placed in a motel and was murdered. Alecia Perreault, 29, was just 89 pounds and disabled from rheumatoid arthritis, and had begged to be moved from a motel she said was too dangerous.

Ocean County is one of the only counties in New Jersey that doesn’t operate its own homeless shelter. This leaves nonprofits and houses of worship to open overnight-only shelters.

Advocates for the homeless sued the county to try to force them to open a shelter back in 2011. On a separate occasion, the Atlantic City Rescue Mission sued because Atlantic City was spending millions helping homeless people from Ocean County. Nonprofit leaders have said that mayors have told them that they don’t want any shelter in their town. Some towns have been outright aggressive against the homeless. Lakewood’s government, for example, literally bulldozed a homeless encampment. They also removed trees from public areas to prevent homeless from sleeping under them.