Today
is a great day for the homeless of Tent City, and for all advocates for
the homeless who have worked so hard, for so long. The first attachment
to this email is a letter
that we just submitted to the Court, which encloses the final Consent
Order relating to the litigation with Lakewood. Among other things,
this Consent Order: (1) guarantees that all of Tent City’s current
residents (including anyone who is living in Tent
City and counted in a census that will soon be done) may not be ejected
by Lakewood unless and until those residents are first offered a plan
that provides for (and actually provides) safe and adequate housing for
at least a full year; (2) gives this right
-- without any “disqualifiers” or set deadline for the closing of Tent
City -- to all of the current residents (at least those who cooperate in
an agreed-upon census and screening process, which includes strict
protections for privacy and confidentiality);
and (3) requires Lakewood to dismiss all of the charges that it filed
in municipal court and elsewhere about supposed “code violations” in
Tent City. In short, this Consent Order gives the people of Tent City
everything they wanted, and more, given that a
year or more of housing equates to the federal definition of permanent
housing, not just emergency shelter. And the news gets better.
The second attachment to
this email is a letter agreement that supplements the Consent Order and
imposes additional obligations on Lakewood until the last current
resident has obtained housing.
Lakewood is now required to: (1) provide pick-up of trash deposited
for collection by Tent City’s residents (including regular and adequate
collections by Lakewood from the trash containers and 30-yard dumpster);
(2) permit the servicing of the portable toilets
in Tent City; (3) allow supporters of the current residents to deliver
food, clothing and other necessary supplies into Tent City (so long as
any supporter’s vehicle departs from Tent City after the delivery has
been completed); and (4) permit the holes in
the main dirt road to be filled with dirt and leveled, in order to make
the road passable for emergency vehicles (after receipt and approval by
Lakewood of a written proposal for this work, which approval cannot be
unreasonably withheld). Lakewood has also
agreed that Minister Steve Brigham has the option of continuing to live
in Tent City until the day comes when all of the current residents have
housing. The Court will also retain jurisdiction to enforce the
Consent Order and make sure Lakewood complies with
all of its obligations.
Finally,
after decades of refusing to do so, Ocean County and the Board of
Social Services have agreed to sit down to discuss establishing the
first housing center (shelter)
in Ocean County. As a show of good will, the Atlantic City Rescue
Mission (the “Mission”) has dismissed its claims against the County
“without prejudice,” meaning that the Mission is free to file suit again
in the hopefully unlikely event that the discussions
with the County about cooperation do not yield progress. Given,
however, the substantial new funding that is becoming available
post-Sandy, the opportunities for cooperation seem greater than ever
before. The Mission will also welcome input from other non-profits
about possible ways to develop a housing center in Ocean County.
This is a great day, but much work remains to be done. We will continue to stand with the people of Tent City, and continue to work for the day when homelessness in Ocean County is no more.
This is a great day, but much work remains to be done. We will continue to stand with the people of Tent City, and continue to work for the day when homelessness in Ocean County is no more.
(As soon as I figure out how to insert the attachments I'll post them for your reading pleasure. Larry)
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