Pockets of need, but no homeless

More transient citizens in township than realized

By: Joseph Harvie
   While a county survey designed to count the number of homeless in the area didn’t hit South Brunswick, township officials hope the biennial count raises awareness of the problem.
   Township police say they aren’t aware of any homeless people in the township. However, LouAnne Wolf, township director of Social Services, said there is a group of people not technically counted as "homeless," but who don’t have a permanent home. This group, she said, goes from one friend’s house to another.
   "We don’t have too many people that are homeless," Ms. Wolf said. "But we might have someone who is transient going from point A to point B and we have to put them up for the night. But that’s about it."
   The survey was held on Jan. 25, at various locations around the county, including Elijah’s Promise soup kitchen in New Brunswick, the Salvation Army in Perth Amboy, FISH Hospitality in Piscataway, and St. John’s Baptist Church in Jamesburg, said Bridgett Stillwell-Kennedy, director of the county Division of Social Work Services.
   In addition, a mobile canteen from the Salvation Army traveled throughout the county to help with the survey, and several street outreach volunteers traveled to locations where the homeless are known to stay to conduct additional surveys and to connect them with information on resources, Ms. Stillwell-Kennedy said.
   Ms. Stillwell-Kennedy said she expects to have results from the survey later this month.
   South Brunswick Police spokesman Detective James Ryan said the police are not aware of any homeless in the township. He said there were two heroin addicts who were living a treehouse behind Beekman Manor, but they left town in November.
   However, that is not to say that there are no homeless in the township.
   "In an area like South Brunswick it is difficult to ascertain homelessness," Detective Ryan said. "That’s just the nature of it. The town is so spread out that it’s not conducive to homeless people."
   Detective Ryan said that a homeless person is more likely to stay in urban areas because that’s where soup kitchens are located and there are places for them to find shelter, such as bus and train stations.
   One group of residents who are technically without homes are those who reside in several welfare motels in the township, including the Econo Lodge on Ridge Road in Dayton, the Red Roof Inn and South Brunswick Manor Motel on Route 1.
   However, according to Amanda Warga, who works for the Middlesex County homeless Help Line, people living in welfare motels do not count as homeless because they have shelter.
   "Although they are homeless in regular language, they can get hotel placement for two months and not be considered homeless," Ms. Warga said. "Sometimes the hotels are so far out that they can’t find work anywhere and they aren’t counted as homeless. They should be, but they’re not."