To the Editor:
With the cold weather keeping me inside I found myself asking, “How can Cape May County be the only county in the state of New Jersey with no overnight homeless shelter?”
Let’s take politics out of the discussion and ask ourselves how we aren’t helping the families with children who suddenly find themselves homeless, the woman in an abusive relationship who has children and for their safety has to leave and becomes homeless, the veterans who have no place to live but has served their country and helped protect our freedom and find themselves homeless, the elderly man or woman dealing with issues and who has no place to go.
The scenarios are many, and they are all very sad. Can’t all the municipalities come together in conjunction with the county government to find a suitable location agreeable to all? Can’t we have a shelter where the abused women don’t have be alongside of a bunch of strange men, where the children, yes the children who have no place to go feel safe, where they don’t have to be put in motel where they don’t even know where they are and who the people living next to them are? Can’t we have a helping shelter that can make the veteran feel like people really care and help them out?
This county has been and probably always will be a very faith-centered county. Good people helping other people with their time and money, who help many people around the area.
The nonprofits and religious organizations that help the homeless in Cape May County do a remarkable job. God knows where the homeless would be without them. They could all continue to do the godlike work that they do in conjunction with an overnight homeless shelter.
I truly believe that if the towns of Cape May County and the government of Cape May County can find an acceptable place for a shelter then that proposal could be put on a countywide ballot for a vote to take care of and help some of these people who need help.
Think about a little kid sitting in the back seat of a car knowing they have no place to live, they are homeless, the elderly man or woman dealing with mental issues living on the street. The child living afraid in a motel room with the whole family.
It is not easy, but with a big effort from all the leaders I believe it can be done, and we could go from no shelter to a state-of-the-art shelter, one we all could be proud of.
