ERMA – Low housing inventory has exacerbated the county’s struggle with homelessness, said Denise Venturini-South, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Cape Hope, a prominent local homeless advocacy group.
Cape Hope is a nonprofit that works with those who find themselves homeless and provides housing assistance for the unhoused, but a lack of housing inventory, even for those who have a steady job, has made it harder for the nonprofit to provide assistance.
Venturini-South said that even those with savings can often not afford to live in Cape May County.
At a “Dialogue on Homelessness” put on by Cape Hope Feb. 11, she told the story of an elderly woman who recently worked with Cape Hope. The woman, evicted from her property after losing aid and unable to work due to her age and health, burned through her savings just trying to find a temporary place to stay.
Venturini-South said that this is not a lone anecdote, but that it is indicative of a larger problem within the county. She said that “even people who are working can’t find an apartment. I had a client come to me during the week.She can’t find an apartment. She has to be out of the apartment by the end of the month.Her landlord is selling the house and not renewing the lease, but there’s just nowhere to go. I don’t know what to tell her.”
Craig Mayes, who is the chief of staff of a homeless service group in New York City, opened the night with a plea to the crowd: Do not see the unhoused as trash to be ignored, but as precious individuals with stories to tell.
Mayes said that “homelessness could happen to any one of us. Nobody grows up and thinks they’re going to be homeless, to be living in the woods. Nobody dreams that for themselves.”
Venturini-South said that Cape May County does not have a homeless shelter and that Lower Township is home to only a single warming center, the Seashore Community Church of the Nazarene, in Erma. Another warming center exists in Middle Township at the Cape Community Church.
Almond Weech, who works at the church and helps the unhoused in their times of need, said that attempts to work with the county for a homeless shelter have been fruitless.
Although Seashore Community Church does a lot to help the homeless, Weech said, “We have a number of persons going through things from homelessness to housing insecurity, to food insecurity; they come to us for help, but we are limited in our resources.”
This lack of resources also affects Cape Hope, Venturini-South said. Cape Hope was able to assist 185 people in finding temporary housing in 2021 for about $34,000, but Venturini-South said that once two weeks of assistance is over, they often lack the funds to provide further help.
She said that a severe housing shortage, especially in terms of apartments, means that she often has no answer for those looking for a longer-term place to live.
Cape Hope places homeless in hotels, but pricey summer rates make even that difficult, Venturini-South said.
“From April until October, the rates just go through the roof. We can’t afford more than two weeks’ help,” she added.
The housing shortage found in Cape May County is echoed across New Jersey and the nation, as a whole. GlobeSt, a commercial real estate news site, reported in October 2021 that based on nationwide data there is a “severe shortage of rental housing at every price point.”
Meanwhile, housing statistics reported by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, using federal and state data, show that New Jersey rental prices have risen 19% since 2001, while the medium renter income only increased by a single percent.
Given the lack of options for those with housing insecurity in the county, Cape Hope will soon begin a major fundraising effort to build a community-focused shelter of its own. Venturini-South closed the night’s dialogue with a promise and asked members of the public for help: “We made a commitment that we are going to invest in long-term housing. We are setting them up to fail right now because there’s nowhere to go.”
To contact Collin Hall, email chall@cmcherald.com.
