Class Learns How County, Faith-based Organization Differ Aiding Homeless

COURT HOUSE – A panel of county and faith-based officials who work with and for the homeless in Cape May County discussed the growing problem with students in Mary McWilliams’ English 102 class at Atlantic Cape Community College April 4.
It was the task of the students to write a composition on a segment of the homeless and their condition. This was the second year the class focused on the issue. McWilliams said the students had been engaged and took great interest in examining a number of social issues.
Representing The Branches in Rio Grande, an outreach of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Stone Harbor, was Susan Mayfair, director, and Larry Schmidt.
Representing the county was Freeholder Kristine Gabor, who oversees the Human Services Department, Patricia Devaney, Human Services director, and Sara Maloney, Social Services director.
McWilliams told the class, regardless of the future endeavors, they are likely to encounter a homeless person. She reminded them, “We are the eyes and ears” of the local homeless situation.
Mayfair and Schmidt are active members in the church, and spend time daily at The Branches in the Village Shoppes of Rio Grande.
McWilliams said part of the course study was reading stories of homelessness reported in the Herald.
Seven years ago the church membership decided to offer coffee and conversation so those in need could “get out of the heat and cold” and simply talk to someone. The center is presently open daily, except Sunday from 9:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. It serves breakfast and lunch, and dinner when a Code Blue is declared by the county Office of Emergency Management. Timing gives the homeless an opportunity to call in at 6 p.m. to secure a room for the night in a motel that will accept county vouchers.
“We don’t ask questions, make no judgements,” said Mayfair of the clients.
That totally volunteer staff for the organization that accepts no government funding,  differs from the county, which is controlled by strict mandates from state and federal departments that provide funding.
Gabor explained that each homeless person who is afforded one night in a motel is expected to report the next day for an interview at Social Services in Rio Grande. If they do not appear, they lose their ability to get shelter for six months.
Devaney added that state and federal departments seek different ways to combat homelessness. The federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) seeks permanent housing, she said. The state provides temporary housing for shelter, which many call a voucher program.
Students were provided with a sheet that showed number of homeless in the county from 2004 to 2015. Those numbers, which admittedly may seem low, are done on a specific day. Often, on that day, the homeless do not want to be counted, fearing strangers, and disappear, and thus cannot be counted.
In 2015, it showed 98 homeless individuals, 19 families with dependent children with a total of 59, thus 157 were counted as homeless.
Mayfair said The Branches provides “Up to 60 meals” daily. Some are in their 20s while elders may be in their 70s or 80s, she said. “Not everyone is a wealthy retiree in Cape May County,” said Schmidt.
Some may need a meal to stretch their budget. Others may need to talk with someone about a problem or medical condition. Mayfair said they called 911 recently for a homeless man who  was ill “and would have died” had they not taken that action.
One of the students asked if it was illegal for the homeless to live in tents on state land or private property. “They’re not worried about reality,” said Mayfair. She cited the night before Thanksgiving.
Many were chased from a wooded area behind Joe Canal’s in Rio Grande.
If they trespass on private property, and the owner does not want them there, or if there is a health or safety hazard, the homeless can be removed.
“People are very resourceful,” said Schmidt. “They go underground” meaning they can disappear when they do not want to be seen.
In rural locations, such as locally, it is “easier to fly under the radar screen. You can live off the land. You don’t need to go to a store and buy things,” Schmidt said.
Gabor added that, while the county is limited in what it can do, there have been times when food and clothing drives were undertaken at county facilities to aid the homeless or indigent. She cited the work done by faith-based groups, which help the homeless and do what government cannot.
There is still no state approval of an agreement with Atlantic City Rescue Mission, which can counsel homeless and offer other aid, Gabor said. Such assistance is not available for those housed in a motel room, she said.