Group Meets Van Drew, Hopes for Change

COURT HOUSE – The illegal drug epidemic, poverty, homelessness and lack of Social Services were just some of the topics covered in a community meeting held with Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-1st) Feb. 19. The meeting was organized by Sharon Kane of Villas, who was frustrated over some of the problems many face in Cape May County.
Kane wrote Van Drew in January asking that he organize a meeting for citizens of Cape May County to meet with officials to discuss concerns. She had a petition signed by more than 120 residents who also want to see changes in the county.
“The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the deficiency of beneficial programs that a large portion of our county so desperately needs,” Kane said. “The lack of resources and funding of programs geared towards assisting low-income residents is in dire need of change. Year-round residents are often ignored. Crime rates and drug addiction are at an alarming rate within the county. I believe this to be as a result of high unemployment, lack of opportunities and resources, inadequate counseling and an overall poor quality of well-being.”
Kane added that the county has one of the highest rates of suicide in the state.
“We also have the unpleasant stigma and negative reputation due to the increased crime, drug addiction and drug-related deaths,” Kane said. “There is no coincidence that the lack of resources often leads to acts of desperate measures. Our homeless are put up in vacant motels until the tourist season begins and then what happens to them? Local food banks are always on the brink of depletion. Families have been on the waiting list (now closed) for housing assistance for more than five years.”
Van Drew said he is well aware of all the problems facing the county but that it would take a lot to make significant changes.
“Cape May County is the most beautiful county in New Jersey but the problem is businesses thrive here for just 12 weeks a year,” Van Drew said. “Lack of opportunity and despair are all too prevalent in parts of South Jersey and Cape May County, some folks feel that there is no hope and no future. We have higher unemployment, less services, and less opportunity. All these factors contribute to despair, greater drug use, more violence, and alcoholism. This is a seasonal economy with a tremendous lack of year round full-time employment. So often our young people leave to find employment and opportunity in other parts of the state or in other states. That’s unacceptable.”
Van Drew said it is important for him to meet with constituents, real people with real problems.
“Too often other senators just meet with their staff and other senators,” Van Drew said. “Politicians try to imagine what real people are going through but never really sit down with them and listen. I want to listen, learn and understand. Meeting with people keeps me grounded. Sharon’s letter expressed so many of the concerns that so many people in South Jersey and Cape May County share. I hoped that by listening, that I would know and understand the challenges that many of my constituents are facing and experiencing every singe day.”
Kane wrote to Van Drew out of years of frustration and was surprised to receive a phone call from him on Super Bowl Sunday, saying he would organize a meeting.
“I hoped that the meeting raised awareness and brought these issues to the forefront,” Kane said. “Something needs to be done. Tourism is the top priority here and I understand that. But the low-income population is the dead last in priority. But what officials fail to realize is that we have to take care of low-income people because without help, resources and opportunities that low-income population grows and grows and before you know it, it can have an adverse effect that can blemish the tourism factor. Letting the poor turn into slums and not feeding people will only increase homelessness, crime and cause desperation. How will that look to tourists?”
Darlene Tschopp of Wildwood attended the meeting and talked about lack of positive things for children to do in Cape May County.
“There’s nothing for the young people that doesn’t cost money,” Tschopp said. “Kids don’t have a way to positively occupy themselves so they turn to hanging out or drugs. With unemployment so high, I think kids don’t see a way out so they do leave the county when they can.”
Jennifer Smith of North Cape May is concerned about the power Children & Family Services has in the county. She claimed the department’s involvement in her family had created more problems than previously.
“If I can’t make a change for myself, I wanted to come to the meeting to maybe help others in my situation,” Smith said. “Others after me may benefit.”
Van Drew said he is committed to working hard on these issues and will be initiating a legislative process to have an open, honest, public conversation about all the issues addressed at the meeting.
“We need to study what other states and regions are doing about similar problems,” Van Drew said. “We need to aggressively incentivize businesses to come here. We need to fight harder for better services in ‘deep South Jersey.’ It is painful to see people in despair, without hope, and drug addicted. We can and must work our hardest to do better.”
For more information or to sign the petition, “Concerned Citizens for a Positive Change in Cape May County,” go to: http://goo.gl/Ln0MF1.
To contact Debra Rech, email drech@cmcherald.com.