There are at least 50 residents in the tent city of Lakewood, NJ, and that number is quickly rising.
During a time when our country is struggling economically, it’s very difficult for many of us to keep up certain payments. For a group of homeless people with nowhere to go and no hope, the only option is the woods.
Yes, the woods!
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A place with no heat, food, protection, or shelter. However, it’s the only place to go.
Jeff Wild is a lawyer for the Lowenstein Sandler Firm and a member of Barnert Temple. Jeff is the former chairman of the “Our Neighbors” sub-committee. Also, Jeff’s support for the homeless goes along with the constant theme of “Social Action” at Barnert.
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The definition of “social action” is a person’s selfless reaction to benefit another in some way. That is exactly what Jeff does. Jeff advocates for the residents of the tent cities on a pro-bono basis. He feels that the government has an obligation to house all homeless, starting with the people of Lakewood. Jeff has worked over 300 hours on this case and will not give up until all the 50 residents are placed in homes.
One night in Toms River, he saw a mother and her two children pleading to be put in a shelter for the night. That evening the temperature was going to be in the single digits. Jeff saw this family being turned away. He quickly reacted by bringing them in his car and finding them shelter.
As Jeff explains, this is just one of many examples that he has witnessed. A major misconception is that all these homeless people are lazy or criminals.
Jeff says that he doesn’t know one person from the tent city that is lazy. There is a man there that was once a millionaire, he happened to go through some very tough times, economically and socially and ended up homeless. Jeff and his team are trying to make the conditions of these temporary tent cities more livable and humane.
Barnert Congregants can help by donating water, non-perishable goods and monetary contributions. If you would like to help or volunteer your services, contact Jeff Wild at jwild@lowenstein.com.