Out of the Woodwork

This happens all the time. I think I will follow through with a blog, and then it becomes stagnant. Well, I guess I shouldn't make promises to myself anymore because I think that's the reason my blogs tend to die off. No pressure= more productivity.

I went to start filming my mini-documentary on tent city off clover today, and it went great. There are so many beautiful people there and I am so happy to know and feel close to them. Nina invited me in for a vegetarian cabbage meal, which is where I met Patrick, a Guyana native, who gave me tips on gardening. He said he would bring me string bean seeds to plant, which are from Guyana, and grow up to four feet long!

Patrick has a 29-year-old son who still lives in Guyana, and said he wired $2,000 American dollars there, which enabled his son to build a concrete 3-story house. He said $2,000 American dollars is equal to $20,000 (that's right, 20 THOUSAND) Guyanese dollars. Knowing this, it's no wonder there are tent cities in America. $2,000 would get you just a portion of the materials needed to build a 3-story concrete house.

Also present was a church group, Outreach Red Bank, whose members were splitting logs for the camp. A huge truck came and dumped the logs which is which the camp really needs at this point in time. When I was leaving I noticed a group of kids going in, possibly another church group, to check out the camp. It seems the camp is getting more exposure than ever after being featured as a special report in the Asbury Park Press not too long ago.

I'm going back tomorrow, Sunday, to film what church is like at tent city and to get some testimonials from residents with regards to their living situation. The court hearings have begun between the township and the camp, the next one being Monday, March 14th, and I will be attending to show my full support of the camp. I encourage anyone who feels the same to come as well.

Until next time, just remember our brothers and sisters who have been swallowed by the system.

Rally Rally

Check out my video from New Labor's Wage Theft Rally:



Don't worry, my camera made it through the rest of the day ;).

Billions Stolen From Millions

This Thursday, November 18th, is National Day Of Action Against Wage Theft and there is a rally happening right in town. A company in the Lakewood industrial park owes upwards of $60,000 to about 20 workers. New Labor is organizing a rally this Thursday to protest this injustice.

Minister Steve and I are meeting with a member of New Labor on Wednesday to create protest signs and talk about the action. I hope to document the whole event with my film camera for my broadcast journalism class.

Everyone is encouraged to attend and stand up for the rights of these workers. We need to show these companies that stealing from workers who need to support themselves and their families will not be tolerated.

Please check out this important video:

Updates, and the Pros and Cons of Sustainability

I really wanted some new photos to go with my next post, but words will have to do as my camera fell by the wayside in terms of functionability.

There have been some updates at tent city such as eight new shanties that were built by a church group out of Hamilton in one day. They are cozy little homesteads and are just in time for the upcoming cold weather. Not only that, there were about seven wood-burning stoves that were donated as well. 

Minister Steve and I have been running errands every Tuesday such as picking up donations, and purchasing lumber to build structures for the camp. The next project is to build a community center for everyone to enjoy.

Minister Steve drives an old school bus which is perfect for picking up the aggregate donations and supplies he needs for the camp. Being that the holidays are coming up, donations are being called in left and right. It's amazing what the holiday season can do to a person.....I just wish people would use that frame of mind every day and not just because it's the "giving season". I don't like that trend.

I have been looking into windmills for the camp, but it's very hard to find one that fits the camp's needs. From the research I've done, it seems that the wind speed in Lakewood doesn't climb over 28 mph very often which is the needed speed for a windmill we were looking into. Juan, one of the camp's residents, has purchased a solar panel kit from Harbor Freight which gives some electricity for things such as charging cell phones. Not too far away, my university (Georgian Court) has just installed there own solar panels, 816 of them to be exact, to remain committed to sustainability. This shows that it doesn't matter if you're a university or a resident living in a homeless camp, sustainability is key in all areas of life.

On the other hand, Minister Steve brought up a good point. These sustainable practices are all well and good, but what happens when we deplete our resources so much so, that even the materials for creating things such as batteries and inverters aren't available anymore? That means no more solar panels. There needs to be something more organic in mind for creating a more sustainable future, and I believe it goes beyond the "go green" trend and cutting-edge technology that is being implemented today.

Sad But True

 

Homeless people are looked at as eyesores in communities, especially to township officials. 

The previous mayor of Lakewood, Robert Singer, once said that tent cities are "illegal and can pose safety, sanitary and environmental issues", also saying they should move to "proper accommodations". 

That's funny considering there is not one homeless shelter in Ocean County, and rotating the homeless in and out of motels is not exactly my idea of "proper accommodations".

It's not until the homeless are given chances they truly believe are worth taking that anything is going to change. Would you want to be put through the system just to be spat back out where you started? Why bother packing up your things?

I've been to public meetings and have listened to horror stories. One homeless woman who has children was put up in a motel, but it took over a week for the system to get her any food stamps. If it wasn't for the kindness of activists and food donors, her family would have been starving. It seems to me that wrap-around services, don't really wrap around much at all.

It may not be the best way to live, I understand that. There are alcoholics, and probably people with drug problems. I understand that, too. But I am going to continue to support the residents of tent city because what they stand for is so much more important than the notion that what they are doing is illegal. 

Permanence.

Back To Basics

Being that this is the first post of this blog, I would like to give a brief background of the tent city I am documenting in Lakewood, NJ.

Minister Steve Brigham, Outreach Ministry Church, started out helping homeless people in Toms River before turning his attention to the notion that if such calamity exists in Toms River, Lakewood too, must have homeless people. By setting people up with the basic necessities of life such as a tent and propane stove, Brigham was the catalyst for better living conditions for those without a place to call their own.

The tent city I am documenting is commonly referred to as the "KP site" based on its proximity to the Kennedy projects apartment complex across the street off Chambers Bridge Road and Clover. Homeless people have been living in the woods in Lakewood for over ten years, but the KP site is just a few years old. They have resorted to such primitive living conditions based on the fact that there are no homeless shelters in Ocean County.

The KP site has become quite extraordinary in the way it operates. The camp has (to name a few):

• a makeshift bathroom complete with a sealed toilet
• the ability to provide hot showers for its residents by running groundwater through a water heater.
• washer and dryer
• fresh veggies from the summer garden
• wild blueberries (due to this summer's dry condition, blueberries were scarce). 
• garbage disposal. The township has even included them in waste management, so yes, they too get their garbage picked up on garbage day.

Some residents have unified to perform tasks that make the camp run like a small commune, whether that includes chopping wood or helping plant a garden. Minister Steve offers rides to anyone who may need to get around, or the bus is easily available.

The township of Lakewood has continuously threatened to shut the camp down numerous times, sparked by a few incidents involving propane tanks. It is a mystery as to if and when anything will come into fruition. It seems to me that it is a burden not having a homeless shelter in Ocean County, and just rotating the homeless in and out of motels just to end up where they started is a shoddy attempt at sequestering homelessness.

 Nina, a Polish resident, cooking feta

Glimpse of tepees, chopped wood.

So if you are driving into Lakewood via Chambers Bridge Road, once you hit Clover take a quick look to your left. You will get a peek at a world where the chronic homeless survive the best way they know how.