Residents of Tent City Incorporate!

Tent City Residents Incorporate Homeless Shelter Concept

A group of homeless residents from Lakewood’s Tent City have a plan.   Uncertain of their future, that now lies in the hands of the officials of Lakewood Township, some of the residents of Tent City are hoping to secure their own destiny.  Their vision is a homeless shelter that is modeled from their own experience of living in the woods for seven years in a New Jersey town that has been trying to evict them since June of 2010.  “It could costs taxpayers up to$1,000,000 to house the 100 homeless residents of Tent City for just one year” said Tent City founder, Minister Steve Brigham.  “We can cut those costs dramatically under a program that relies on self-sustainability.”                                       

This new homeless shelter concept is called Destiny’s Bridge.  Instead of spending millions of dollars on temporary housing costs for the homeless, a group of Tent City residents want to see funding going towards rehabilitation.  Destiny’s Bridge would be a homeless community setting similar to Lakewood’s Tent City but located in a remote area.  The three phase concept starts with providing shelter, clothing and food followed by counseling and job training.  The final phase would be affordable housing.

The goal of Destiny’s Bridge would be to have homeless residents live in a community that would be self-sufficient as residents learn trades that would sustain the homeless shelter.  Destiny’s Bridge has already become an incorporated non-profit organization with seven Board of Directors meeting on a regular basis. 

Ultravision Filmmaker Jack Ballo has produced a documentary about Destiny’s Bridge and the plight of the homeless of Tent City which will premier in Red Bank at the Two River Theater, August. 7, 7pm.  Tickets are $12 at the door, $11.33 at Destinysbridge.com.