Ocean County Is 'Dumping' Homeless In Toms River, Creating Safety Issues, Mayor Reiterates

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Toms River Mayor Daniel Rodrick reiterated his belief that Ocean County officials are "dumping" homeless people into the township to exaggerate the number of homeless people in the county and creating a safety issue in the process.

"They are dropping dozens of mentally ill and drug addicts downtown even after they said they would stop," Rodrick said Tuesday afternoon, after his comments calling the JBJ Soul Kitchen's pop-up cafe a "soup kitchen" that was drawing homeless downtown drew a response from the JBJ Soul Foundation and its founders, Dorothea and Jon Bon Jovi.

The JBJ Soul Kitchen opened a pop-up cafe in the Ocean County Library in February, under an agreement with the Ocean County Board of Commissioners. The cafe is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays.

On Tuesday, Rodrick said there have been repeated incidents downtown involving homeless people, including one Tuesday afternoon where a homeless man attacked a News 12 New Jersey cameraman and another in recent days where someone overdosed on the steps of the Ocean County Library.

Rodrick blamed Ocean County Deputy Commissioner Frank Sadeghi and Commissioner Robert Arace, saying they had promised him in January that the county would no longer bring homeless individuals to the downtown area. "Then in February they approved the soup kitchen," Rodrick said.

"They are trying to create a notion of a homeless problem," he said, alleging the goal is to pave the way for a project that Rodrick alleges would benefit a local developer.

Arace, in response Tuesday, said Rodrick has refused to engage with Ocean County officials on any meaningful long-term solution to assist those who do not have permanent housing.

He acknowledged a discussion with Rodrick regarding the Code Blue warming center on Route 9 that the county opened in the wake of Toms River ending its cooperation with Just Believe Inc. Just Believe had operated a Code Blue center at Toms River's Riverwood Park building for seven years until there was a falling out between the township and Paul Hulse, Just Believe's CEO, last summer.

The county shelter, operated by Collaborative Support Programs of NJ, served 220 people and was open 88 nights during the Code Blue season, Nov. 1 through March 31, a county spokeswoman said.

Arace said Rodrick is refusing to acknowledge the larger problem of the homeless population, which has increased throughout New Jersey.

"This hasn't been going on for three months or a year," Arace said. "This has been going on for 10, 15 years."

According to Monarch Housing Associates, which works to address homelessness across the state, the number of unhoused people rose 28 percent in Ocean County from January 2023 to January 2024, from 434 in 2023 to 556 in 2024. The number of homeless in Ocean County has risen 61 percent since 2020, when 344 homeless people were recorded during the Point In Time count.

Of the 556 people recorded in the Point In Time count on Jan. 23, 2024, 27 percent — 150 — were children under the age of 18, and 19 percent — 105 — were adults 55 or older. There were 72 people who were victims of domestic violence. There were 5 veterans counted among the unhoused, and 43 percent of those lacking permanent housing had one or more disabilities, according to the Point In Time count summary.

Homelessness has been growing across the state in part because of escalating rent prices. According to a recent analysis by Zillow, rent prices in Ocean County have risen to more than $2,900 for a "typical" rental, which it describes as residences in the 35th to 65th percent of the market.

Ocean County officials had been historically unwilling to address the issue of homelessness, and the county has never had a year-round facility to provide shelter, one of the only New Jersey counties without one.

Changes in the board of commissioners led to the creation of the Ocean County Homelessness Trust Fund, where a fee for each document recorded with the county goes to the fund. Some of that money was used to fund the county's Code Blue shelter this winter.

Toms River is the county seat and hosts county offices including Social Services, along with nonprofits that assist those in need, and concerns about homeless people downtown have been an issue for years as well.

The Red Carpet Inn, demolished in 2019, had been a site used by the county to house people in need. Its demolition drew opposition from those who believed the building should have been turned into a shelter, while others opposed putting a shelter downtown, seeing it as a deterrent to creating a vibrant downtown scene.

Arace said the reality is there are people in need of assistance who are homeless through no fault of their own, and said county officials are looking for a long-term solution but said Rodrick has refused to participate.

"He thinks he can just send people away to other towns," Arace said, referring to the dissolution of the homeless encampment in Winding River Park last October.

"I put dozens and dozens of people into housing," Rodrick said of that effort.

Arace disputed those figures, saying Ocean County paid for 40 percent of those who were moved to housing. Of those who used the Code Blue facility on Route 9 over the winter, 37 percent were residents of Toms River., he said, with the rest from other towns in Ocean County.

"We need to sit down and talk about what can be done, but he had no interest in participating," Arace said. He said the county has created a homelessness task force, but said Toms River has not sent a representative to any of the meetings.

"We are still looking for him to participate with us on a solution," Arace said. "What is really the long-term solution here?"

"A time like this calls for leadership, not finger-pointing," he said. "We expect Toms River to be an active part of the solution. Unfortunately, to date, they have shied away from meaningful engagement— choosing political convenience over progress. Toms River officials, like all of us, are elected to represent the values and needs of their constituents."

"We invite Toms River and its leadership to step up, join us at the table, and help craft a real, lasting solution — instead of skirting their obligations for political gain," Arace said.

Rodrick reiterated his belief that the county is bringing people who are not from Toms River into town.

"Mr. Arace should stop trying to distract attention away from the fact that he’s creating a public safety concern where our children visit the library," Rodrick said. "Maybe if he weren't a 30-year-old kid and had some kids of his own he would be a little more understanding of that. He needs to get his head out of his ass."