Toms River Homeless Forced From Downtown As Heat Index Soars Over 100

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A group of homeless people who have been taking shelter at the Toms River municipal parking garage have been given 48 hours to remove their belongings or risk having them removed, even as warnings of dangerously hot weather sound throughout the area.

A notice distributed Tuesday to the people who have been staying at the garage ordered the removal of all personal items "stored or placed on public property," including the parking garage and any other Toms River-owned public space both at the municipal complex and elsewhere in town.

They have until Thursday to do so, even as Toms River officials said they "appreciate the severe weather conditions that will last until 6/25/25 (Wednesday)," according to the notice. It was distributed a day after residents and local relief groups brought cots to the garage to go along with ice, water and food for those taking shelter there.

Toms River would provide "free transportation of any of these items currently being stored on public property to any private place of shelter or storage facility and unhoused individual has made arrangements with," the notice said.

Ocean County does not have a permanent shelter, one of the only counties in New Jersey without one. Toms River, as the county seat, draws many homeless people because of the central location of access to the county's Board of Social Services, services for veterans and the elderly and more.

The lack of shelter and the short time frame has groups that assist the homeless scrambling to try to come up with a solution to assist those in the garage in finding safe places to go.

Terrance Turnbach, a former Toms River councilman who has been vocal in efforts to assist the homeless in Toms River, said the trouble is there are few options.

Turnbach, speaking by phone Tuesday afternoon, said there are efforts underway to offer 30-day motel stays, paid for by Ocean County, but they are all outside of the county — putting people a long distance from the Ocean County Board of Social Services. There have been few people willing to take that offer because of the distance, Turnbach said.

Sources have told Patch there are efforts underway to create a local space to provide temporary housing, but that is not expected to be ready to launch until Aug. 1.

Tuesday's order is the latest round in what has been a year of accelerating actions by Toms River Township officials, under the direction of Mayor Daniel Rodrick, to try to remove unhoused people from Toms River. It comes after the township sent members of the public works department to remove a bunch of items from the parking garage last Thursday, June 19.

Rodrick said the removal of items was ordered under the authority of the township's Streets and Sidewalks ordinance, which says items can be removed if they "endanger or inconvenience persons lawfully using or having the right to use the public sidewalk, street or highway; make noise or is the source of noise ... or endanger the safety of person or property."

That removal happened while a number of people who have been taking shelter at the garage were at an event hosted by the Toms River Housing and Homeless Coalition at the Christ Episcopal Church property that provides showers and haircuts along with connecting those in need to services to try to help them get into housing and back on their feet.

A source who was present for that initial removal said people were given 20 to 30 minutes to collect their belongings, but because people were at the agency day, not everyone was able to do so.

A photo shared on social media showed a shopping cart and several bags in the back of a dumpster. Those items were taken to the Toms River recycling center on Church Road, Turnbach said.

Rodrick also said the removal was a response to "a U-Haul showing up and dumping items every day" at the garage. The U-Haul van was rented by two elderly women who were using it to sleep in and parking it near the garage because they felt safe there, Turnbach said.

Homeless people have taken shelter at the township parking garage for years. It is next to the Ocean County Library and has been shelter from storms during the hours the library is closed.

The number of people staying there has visibly increased in the last several months, and there have been some complaints from residents who feel uncomfortable going into the library or walking downtown. Rodrick has blamed the increase on Ocean County officials and local nonprofit organizations, including Just Believe Inc. and the JBJ Soul Kitchen, accusing county officials in particular of "dumping" homeless people in the downtown.

Turnbach, who was speaking on behalf of Just Believe, said the sharp increase is the result of Rodrick's actions last year of closing the Code Blue shelter at Riverwood Park and forcing people to leave the Destiny's Bridge encampment that had been in the woods at the park.

At the time, Rodrick said the township placed multiple people into temporary housing for the winter, under an agreement reached with attorney Jeffrey Wild, who has worked with Destiny's Bridge and its founder, Steven Brigham, to advocate for the homeless.

Wild has been mentioned as assisting with getting belongings taken Thursday returned. He did not return a message left seeking comment on Tuesday.

"What you are seeing at the garage is because he (Rodrick) cleared the woods without a plan," Turnbach said.

He said the people providing ice, water, food and even the cots are doing so "because the town is doing nothing."

Rodrick has repeatedly dismissed the homeless people in the downtown area as"mentally ill and drug addicts," sparking anger among those advocating to help people in need.

He has threatened legal action against nonprofits that offer assistance, criticizing the JBJ Soul Kitchen's pop-up cafe downtown and deriding it as a soup kitchen. The cafe serves meals to paying customers as well as those in need, four days a week for four hours a day. Read more: Bon Jovi, Wife Push Back On Toms River Mayor's 'Soup Kitchen' Claim

After shutting down the Code Blue shelter at Riverwood Park that had been operated for several years by Just Believe, Rodrick threatened legal action against Ocean County over the county's plan to operate a Code Blue facility in Toms River.

The conflict became more heated in the spring after the cafe opened and as the Toms River Board of Adjustment considered a proposal for a small shelter on the property of Christ Episcopal Church.

The introduction of an ordinance in late April to try to take the Christ Episcopal Church property by eminent domain sharpened the conflict and the anger in the community. Rodrick says it would be to create a large township park, but the move has been widely viewed by the church, the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey and others as retaliation for the proposal to open a homeless shelter.

The church's application was turned down by the zoning board by a 5-2 vote in late May.

At Toms River Township Council meetings, people who are homeless have spoken out, sharing their stories of how they became homeless and how they are trying to get back on their feet. Their stories also were shared during a Voices for the Voiceless rally that was held in front of the Ocean County Library in mid-May, in response to the proposed eminent domain of the church and Rodrick's efforts to get the homeless removed from the downtown area.

Ocean County Commissioner Robert Arace has said the situation with the homeless people in Toms River and the county as a whole requires a well thought-out approach. There is a county committee that includes officials from all over Ocean County who are trying to come up with long-term solutions to help those in need.

Toms River officials have not participated in the committee, Arace said and sign-in sheets for the committee meetings show.

"It's going to take everyone working together to find a long-term solution," Arace said.

Turnbach said Toms River business administrator Jonathan Salonis confronted a Just Believe volunteer on Tuesday as the volunteer was bringing ice and water to the parking garage and checking on those staying there.

"What you're doing is wrong," the volunteer quoted Salonis as saying. "If what I'm doing is wrong, then have me arrested," he told Salonis, according to Turnbach. Toms River police were called shortly afterward, but there were no arrests.

"These people have nowhere to go," Turnbach said.