Mayor Ray Coles said Lakewood cut down trees in Red Town Square on Aug. 8 to deter the homeless, but advocates say section 8 housing vouchers are not straightforward.
The continued dearth of available housing, particularly that which is designated as affordable, coupled with New Jersey's still-high unemployment rate compared with the rest of the United States post-COVID, makes for a unique and hard-to-solve problem.
More than 300 staffers across 66 New Jersey organizations providing direct social services in the area of homelessness prevention have received the training so far.
Serving 300,000 New Jerseyans annually, Catholic Charities provides assistance to residents seeking counseling for behavioral health or addiction, or who may be facing homelessness, food insecurity, or lack of access to proper clothing.
Every winter since 2014, seasonal outerwear has shown up from time to time atop the heads and around the necks of the historical statues on the Morristown Green.