I am Nathaniel and I am 10 years old. I had an extroidinary experience at Tent City Lakewood. Tent City was so different than I thought. I thought that Tent City was going to be a bunch of homeless people that are always talking about how their life is so terrible and how they want to die. Also,, I thought that they would be so lazy and do anything but sit and sit and sit. I though that they would be like hobos and site by a fire in a metal can all day.
Now you know what I though Tent City would be, so I’ll tell you what it’s actually like. I have to start by saying that tent City is not a lot of hobos that sit by a fire all day. It’s the opposit. Tent City is actually a very active place. Right now, Trinity Bible Church and some other churches and people that live in Tent City like Adam are helping to build a water tower.
Tent City people love to have people come and vitit them, unlike hobos. They love to have someone talk to them. There are some really nice people there, like Dave who likes to tease me. Tent City is like a town of people that work hard to keep it that way. Tent City is an amazing place with people that like their life even if it is hard to live there.
There is the lesson I learned from Tent City. It is safe and the people there are nice. The lesson is even if times are hard, you don’t have to get depressed and hope to die. I have to say one thing and it is, Tent City is an awesome experience for me.
Open Eyes Open Hearts is a small grass roots movement whose primary purpose is to bring awareness to what is going on in your backyard. We haven’t wrote a mission statement yet, on the list, but in general our goal is to get people to their eyes every now and then. Once your eyes are open, what do you see? Well if you see something that you can help with even if it is for a minute, well maybe it is time to step up to the plate. We have many plans for our little venture here to bring awareness to what is going on in our country and our backyard, right now our eyes are on Tent City in Lakewood, NJ. We are going out this weekend to start work on a small water tower project. We have teamed up with Trinity Bible Church to help with this little project. Open Eyes Open Heart is not affiliated with any organization, but we know we can not do it alone, so we get help wherever we can and are very thankful for Trinity and it’s assistance in the effort. We named this little outreach Intensity (In Tent City), our goal is to start with little small projects and continue with donations as we receive them in an effort to assist the homeless in tent city nj. It has come to our attention that there are many different organizations involved with service to tent city, but giving is definitely seasonal, winter being the heaviest donation time because of Christmas. Knowing that we are striving to keep a year round effort to assist the 70 homeless people that live here.
The water tower project consists building an elevated platform for a 500 gallon water tank that was previously donated. The tank has been sitting there for an unknown time, and needs to be elevated to be put in use. The community has a make shift well that they put in by hand that has a pump attached to it. So we are going to connect the well to the tank so that they can have some gravity fed water pressure to help the residents have easier access to water. Unfortunately the water isn’t potable, that we know of (needs to be tested), but it is sufficient for cleaning, showers, and the like. We will keep everyone informed of our efforts and as always you can make donations to Tent City directly if your heart so moves you.
Our church made a visit to Tent City in Lakewood, New Jersey and it was a real eye opener. I am not sure what I expected, a mish mash of individuals living in generally the same area perhaps? Each person going their own way and doing their own thing? Instead, what I found was a full blown community of people trying to make the best of a very rough situation. I met skilled laborers, veterans, mothers, and former professionals; all with one thing in common…things got bad….things got worse…and now they have nowhere to go.
The group of about 70 residents is made up of all walks of life who have fallen on hard times and are unable to get out. There are people here who are willing and able to work, and when asked what we could bring down to help, the most common request was jobs. Those that are working are just not making enough per hour to support an apartment and utilities. The result, a group of people that are trapped in a tough cycle and living the best way they can.
They have organized, with the help of Steven Brigham, a community complete with a church and organized list of jobs that need to be done. They chop wood for fuel and erect plywood buildings to try to beat the winter’s blast. They use donated food and clothing as well as household items to create home for themselves and work together to form a community.
The group is currently facing many legal battles, but with the help of Jeff Wild, an attorney working pro-bono for the community, the group is able to stay on the property for the time being. Now, many would understand not wanting a “Tent City” in your neighborhood, but the reality of the situation is that these people have no place to go. Until there is a better solution, we have to use whatever resources we can find to help our neighbors get through. If you are interested in helping out, please visit the Lakewood Tent City website for information on needs and ways to help.
According to the Asbury Park Press there way a large drop off of goods to help the homeless in tent city.
“A resident of “Tent City” in Lakewood stands next to Lauren Skolsky (right) on Sunday, when Skolsky distributed supplies as well as money to the homeless there. A day earlier, Skolsky, a 29-year-old Little Egg Harbor resident, coordinated a supply drive and fundraiser at a Beachwood bar. / Photo courtesy of Lauren Skolsky”