TOMS RIVER – Many point to Ocean County’s homelessness crisis and argue that the missing piece is a year-round shelter. While shelters are designed to provide emergent refuge, participants at a recent Ocean County Homelessness Trust Fund task force meeting pointed to a broader challenge. The lack of affordable housing makes it incredibly difficult to transition people once temporary options end.
That theme shaped a detailed discussion as county officials, nonprofit providers, advocates, and members of the public gathered in person and virtually for the meeting, chaired by Brick Township Administrator Joanne Bergin.
The task force includes representatives from nonprofit service providers as well as municipalities with the highest numbers of people experiencing homelessness. Bergin and Lakewood Township Administrator Robert Lawson will continue to serve on the panel. Toms River, which has been identified as having the county’s largest unhoused population, will not have a representative after township officials did not submit the required reappointment paperwork.
A Fund Created To Fill In The Gaps
The Homelessness Trust Fund was established in 2023 after the Ocean County Board of Commissioners adopted an ordinance creating a dedicated funding stream to address homelessness and housing instability. The fund is supported through a $5 surcharge on most recorded documents and was intended to give the county greater flexibility than many state and federal programs allow.
When the ordinance was adopted, then‑Commissioner Bobbi Jo Crea said a county‑run trust fund would allow officials to respond to real‑world circumstances that do not fit neatly into traditional funding categories.
“It is far from one size fits all,” Crea said at the time. “This allows us to help people who were not previously eligible for services.”
Under state law, however, Homelessness Trust Fund dollars cannot be used to build or operate a shelter. The fund is limited to homelessness prevention, stabilization services, and permanent housing placement.
Since its creation, the Homelessness Trust Fund has grown steadily through monthly surcharge deposits collected by the Ocean County Clerk’s Office. Financial records show the fund carried over $252,962 at the end of 2024 and exceeded $500,000 by December 2025.
In September 2025, the Ocean County Board of Commissioners approved a $180,000 contract with the Affordable Housing Alliance to provide housing assistance and support services using trust fund dollars. The agreement covers a 12-month period and funds services only as long as money remains available.
Dennis LoGiudice, program manager for homeless services at the Affordable Housing Alliance, used that contract to illustrate the fund’s limits. During his presentation, he said the $180,000 allocation supports about 14 families, with funds spread across security deposits, short-term rental assistance, housing navigation, case management, and stabilization services.
LoGiudice was joined by Martika Bell, case manager for homeless prevention and re-housing at the Affordable Housing Alliance, who outlined eligibility requirements tied to trust fund assistance. Those include coordinated entry enrollment, verification of homelessness, income and employment documentation, and a sustainability review to determine whether households can maintain rent once assistance ends.
The presentation reinforced a point raised repeatedly during the meeting. While the trust fund was created to provide flexibility and early intervention, its reach is ultimately constrained by housing availability and finite dollars in a county where affordable units remain scarce.
‘There Is Just No Housing Out There’
As discussion turned from funding to outcomes, Glen McDonald of Homes For All focused on what happens when families are ready for placement.
“The reality of the situation is there is not housing available,” McDonald said. “I am a not for profit landlord and more than happy to help. The problem is, I’m 110% occupied – people, if they’re in there, they’re not leaving.”
McDonald said providers routinely work with households who meet every program requirement but cannot find available units at prices landlords are willing to accept.
A separate portion of the presentation focused on people currently sheltered in county-funded hotel rooms after being displaced from encampments at Toms River’s Winding River Park and the Toms River parking garage.
Jennifer Hakim of Monarch Associates’ Ending Homelessness Group walked the task force through a demographic and placement snapshot drawn from outreach data collected since the encampments were cleared. The charts showed that the hotel population spans a wide age range, with the largest concentration among adults in their 40s, 50s, and early 60s. While some individuals reported employment income, others rely on disability benefits, Social Security, or have no documented income at all.
“Due to funding issues, we had to start removing people from the motel,” said Hakim. “Most of the people that were removed from the motel were from the Toms River parking garage.”
Hakim said outreach teams remain in contact with most of those individuals and continue to search for permanent housing. Some people transitioned to the warming center, apartments, medical or behavioral health facilities, or temporary housing with friends or family. Others declined shelter options and remain outside or in vehicles, while a small number are incarcerated or could not be located. As of the meeting, 27 people remained in county-funded hotels, most from the Winding River encampment, and the majority remain actively engaged in housing searches.
Public comment during the meeting reflected growing concern about how homelessness services are coordinated across Ocean County. One speaker urged stronger collaboration among county agencies, municipalities, and nonprofit providers to reduce duplication and gaps in care.
That point was underscored by remarks from a woman who identified herself as a nurse and said she is currently homeless.
“I don’t have any continuity of housing or support in the system,” she shared. “So, it’s not a hypothetical. It’s happening. It’s true. I’m just wondering how people can access what is available.”
Her comments served as a reminder that while data and funding guide policy decisions, the consequences of housing shortages are experienced in deeply personal ways, often by people who do not fit common stereotypes of homelessness.
“Unfortunately, there’s so much stigma attached to homelessness,” acknowledged Rose Marie Bulbach, Assistant Director of Ocean County Human Services. “We need to get rid of the stigma. Until people can see that this is really affecting a lot of people, and the more people that know about it, the more people we can help.”
