TOMS RIVER – Bright Harbor Healthcare is planting more than crops on a farm along Silverton Road.
The Ocean County nonprofit is launching Salt Bridge Farm this summer as a transitional housing and training program for young adults who are experiencing homelessness or housing instability, offering them something few have been given before: time to grow.
The project represents a shift from traditional shelter or apartment-based models. Instead of focusing solely on emergency housing, Salt Bridge Farm is structured as a phased, long-term environment where young people can learn how to live independently while building skills, confidence, and a sense of belonging.
Bright Harbor CEO Kim Veith describes the farm’s name as both literal and symbolic. “We wanted to bring in the part about bridge housing and what that was going to mean,” she said during a recent tour of the property. “We also liked the salt element, as far as salt of the earth. It’s an enduring element.”
Salt Bridge Farm is intended to serve young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 who face barriers to stable housing. That includes individuals who have aged out of foster care, those with mental health challenges, and young people in early recovery from substance use. Many have never experienced consistent adult guidance or a stable home environment.
Rather than operating as a short-term shelter, the farm is built as a multi-phase program that allows residents to progress at their own pace.
Phase One, scheduled to open July 1, will house five to six residents in a renovated single-family home. The house includes bedrooms, shared bathrooms, a kitchen, dining space, and common living areas. A house manager will live on site to provide structure, accountability, and support.
Future phases are already planned. The neighboring house will be converted into apartment-style units, allowing for more independence. A third phase will eventually include tiny homes on the expanded acreage behind the houses.
Residents are expected to spend approximately six months in Phase One and up to a year in Phase Two, depending on individual needs and progress. Even after moving on, Bright Harbor plans to maintain long-term connections.
What A Farm Represents
Veith said the decision to build the program around a working farm grew out of years of experience in mental health and social services, and a belief that growth often happens outside traditional clinical settings.
Participants in the program will be involved in animal rescue, farming, and vocational training. The property will house chickens, goats, sheep, and rescue dogs and cats. Plans include greenhouses, planting areas, and hydroponic growth. While the model is new to Ocean County, similar farm-based residential programs have been tried in other parts of the country.
“There has to be investment in the land, in watching the process and trusting the process,” Veith said. “How you tend the land is, in some ways, a reflection of what your challenges may be.”
Salt Bridge Farm is intentionally designed to avoid rigid eligibility criteria tied to diagnoses or funding categories. Instead, Bright Harbor plans to accept referrals from a wide range of sources, including schools, social service agencies, and the broader community.
Residents will help shape their own daily routines based on personal goals. The program is rooted in a philosophy that emphasizes strengths over shortcomings.
“There’s a quote we live by,” Veith said. “‘Amplified strength is far better than marginally improved weakness.’ We all have things we’re not great at. Why focus only on that when we can help people find what they do well?”
Training Through Partnership
Salt Bridge Farm is being developed in collaboration with multiple partners. Bright Harbor is working with Ocean County Vocational Technical School and higher education institutions, including Rutgers University’s agricultural program.
Plans include hands-on training opportunities in construction, farming, veterinary assistance, and culinary arts.
“We just received an award from Ocean County to build a teaching kitchen,” Veith said. “It will be a place where food grown on the farm can be used to teach skills and give back to the community.”
The farm is also expected to host students from vocational and college programs, creating an environment where learning flows in multiple directions.
From the beginning, Salt Bridge Farm was designed with long-term sustainability in mind.
Bright Harbor purchased two adjacent properties for approximately $2 million, spending about $1 million on each site. The Young Adult Bridge Housing project received initial backing from Ocean County’s distribution of American Rescue Plan Act federal funding. Veith said the project was structured to avoid reliance on long-term operating subsidies.
Operating costs will be covered through a mix of resident contributions, program-based funding, and targeted grants. Some residents will be supported through sober living or recovery-related programs, with assistance from organizations such as Sea Change and Hope Sheds Light. Others will contribute rent directly, once licensing requirements are finalized.
“When you have the house manager model, what’s really necessary are things like electricity and basic operating costs,” Veith said. “That’s what they pay into.”
The farm itself is expected to generate modest revenue over time through produce, flowers, and educational programming. Bright Harbor is exploring options such as flower sales, community-supported agriculture, and training-based partnerships.
The overarching goal is to keep the housing affordable and insulated from market pressures.
“For housing to prevent homelessness, housing has to be affordable,” Veith said. “We have to build it, manage it, and keep it outside of the market.”
The idea to locate Salt Bridge Farm on Silverton Road traces back to Toms River Council Vice President Tom Nivison, whose nearby farm helped spark the project.
“He’s the whole reason that we bought this,” Veith said. “We went to talk with him about farming in general, and he said, ‘That’s for sale across the street. Why don’t you go talk to her?’”
The former owner, a retired teacher, agreed to sell after learning about Bright Harbor’s vision. “She said her husband would be so honored to have this land continue to be a place where kids grow,” Veith said.
