Under the Boardwalk officials vow to address homelessness in Atlantic City
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.-- In a place with a long history of people living — and sometimes dying — under the Boardwalk, Atlantic City has launched an effort to address homelessness by preventing people from sleeping on public property and connecting them with shelter and services.The effort comes only days after the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled that municipalities can ban homeless encampments, something the city said would support its efforts to address homelessness.It follows an April 19 fire that killed a man in a homeless encampment under the Boardwalk, months after another fire suspected of being started by homeless people burned a section of the boardwalk in front of Resorts casino.The damage has since been repaired.“We cannot claim to be this world-class resort (if) we don't handle the problems that the resort sometimes encounters,” said Mayor Marty Small, a Democrat.The city is implementing plans by its Boardwalk Improvement Group, which includes using state funds to pay for workers, training and equipment to seek out homeless people and offer them help, including transportation back to where they came from.But that offer is often rejected.
Out of about 200 homeless people that city officials encountered since September, only five have accepted an offer to go back home, officials said.Many others refuse help of any kind, said Jarrod Barnes, Atlantic City's director of health and human services.“When that happens, there is nothing we can do,” he said.“We can't force them to accept help.”A tour by city officials of places known to be where homeless people stay was only minutes old when they encountered a disoriented man sprawled across a sidewalk in the midday sun.
An ambulance was called and he was taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation.Not far away, in a vacant lot strewn with empty liquor bottles, two young women, who both described themselves as homeless, acknowledged having been assisted multiple times by city outreach teams.Essence, who would...