By Michael Benavides
Staff Writer
HOWELL – Some residents of Howell have taken it upon themselves to provide food and supplies to people who are living in an encampment in a wooded area off Route 9 south.
Township Council members recently passed a resolution acknowledging and approving the situation and naming a nonprofit organization to run the site.
Mayor Theresa Berger said acknowledging and approving the site was the correct action for municipal officials to take.
“It was the right thing to do. The people living in the camp are all working, but still cannot afford to rent or purchase a home or apartment at this time. This camp is a transitional step to that goal,” Berger said.
Council members selected the Rev. Steve Brigham, the founder of the nonprofit organization Destiny’s Bridge of Lakewood, to maintain liability insurance for the site and to oversee day-to-day operations at the location.
Brigham said Howell residents have been very helpful by donating supplies to the seven residents of the site. He said up to 15 people can live there.
“The residents have been a tremendous help already,” Brigham said, adding that donations of canned goods (hearty soups are especially needed) and water would be most appreciated.
Brigham said Destiny’s Bridge will be responsible for providing portable toilets and for removing garbage from the site. He said he is working to make the location more structured.
He said he hopes to introduce the residents to more sustainable living that could include an organic garden and chickens.
Brigham said anyone who seeks permission to live at the site will be screened by himself and by a Destiny’s Bridge board member, Kasturi DasGupta, who is a professor of sociology at Georgian Court University, Lakewood.
Brigham said gardening supplies such as shovels, rakes and hoes are needed. He may be reached at 732-364-0340.
