This was the reality that was presented to "Sam," a 70-year-old homeless man living in the forest in Lakewood Township, New Jersey. Sam was a part of "Tent City," a homeless encampment where between 80-120 individuals have stayed at any given time over the past decade, on so-called public land in Lakewood.
These individuals were making the best of their situation by erecting tents and shelters in the woods instead of sleeping on park benches and relying on welfare housing and government subsidies.
After years of threats, the local authorities of Lakewood Township finally had Tent City closed down, and all residents evicted from the forest. The homes that existed there - some for years - were ripped to the ground using heavy machinery.
"Can I watch?" asked Sam, when his home - a wood-framed shelter covered with tarps - was destroyed. Sam's lip trembled as he stood next to the public servants overseeing the demolition. It was an emotional sight.
Sam's plight - and those of Lakewood's Tent City - are being featured in an upcoming documentary called Destiny's Bridge. The producers added some detail about the above footage in a post on their Facebook page:
Tent City was founded by Minister Steve Brigham, who lives with the homeless to help them deal with their emotional and spiritual needs. He has often cited that the homeless problem is exacerbated by government zoning laws and inhumane policies that target the homeless.There are a lot of questions about why Sam's house in the woods was demolished. This documentary Destiny's Bridge is about a homeless community, known as Tent City in Lakewood, NJ. There were 80 people like Sam who were living in this homeless camp for up to 8 years. Lakewood Township filed a lawsuit to have everyone evicted. With the help of a great lawyer, who donated his time to the homeless cause, they reached a settlement. Lakewood agreed to supply housing to all the residents of Tent City for one year in exchange for evicting everyone and demolishing all the structures.
Sam now lives in a motel just a few minutes away from Tent City. He hates living there and has told people that it is drug infested. Sam has been living in the woods a long time before Tent City and he represents a growing population of people who want to be left alone and live off the grid. It is most likely that he will go back into the woods where he is happy and at peace. He is 70 years old and he is a smart, hard working interesting man who doesn't drink or do drugs.
"The townships have created ordinances that say you have to have so much property before you can build a house," Minister Steve said before attentive Tent City residents. "And what that does, is that chases out the poor person."
In fact, Lakewood authorities have created ordinances that effectively make it illegal to be homeless. It makes it a crime to sleep anywhere than inside a home.
When Tent City was being harassed with threats of closure, one homeless man named Alex Libman took a pillow and a protest sign to the downtown square. He was arrested, charged with obstruction of justice, and placed in the Ocean County Jail with bail set at $2,500.
"Destiny's Bridge is about a homeless minister that is trying to change the way we house homeless people in this country," said film producer Jack Ballo. "He believes that as Americans, everyone has the right to build a home that they can afford, and that zoning laws throughout this country are designed to keep out poor people and homeless people by making it illegal to build small, affordable, eco-friendly houses."
The documentary footage (trailer below) is complete but is still in need of funding for final edits and completion of the soundtrack. If you would like to help, please send donations here.
The U.S. (and the world) is sick with a virus. I have hope though. In nature, everything is relative to everything else, you just need the eyes to perceive it. As with any viral infection, it always seems the worst when the virus is nearly overcome then the fever breaks all of a sudden. Most likely it will get far worse before it all is overcome. We are transitioning into a 'world of absolute freedom' and the men who seemingly have all the power are struggling to hold their grip on this current worldly paradigm to keep their vision of order so that they may maintain control, but as any wise man knows, control is an illusion. With the vast network of communication available to more and more people, the truth shall not be concealed for much longer. The storm clouds that lay overhead of all of us are beginning to show areas of clearing allowing the light of truth to shine through. This process must take its time to allow for smooth healing, otherwise there will be what is known as a 'healing crisis', in which the healing process forces itself onto the body so quickly that it feels as if the sickness has taken a turn for a futile outcome. Most likely a 'healing crisis' is exactly what is needed.