City outreach workers and police officers try to help a man sprawled on a sidewalk in Atlantic City, N.J., on Monday, July 1, 2024, the date city officials announced implementation of programs to address homelessness. An outreach worker talks to a homeless woman ensconced in a makeshift shelter she erected behind an apartment in Atlantic City, N.J., on Monday, July 1, 2024. The city is launching programs to address homelessness in the seaside gambling resort.
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.Most Jersey Shore beaches are in good shape as summer starts, but serious erosion a problem in spotsBut that offer is often rejected.
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. Tanisha, who also would not give her last name, said she had no idea where she would spend the night on Monday.But she acknowledged she and others living outdoors are not always ready to accept help.In the wake of the Supreme Court ruling, Atlantic City plans to introduce an ordinance in the coming weeks that would prohibit sleeping in public places. It could be adopted and put into place by September.