2 days ago
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The Republican mayor of a Jersey Shore township is reportedly frustrated that rock legend Jon Bon Jovi's library soup kitchen is attracting homeless people to the area.
Toms River Mayor Daniel Rodrick complained that Bon Jovi's "JBJ Soul Kitchen" was bringing people he didn't want into the community and disturbing residents. He claimed that organizations were being paid to bring people into the community and that their intentions were driven by profit, not compassion.
“These people are being dropped by in our community by agencies pretending to be homeless advocates who get paid by the head to import homeless people into our town from all over the state and the East Coast,” Rodrick said, according to the New York Post. “These agencies are making millions of dollars importing homeless. Their plan is not about compassion; it’s about people wanting to profit off the homeless issue.”
The pop-up "Soul Kitchen" opened on February 11. It allows diners to pay for the meals of future customers, with a suggested cost of $12. By paying their meals forward, people who can't afford food can take advantage of free meals.
The cafe is open from 10 am to 2 pm on Tuesdays through Fridays and has multiple locations in the state. Bon Jovi's wife, Dorothea, runs the nonprofit restaurant chain and told the Post that they will continue their work and that their restaurant will continue to operate in Toms River.
“The JBJ Soul Foundation and JBJ Soul Kitchen are committed to ending homelessness through real solutions. We are not here to just move people around or force them into the shadows. Our Foundation has built nearly a thousand units of affordable and supportive housing,” Dorothea and the rocker said in a joint statement on Friday.
The statement goes on to say the nonprofit connects "people to resources and services" whether "they need employment, mental health support, or housing."
The couple also questioned Rodrick's claims that agencies were making money by dropping off homeless people in his town.
“We are unsure where the mayor thinks millions of dollars are trading hands, but we are completely unaware of any such programs and receive no such funding,” they said. “We invite anyone to the BEAT Center in Toms River or to the JBJ Soul Kitchen Pop-Up to see what we are doing to end homelessness and hunger in our community.”
Rodrick said that he had received multiple complaints about increasing numbers of homeless individuals near the township's municipal parking garage and on benches near the local library.
“They’ve completely ignored all of our complaints and concerns," Rodrick said on county officials. “Mothers shouldn’t have to walk through large gangs of intoxicated and mentally ill men with their children to borrow a book.”
