New Jersey mayor blasts Jon Bon Jovi for town’s homeless problem

Article content

New Jersey Mayor Daniel Rodrick is lashing out at rocker Jon Bon Jovi, accusing the singer of causing an influx of homeless people to the town of Toms River with his charity eatery.

Article content

Article content

Article content

Rodrick claims that the New Jersey city has seen a spike in homelessness and is putting some of the blame on Bon Jovi after the musician opened an outpost of his JBJ Soul Foundation community kitchen in a local library. 

“We don’t want to be ground zero for homelessness. We don’t want to be a dumping ground for the homeless problem in the state of New Jersey. The state of New Jersey needs to step up and take care of this problem. They have the resources, and busing people in from all over to Toms River is not a safe situation,” Rodrick told Fox News.

The JBJ Soul Kitchen community restaurant offers meals for a suggested price of $12. Customers can also opt to help feed someone else in need or volunteer their time in exchange for food.

Article content

Article content

In a statement on the group’s website, Rob Wood, Assistant General Manager of JBJ Soul Kitchen, says the establishment is “here to create a positive impact on the Toms River community.”

“Our goal is to provide a space where All Are Welcome to enjoy a nutritious meal and be part of a community where all are valued,” he writes.

But Rodrick says that since it has opened inside the Ocean County Library, the JBJ Soul Kitchen has invited a host of problems.

“He’s already operating, he operated something in the Silverton section of town. But it was like a restaurant where people go, and they pay for their meal, and they feel good that the money’s going to be used for something. But this pop-up thing at the library was primarily geared toward making the library, the public library, ground zero for homelessness,” Rodrick tells Fox.

Article content

The mayor went on to claim that there has been numerous calls to police and EMS from the library since the JBJ Soul Kitchen set up shop inside.

“You shouldn’t have to walk through gangs of two dozen intoxicated or mentally ill homeless individuals, and that’s the real issue here,” he says.

Postmedia reached out to the JBJ Soul Foundation for additional comment.

Rodrick maintains that as an elected official he was able to get people living at two homeless encampments into housing. But he says that nonprofits began “busing people into town” after the Ocean County Board opened a warming shelter.

“We wound up with dozens and dozens of people being dropped off downtown every single day at the library no less, where a mom should feel comfortable walking into the library with her daughter and get a book,” Rodrick says.

Article content

Adding that he thinks Bon Jovi “means well … trying to feed people,” Rodrick says that local government aren’t addressing issues of mental health and substance abuse.

“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 complained in a separate interview with the Shore News Network. “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.”

But despite Rodrick saying the new location of the JBJ Soul Kitchen is “a real safety concern,” Ocean County Commissioner Jennifer Bacchione tells USA Today she hasn’t had any complaints about the cafe.

Article content

“It’s a public library, and we are keeping the people safe,” she says.

But in a statement to the New York Post, Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea, who run the nonprofit restaurants, said they aren’t fazed and will continue to advocate for those who have fallen on hard times.

“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,” they said in a joint statement.

“Through our JBJ Soul Kitchen, we connect people to resources and services. Whether they need employment, mental health support, or housing, we try to remove the barriers that are keeping them from thriving, not just surviving.”

mdaniell@postmedia.com

Article content