New Jersey church seeks approval to open 17-bed homeless shelter on property

[Episcopal News Service] A church in the Diocese of New Jersey is seeking authorization to build a 17-bed homeless shelter next to an existing outreach facility on its property, and the plan is facing local resistance.

Christ Episcopal Church in Toms River, a coastal town of about 100,000, is seeking approval of the plan from the local Board of Adjustment, which meets next on March 13. Residents have raised concerns about safety and staff training at the shelter, according to the Asbury Park Press.

Christ Episcopal Church in Toms River, New Jersey, has proposed adding a facility to its campus allowing for a 17-bed homeless shelter. Photo: Christ Episcopal Church

The church is partnering with the Affordable Housing Alliance, a nonprofit group that counsels people experiencing homelessness, including at the church’s outreach center. By expanding services there to include a shelter, it would allow unhoused adults to stay from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m., with an overnight staff of two. Guests also would be provided with food, shower facilities and additional counseling on a range of services, including job placement and permanent housing.

The project reportedly would be financed by Ocean County but requires approval for a zoning variance, because homeless shelters are not allowed anywhere in Toms River. Advocates note, however, that the church’s residential zoning already allows for group homes and shelters for domestic violence victims.

“One of the purposes of a church is to provide outreach services to the community,” Brian J. Murphy, a professional planner working on the project, said at a hearing in January, according to Asbury Park Press. “The homeless are already familiar with the site. They have been coming there since July 2023.”

The proposal comes at a time when county officials are hoping to address a growing housing crisis fueled partly by rising rents and the replacement of coastal motels with higher-end developments. Toms River also recently shut down a homeless encampment, displacing 32 people, some of whom have since found permanent housing.

Christ Episcopal Church also is following in the footsteps of other Episcopal congregations that have stepped up their outreach efforts to serve the homeless as a national affordable housing crisis has intensified.

In Louisville, Kentucky, Christ Church Cathedral opened a temporary winter shelter this year for women and children experiencing homelessness. Other Episcopal ministries serving the homeless have taken root in San Francisco, California, and Pottstown, Pennsylvania.

And in 2024, St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Brookings, Oregon, won a lawsuit allowing it to continue its homeless feeding ministry after the city passed an ordinance seeking to limit such outreach.