As homeless encampment is cleared, what happens to its residents?
Cherry Hill Courier-Post
Tom Peculski has been helping homeless people in South Jersey for years through Helping Hands, a nonprofit outreach. He calls himself "a realist" and understands that homelessness is not an easy problem to solve, that many people who experience it are also battling substance use disorder, mental illness, trauma and often all three at once.
He knows not everyone he tries to help wants it.
Still, he was upset and angry Wednesday morning when a planned cleanup at 8th and Liberty streets in South Camden apparently happened earlier than it was supposed to — scattering some residents, trashing their meager belongings and leaving outreach workers unable to find people to connect them with shelter and other assistance.