He's 71, an ailing Army veteran, and homeless in Ocean County. How does this happen?

LAKEWOOD – As Stephen Timberlake looked over a photo of his late brother, tears welled in his eyes.

“He was more than my brother,” the 71-year-old said with a mix of pride and anguish. “He was my partner.”

Timberlake, a U.S. Army veteran who is suffering from heart problems and diminished cognition, relied on his brother, Tony Mendez, to pay the rent for the apartment they shared in Jackson. After the summer of 2022, when Mendez died and Timberlake underwent heart surgery, that became a problem. In February, Timberlake returned home from a three-week stay at Ocean University Medical Center in Brick to find an eviction notice.

By mid-March, he was homeless. Since then, he’s been shuffled around, sometimes staying with a friend, sometimes with a nephew, and spending some nights in a run-down Lakewood motel. That’s where the Asbury Park Press caught up with him recently; the shower was broken, the bathtub filled with dirty water.

Timberlake, who was stationed in Germany from 1972-74 and received the National Defense Service Medal according to discharge paperwork reviewed by the Press, is an unfortunate example of how home-insecure residents of Ocean County continue to fall through the gaps of what little safety net exists.

“People always are saying what they’re going to do for veterans,” said his nephew, Harold Galloway. “Is this how you treat someone who served this country?”

'Hope it works out for you'

After Mendez died, Timberlake withdrew from public contact as he coped with the loss and his ailing health. His monthly Social Security income of $1,618 couldn’t cover the rent of $1,804.

“We didn’t know his rent backed up like that,” Galloway said.

Even after Timberlake was evicted, the apartment complex’s property manager wrote a letter on his behalf for prospective future landlords.

“Prior to Mr. Mendez passing, Mr. Timberlake and Mendez were never late on a rent payment,” it reads. “They always made their payments ahead of time and were excellent tenants.”

Galloway attempted to round up some financial assistance from local nonprofits, but it didn’t materialize in time. Vetworks, a Lacey-based charity for veterans, enrolled Timberlake in its transitional housing program immediately after his eviction, but he left after a few weeks. There are numerous groups willing to help someone with Timberlake’s profile, but navigating them is not simple, especially for a septuagenarian whose grasp of technology is tenuous.

It all comes back to the same problem in Ocean County – there is no homeless shelter that can serve as a walk-in clearinghouse for someone who needs help.

“Even if it’s a day center – we need a resource center where all nonprofits could meet in an area right next to (Ocean County’s department of) social services,” said Paul Hulse, whose nonprofit Just Believe Inc. advocates for the county’s homeless, “instead of handing people a bunch of (nonprofits’) phone numbers and saying, ‘Have a nice day, hope it works out for you.’”

'Denied right off the bat'

The Asbury Park Press referred Timberlake’s case to Hulse, who connected him with Soldier On – a charity that helps homeless veterans and can direct Veterans Administration funds to help pay security deposits, rent and utilities bills for someone in Timberlake’s shoes. He’s been assigned a case manager.

Mark Harding, Soldier On's field supervisor for Ocean, Monmouth and Mercer counties, said its success rate is high but times are particularly difficult right now.

“Coming out of COVID and the eviction moratorium, housing prices have skyrocketed,” Harding explained. “The (housing) vouchers people can get a lot of times are not worth enough. That wasn’t really an issue pre-COVID. When housing prices jump so quickly, it’s difficult for vouchers to stay up with that.”

He added, “We talk to landlords around the state, and they want (renters with) three to four times the income of the rent. When you’re talking about people on Social Security, they often times don’t have that kind of income and they get denied right off the bat.”

Solutions are out there. In Monmouth County, for example, Soldier On runs a new 70-unit apartment building that houses local veterans in need. The nonprofit provides those residents with services, transportation and a life-skills program; it also partners with Fulfill food bank, which supplies meals.

Kellie  Donovan, Soldier On’s executive vice president, said, “we welcome any Ocean County towns” interested in hosting a similar endeavor.

In an ideal world – the one where public officials laud our servicemen and servicewomen at photo-friendly events on Memorial Day and Veterans Day – society should be there for a 71-year-old Army veteran who has fallen on hard times. In reality, Stephen Timberlake has been homeless for three months, and relatives are trying to raise money for him while Soldier On sorts out what’s next. The process got delayed because Timberlake was back in the hospital for a spell.

“Since he got kicked out, it’s been stressful for him,” Galloway said.

There is no easy solution to the complex problem of homelessness, but we’ve got to do better than this.

Jerry Carino is community columnist for the Asbury Park Press, focusing on the Jersey Shore’s interesting people, inspiring stories and pressing issues. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Ailing Army veteran struggles with homeless in Ocean County