A bridge is more than a bridge to Camden's homeless — it's a roof. Watch video
CAMDEN -- There were a few things on Michael Johnson's mind Wednesday morning: One was where he'd be sleeping that night and how cold it would be if, or when, he found a place to stay.
The 57-year-old city native -- burdened with a backpack, but dressed reasonably well for the weather -- worked construction until a series of mini-strokes forced him out of the job.
"My heartbeat was as low as a baby's," he said Wednesday outside of Joseph's House, a city shelter that amassed an army of volunteers to help scour Camden County for the 2016 Point-In-Time homeless count.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development oversees the annual effort, which is conducted during the last week of January in every county across the country. Its purpose is to gather an estimate of how many homeless people are living in a given region and determine where more funding is needed to help those who've sought shelter in tents, abandoned buildings or beneath bridges.
Last year's outreach in Camden County revealed 611 men, women and children were homeless on the night of Feb. 3, 2015. That total -- down nearly 10 percent from 2014 -- represents 6 percent of the state's entire homeless population, according to figures provided by the county. Of those 611 people, 58 were considered "chronically homeless," according to county statistics.
Outside Joseph's House and 8 a.m.'s ash gray skies, those who called the shelter home Tuesday night lingered outside for morning cigarettes.
At the same time, outreach workers like Barbara Hansen, of Marlton-based The Michael's Organization, arrived alongside a team of others to oversee distribution of a variety of items crucial to someone's well being.
"I just want to go bigger next year," said Hansen, who realized that the thousands of dollars she was spending on her teenage children for Christmas could be put to better use. Her kids agreed and they spent Christmas Eve and day driving around Camden distributing food and clothing to the homeless.
With Wednesday's caravan stocked with bags set for distribution, Camden County Improvement Authority housing chief Gino Lewis led a small group around Camden and Berlin on Wednesday.
After parking at a gas station along Admiral Wilson Boulevard, Lewis and company backtracked across a bridge and traversed down an snowy incline to an ice-laden Cooper River, where a sprawling shanty had been built at banks of the river in the shadow of the Campbell's soup factory.
No one was home, but the evidence of inhabitants was everywhere. At a second known site, milk crates served as makeshift seats and camping tents were left open to the elements. Despite Lewis' calls offering assistance, no voices rose above the vehicles buzzing by.
Lewis said the state Department of Transportation (DOT) alerted him to the makeshift structure that had been built under the eastbound lanes of Route 30. During his most recent visit to the site in late December, Lewis said a couple from Kentucky were discovered down there. They apparently arrived in Camden on the promise of a job that never panned out.
"They're 'out of sight, out of mind' in their opinion," Lewis said of the homeless he's tried to help. "A few of them are on methadone depending on what week it is ... everyone had a different story."
Letting the homeless population live unchecked underneath a major thoroughfare connecting Camden to Cherry Hill is a safety problem that the DOT will have to address eventually, Lewis said.
"The conditions they are living under; God forbid someone had a propane tank -- that's a bridge," he said of creating a heating source.
To those without a home, that bridge is a roof.
For Johnson, who said word spreads quickly when a "Code Blue" warning goes into effect and the shelters open, he hopes a home of his own is on the horizon.
"I still keep my head up. I can tell you it's rough. It's a struggle, but it's nothing I don't think I can come out of," Johnson said. "My old man always tried to tell me what's right."
With that, Johnson put his gloves back on, got back in line and went inside Joseph's House to find his friend.
Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.