Efforts Continue to "Bring the Shore Home"

Summer is - unofficially at least - underway, but thanks to Superstorm Sandy, tourists aren't the only ones longing for the shore.

Courtesy: NJOP

Amanda Devecka-Rinear with the New Jersey Organizing Project (NJOP) says that's part of the reason they scheduled their "Bring the Shore Home" Bus Tour for the Thursday after Memorial Day.

"As everybody's getting ready to head back down to the shore for the summer, I think the whole state is sort of turning its attention to summer and the shore, as we do," Devecka-Rinear said. "And I think many year-round residents are ready to enjoy the summer, too, except that thousands of them still are not home."

Statistics from the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) show that only 1,000 families out of more than 8,000 that applied have been returned to their homes under the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation, and Mitigation (RREM) program. Devecka-Rinear says that's the situation she hopes to highlight during Thursday's event.

"We're going to fill up the bus with people with stories just like that - some people whose projects haven't even started two and a half years later," Devecka-Rinear said. "Some people whose houses are worse now than when they started, and a lot of people who want to stand up and speak out and get home."

The tour is also an opportunity to urge state lawmakers to pass Sandy-related bills currently up for consideration, and to present NJOP's proposed solutions to the ongoing recovery problems. Devecka-Rinear says those include:

Making sure assistance funds are disbursed to families in need.
Making the process and the rules clear and easy to understand.
Securing temporary assistance for families who are facing foreclosure.
Setting real goals for recovery and ensuring transparency.

NJOP has collected more than 1,000 signed postcards supporting the legislation that will be sent to Trenton. They hope to collect more signatures during Thursday's event.

The "Bring the Shore Home" Bus Tour runs from 9:00am to 1:00pm on Thursday, May 28, 2015. Stops include: