After 18 years in New Jersey woods, homeless veteran finds a home

Kenny Epsel served America for two decades, doing four years in the Air Force and then a long stint with the U.S. Army Reserve.

All he had to show for it was a tent in the woods.

This veteran was homeless for the past 18 years. He spent most of his time encamped not far from the intersection of Hooper and Bay avenues in Toms River in Ocean County, New Jersey.

“It’s OK,” Epsel said, in typically good spirits. “Because I was in the Army, I’m used to camping out.”

Still, it was no way to live. Thanks to the kindness of advocates for Ocean County's homeless, he’s not living that way anymore. Last month the 76-year-old moved into an apartment in Brick.

“I appreciate it,” Epsel said Friday. “I couldn’t ask for more. I’ve got electric heat.”

In an ideal world, putting a roof over a homeless veteran’s head would be a no-brainer. In Kenny Epsel’s case, it took a sophisticated network of supporters a year to get it done.

'The nicest of guys'

Epsel served in the Air Force from 1965-69, and then the Army Reserve out of Fort Dix from 1979-96. He was living at his mother’s home in Brick, and when she died in 2002, the bottom dropped out. Kenny worked a series of low-paying jobs — enough to fund winter rentals in motels. The rest of the year, he slept in tents.

In 2015, at age 70, he was struck by a car while riding his bicycle and suffered a broken pelvis. He was hospitalized for six months and complications linger. He walks with a cane.

“I’d like to go back to work, but I can’t stand for long periods,” he said.

Ocean County lacks a permanent homeless shelter, so scores of people live in the woods in Toms River.

Paul Hulse knows those woods well. The president of Just Believe Inc., a nonprofit that helps the poor in Ocean County, runs Tom River’s Code Blue emergency shelter, which opens on the coldest nights and accommodated 171 guests over the winter of 2020-21. He’s worked with Toms River police to get folks from the woods to the shelter.

Last year, the cops gave Hulse a tip: There was an old veteran struggling to get by in a tent. Hulse and Terrance Turnbach, a Toms River council member who’s made battling homelessness a priority, paid Kenny a visit.

“I saw the way he was living,” Turnbach said. “I’ll never forget seeing his camp sight. I see him almost every day (around town). He is the nicest of guys.”

Hulse was stunned when he learned Epsel’s backstory.

“I’ve been doing this a long time,” he said. “But 18 years (in the woods) is the longest I’ve ever seen.”

They convinced Kenny to visit the Code Blue shelter at the Riverwood Park recreation building. Amanda Mehrman, who works with Just Believe Inc. and is the Code Blue shelter’s assistant coordinator, took up his case.

“At first he didn’t really trust us too much, which is understandable, but he did agree to come to the Code Blue center and have dinner with us,” Mehrman said. “The second or third time he came around to eat, he wound up staying with us.”

Going the extra mile

One of Kenny’s challenges: The broken pelvis from 2015 caused an unaddressed bladder injury and incontinence.

“Kenny had needed surgery on his bladder for many years now,” Mehrman said. “Because of that, it was hard sometimes for him to be approachable. That had a lot to do with people just ignoring him.”

Getting him that surgery required going through the Veterans Administration. During the early stages of COVID, that was like scaling Mount Everest. Mehrman drove to the VA’s headquarters in East Orange to obtain the necessary paperwork. She filled out applications for housing while Just Believe Inc. sprang for motel rooms, whose fees had mushroomed out of Kenny’s price range.

“Motels were charging us $1,000 a week in the summer and it didn’t drop too much in the winter, maybe to $600 a week,” Hulse said.

Through the Homes Now, an agency that provides affordable housing in Ocean County, Mehrman found Epsel a pad in Brick. Epsel, who has a modest income from Social Security, splits the tab with the Brick Housing Authority, which draws resources from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

He signed the lease on Nov. 10, the eve of Veterans Day.

Postscript: Thanksgiving

Turnbach continues to push for Ocean County to open a permanent homeless shelter. There are more Kenny Epsels in the Toms River woods and elsewhere. Perhaps this veteran’s story will get the attention of county commissioners who like to pose for wreath-placings on Veterans Day but might otherwise turn a blind eye to the issue.

“This is a major victory, for Kenny to have housing now, especially after he served the country,” Turnbach said.

On Friday, Mehrman dropped in at Kenny's apartment for a visit. After a year of jumping through hoops to get him help, Just Believe Inc.’s follow-up services are crucial to ensure it all works out.

“We’re not just putting a Band-Aid on it,” Mehrman said.

She asked Kenny about his plans for Thanksgiving. Last year, on the holiday, Kenny couldn’t find a decent meal. Every place he went to was closed. It was demoralizing.

This Thursday, Mehrman has a plan.

“I’m going to pick him up, bring him to the (Code Blue) center and make him a plate,” she said. “This way he can have a home-cooked meal.”

Then comes the best part: She'll take him back to his new home.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Homeless veteran finds a home after 18 years in New Jersey woods