TOMS RIVER – Empty tents, strewn with left-behind clothes, empty plastic water jugs and folded cots. Discarded grills and a fire pit that used to be a gathering place. Toms River’s homeless camp is emptying, with the majority of campers moving out in the past six months.
Fewer than 20 homeless people remain in the camp, which formerly housed more than double that number. Tarps have been removed and tents dismantled. The whir of a generator, which powers campers’ electronics and lights, could still be heard on a recent day, but more tents seemed empty than occupied.
One of those in the woods on a warm late summer day was Dennis Grow, 67, who was packing up clothes, blankets and silverware in the tent he and his wife had lived in for nearly two years. He placed the items in 42-gallon black trash bags…