The Travelers Assistance Program, operated by the privately run shelter, has been around for years, but would be greatly expanded from its current limited form with the additional funding. A state agency plans to allocate just under $100,000 to a local homeless shelter to buy bus or plane tickets back home for any homeless person who wants to leave. Reducing Atlantic City's homeless population is a key element of a new effort to help the struggling casino resort get back on its feet after more than four years of plunging revenues, lost market share and layoffs. He's one of about 500 homeless people living in the nation's second-largest gambling market. Unfortunately, that's $126 more than he has at present.Īnd so instead of cooking in a restaurant or driving a tractor trailer for someone like he used to do, Bogan eats at a soup kitchen and sleeps on park benches or in a train or bus station each night. (AP) - Larry Bogan knows precisely how much it costs for a bus ticket from Atlantic City back home to Pompano Beach, Fla.: $126.
