Terry Blount has spent almost 10 months paying rent out of her own Social Security checks to keep a vacant Vineland storefront ready for a project she hopes will feed and clothe some of Cumberland County's poorest residents. The Vineland City Council was scheduled to consider on September 22 whether the building at 211 W. Landis Ave. can legally open as a social services center; the matter had been delayed from September 8.
A Vote Postponed Twice
The council first considered the zoning ordinance needed to allow Blount's center to operate on September 8, according to NJ.com. Council member Cruz Gomez postponed that vote for two weeks, and Elizabeth Arthur, who also requested the delay, said she would like the council to help Blount if possible. The public hearing on the underlying measure, formally known as Ordinance No. 2026-64, was scheduled to continue on September 22, according to the City of Vineland.
The ordinance would amend the city's zoning to permit a social services center on the first floor of the Landis Avenue building while retaining the existing apartment upstairs, per the same NJ.com account. That amendment is necessary because the property falls under Ordinance 2004-25, which established the Center City Redevelopment Plan to govern land use, business development, and design standards along the Landis Avenue corridor, according to the City of Vineland.
Planning Board Backed It, Merchants Did Not
Not every city body has lined up against Blount's plan. The Vineland Planning Board concluded the proposed center was consistent with the city's master plan and recommended approval, though with limits on operating hours and the types of items distributed, the report notes. A separate redevelopment plan amendment committee, however, voted against allowing the center at the property.
Opposition has also come from downtown business interests. Russell Swanson, executive director of the Vineland Downtown Improvement District, raised concerns that the center could increase crime and disorderly conduct downtown and argued the business district is not the best location for it. Vineland Downtown Improvement District Board Chair Brian Lankan testified alongside him, telling the council that downtown Vineland already hosts multiple social services and pantries and that adding another could harm perceptions of the commercial corridor, according to Citizen Portal.
Other residents and business owners have voiced similar worries, arguing the project could draw more unhoused people to congregate downtown, the same account notes. Council member Robin Barbetti suggested the city instead help Blount find an alternative site elsewhere in Vineland.
What the Building and the Program Actually Are
The property in question is a modest one: a 1,722-square-foot retail structure carrying an estimated tax-assessed market value of roughly $211,790, according to Realtor.com. Blount has said the landlord has no other available spaces in Vineland if her application is denied, and that the center would not operate daily but would function as a pantry distributing basic supplies, food, clothing and other necessities to people living in poverty and seniors on fixed incomes.
Blount describes the effort as a prevention program aimed at people who run out of food before their next check arrives, rather than a shelter or drop-in service. She began serving the public in 1982 and was employed by the American Institute for Mental Studies before founding Truly Blessed Resource Distribution Program Inc., the nonprofit through which she distributes food to people in need. That organization is listed in regional nonprofit directories as an active 501(c)(3) operating in Vineland's community development sector, according to Cause IQ. Blount has also noted that homelessness exists worldwide, framing her project as one small response to a much larger problem.
A County Where Need Runs Higher Than the State Average
The dispute plays out against a backdrop of pronounced local hardship. As of February 2026, 13.5 percent of Cumberland County residents lived in poverty, compared with 9.2 percent statewide, meaning the county's poverty rate exceeded New Jersey's by a wide margin, per NJ.com's reporting.
City Officials Stay Quiet
Vineland Mayor Anthony Fanucci declined to comment on the ordinance through a spokesperson, and City Council President Paul Spinelli did not respond to requests for comment, per NJ.com. Cruz Gomez, who requested the initial postponement, also declined to comment when reached by phone. With the council's decision still pending, Blount's arrangement to keep paying rent on the Landis Avenue storefront out of her own Social Security checks remains the only thing keeping her plan alive.
