Orlando: Please Do Not Feed The Homeless

Law Limits Feeding Large Groups Of People In Parks

(AP)  “We've seen cities going beyond punishing homeless people to punishing those trying to help them, even though it's clear that not enough resources are being dedicated to helping the homeless or the hungry,” said Maria Foscarinis, executive director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, a non-profit in Washington, D.C.

A 2006 report on 67 cities by her group and the National Coalition for the Homeless, a nonpartisan, non-profit network, found an 18 percent increase since 2002 in laws prohibiting aggressive panhandling; a 12 percent jump in laws outlawing “passive” begging; a 14 percent rise in laws defining sitting or lying in public places as criminal acts.

Says Michael Stoops, the coalition's executive director in Washington, D.C.: “The idea is to drive the visible homeless out of downtown America, so that cities can attract developers, big money.”

What's wrong with attracting investment?

Nothing, Stoops says — unless it comes at the expense of decency. “It's a sorry state of affairs when you can feed the squirrels, the doves and pigeons at Lake Eola, but not a hungry guy down on his luck.”

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On streets around Lake Eola, where drug dealers and prostitutes once roamed, residential towers like “The Paramount” and “The Metropolitan at Lake Eola” are now rising. In addition, the city is finalizing plans to renovate the downtown Citrus Bowl and build a new performing arts center and arena by 2011 — at a cost of $1 billion.

Homelessness, in the view of Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and members of his staff, adversely affects public safety and economic development, and therefore must be addressed.

“It's a balancing act,” says Brie Turek, Dyer's spokesperson. “We need to balance the needs of our citizens and our businesses with the needs of the homeless.”

The large feedings were unbalancing constituents who lived near the parks, she says.

“We were receiving dozens of complaints about individuals sleeping in people's bushes, urinating on private properties. Some citizens reported finding homeless people doing drugs in their stairwells. There were reports of carjackings. There was even a stabbing.”

Alana Brenner, a city clerk who serves as the mayor's point person on the homeless problem, says the city has set up “an alternative location near downtown,” where “feedings can take place any day, any hour.”

The locale Brenner refers to is roughly a 15-minute walk from City Hall, a sweep of blacktop where charities fed groups of destitute men and women several years ago.

Jacqueline Dowd, a lawyer with the ACLU, which has also sued to overturn Orlando's feeding ordinance, says the neighborhood is unsafe. “I've documented five cases of homeless people being beaten around there in the past year.”

One was August Felix, 54, who was found on March 26, severely beaten and lying motionless on a sidewalk one block from the designated feeding site. He died in the hospital a month later from the head injuries, police say. Five boys, aged 15 and 16, were arrested on second-degree murder charges.

Permanent housing for those with very low incomes is also in short supply, despite Orlando's decade-long residential building boom. Says Brent Trotter, president of the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida: “What's being built today, the average family in the service industry can't afford.”

In December, Orlando sponsored “Project Homeless Connect,” an outreach program that placed 22 individuals in apartments. And last fall, the city earmarked $860,000 to refurbish 299 apartments for low-income families and homeless people. It plans to spend $329,258 more this year to renovate the Health Care Center for the Homeless, and this year, it will give $2 million to established agencies and charities that care for the homeless.

More is needed, concedes Turek, the mayor's spokeswoman, but “the city itself can't shoulder the burden of the homeless problem for the entire central Florida region.”

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It's ideal apple-eating weather; coppery sunlight descends the purest of skies, and a warm breeze rustles the silvery moss in the live oaks above the 22 or so men and women waiting in a crooked line along the sidewalk.

Winter rewards the homeless who have persevered through Orlando's humid summer months, and now Suzanne Peters, a volunteer with Food Not Bombs, a group that feeds the homeless here once a week, wants to reward their patience.

It's nearly 5:15 p.m. when her tan, Chevy Blazer rolls up to the corner. The homeless stir and chatter as Peters opens the hatch.

“Folks!” she calls out, “you can't sit on that wall. That's private property. The big, bad men will come and arrest you.” She motions to the curb. “You can stand on the sidewalk, or sit on the curb here. Sorry.”

Peters and her partners used to feed 75 to 150 homeless people at a time in Lake Eola Park, just a block north. Then, after the ordinance took effect, patrol cars, four at a time, would roll up, officers would step out and ask who was in charge.

“They'd tell us it was a 'no-feeding zone,’” says Brett Mason, a 19-year-old college student, who joined Food Not Bombs when it came to Orlando in January 2005.

The officers, he says, would say, “'You have to get a permit to feed here,' and shoo us away.”

So the group retreated to this street corner and began feeding out of the back of members' cars. On occasion, to show defiance, Food Not Bombs fed in front of municipal buildings, even City Hall.

That's because the ordinance, says Ben Markeson, who belongs to the group, is based on a misguided premise.

City officials “think groups that share food with the homeless are attracting the homeless to downtown neighborhoods. But the homeless are already here. And they'll be here with or without the food.”

[susanhelit]

Lavavampire, with all due respect, that is absolute nonsense. If a government does not prevent it's citizens from starving, what good is it?

Doesn't change the fact there are right and wrong ways to do it, but to say it's the family that decides if their troubled family member lives or dies is just wrong.

[lavampire]

I once more wish to address this issue -- the responsibility of feeding adults and young adults is not of the government or of the religious institutions, whatever religion they may represent. The responsibility belongs to the immediate family members of those individuals, such as parents, siblings, cousins, uncles, etcetera. Moreover, homelessness is often a personal choice and an rejection of community involvement or of involvement in society. The only humans that merit a handout are desolate children and the mentally retarded or extremely physically impaired, if they have no immediate family members to care for them. So those of generosity of mind and spirit, you must rememeber that by feeding a human who could otherwise fend for himself/herself, you are only sponsoring their indifference, alientation, apathy and indolence. If you let them fend for themselves, they will develop character, dignity, self-reliance, and shame. Virtues that have been long forgotten here in America.

[smb221]

New laws are not going to get rid of the homeless.

[ruvain1]

This is a perfect example of the failure of both our governmentand religious institutions of working together to asist in this area. How discraseful for America to hav esuch a problem exist due toA. Mismanagement of our government
through waste, and the war in Iraq. B.Thanks to such entities as the ACLU, who champion for a seperation of church and state, there can be No interaction or liasion with faith based groups that could intervien.c.With all the amount of Churches and or Synagouges in Orlando, if every one of them adoped a homeless family or person,by proxy, there would NOT be any homeless problem to begin with!

[michaure]

Maybe now these homeless loser will get their *** together get a job and get off the streets.

[lavampire]

a great difference abounds between pigeons, squirrels, birds and other defensless creatures and humans. Humans can operate machinery (if they are physically and mentally capable), they can reason, they can adapt, they can think and propose solutions, they can design, help erect, construct, and produce. Birds and and critters cannot. We must not feed the homeless because we are only sustaining their indifference toward self-dignity, their shamelessness, their apathy, their vices (such as drugs or alcohol), their laziness, their lack of entrepreneurial spirit, and their pragmatism. Humans afterall are animals, and if you feed them, they then adapt to the opportunity. If you do not feed them, and if you prevent all access to free food -- food that they cannot produce or purchase -- then they die. O forgive, Jesus said, "you clothed me, when I was naked, you fed me, when I was hungry, and you welcomed me into your home, when I was homeless." Obviously, Jesus never lived in a market economy and he never lived under the laws of nature and economics. I guess he would have advocated safety nets, but safety nets have costs, and I much rather feed the soldiers that are risking their lives and giving their time and talents, then the homeless men and woman who should have exited the gene pool a long time ago. Moreover, whatever happened to the idea of the family. Why must their be homlessness? Cannot relatives care for their own blood?

[Free Citizen]

And lastly, not everyone is fortunate enough to be as generous as some folks. To be able to sponsor a homeless family until the children graduates from college. That is a moving story and I am sure that fortunate child in turn will help other homeless. But the reality is that such philanthropists do not even constitute 1% of the general populace. Perhaps, 1 in a thousand is more likely. As hbjon2000 says, more tax funds may need to be allocated to solve this problem. Already America is spending too much money waging an unnecessary war. I do not know why politics is such a taboo subject. Like it or not, government policies DO affect our lives. If something is not right with the government, I do not think it is wise to just discount it and say nothing. It is precisely bad goverment policies that prevent many internal problems from being solved.

Good night everyone. Nice sharing ideas with you folks.

[Free Citizen]

HawkSprings, no offense intended but I do believe you may have judged the homeless too hashly and you may have made unfair generalization. Assuming the public agree with what you say, and well intentioned organizations stop feeding the hungry, the homeless will not starve to death IF you are right. Since they are intelligent enough to cheat the system logically, they would also know how to get food. But they would have to work for it instead of a free handout. Do you truly believe this is the situation? Yes, there are a few cheats out there but, I still believe they are a minority among the homeless rather than the norm. And jasperlily, those people you described are outright frauds. We are not talking about those.

cbslogin12 is right. Of course public parks are not meant to be a sanctuary for the homeless. But can we ask SusanHelit, what viable alternative places are there for the homeless? As the article mentioned, those places that were designated by the authorities are unsafe. The homeless get killed in those areas. Therefore, it would seem that criticisms directed at the authorities are not unwarranted. Clearly, they are not offering a solution to the problem.

[jasperlily]

hawksprings

Of course there are those who work the system - duh. I know of many who work the disability system, the dole, whatever you want to call it - they are bone lazy. They are also living in homes, own cars and etc., courtesy of our system that doesn't really check up on them adequately. So, therefore, let us never help anybody in genuine need and as they and their kids get ill, stepped on or die, we can feel good all over about it because of the ones you are talking about. I've heard Pharisees fxrt under water before, They all sound the same.

[haneyr-2009]

It would be nice if people would try to fix the problems and not spout political and ideological rantings. In my humble opinion the problem is not with government but with people. An example is that my wife and I paid a local mother and her daughter enough money each month for over a year so they could live in a modest home and the daughter could keep going to school. When she graduated she went on to a very successful life.

If all the indignant people of this blog were to do the same for one family then it would be the start of a great revolution in our country called "we the people". Obviously most of you have enough money to own a PC and internet use. So don't blame the government, just look in the mirror, your wallet, and your heart.

PS. I am white, Christian, American, and a business owner who pays taxes. Sorry to ruin your stereo-type.

[hawksprings]

Free Citizen, my "statistics" come from 15 plus years of working for an organization that is regularly approached by individuals asking for money, and working with other organizations in my community that focus on the needy and homeless. What is your expertise from?
You try it for awhile and you'll learn firsthand exactly what I'm talking about.

[susanhelit]

There are places available to help the homeless. Maybe there could be more - but you also have to recognize when help hurts people. Unqualified help is a bad thing - giving a druggie money, for example, only lets them buy more drugs.

Set up places where they can have food and shelter, but must follow rules, like no crime (theft, assault, rape), no drugs, no being drunk (only really enforcable as no drinking), and some simple work to do, or spend time job hunting or taking courses to help become employable.

Of course, these places do exist. But that's not what these activists want... out of naivete, thoughtless compassion or arrogance, they just want to give the homeless what they ask for, without thinking about if it's what they need, or if it's the best way to help them.

I could do the same for my daughter - she'd eat only candy and ice cream, if I gave her what she wants. And she's hungry, so shouldn't I feed her? Whereever she wants (in bed!)?

[susanhelit]

Right on cbslogin12 - this group is faking righteousness - "indeed, shouldn't we feed the homeless and let them live in our museum, they can be fed off of the Mona Lisa, and use the benches to sleep on!" There are right and wrong places to use, and a public park is no place to feed and house the homeless. It's a place set aside for families.

"The city offered the group who is suing over the feeding in the park to help them find an alternate place. There has been little cooperation and compromise. The real issue is, how much does this group really want to help the Homeless? " Sounds to me like they don't want to help the homeless, they want to sue.

[cbslogin12]

I live in Orlando. I understand the situation because my church helps feed the Homeless in cooperation with other local churches to ensure that there is a hot meal every night at the Homeless Coalition located in the Parramore district. I have helped with this cause for many years, serving and preparing food, participating in clothes drives etc. I also donate money to the Orlando Union Rescue Mission every month which does a wonderful job in assisting the Homeless.

So please be aware that there ARE places and ways that the Homeless are being feed and provided shelters in Orlando. However the city could do a better job in providing more help. But I agree with the ordinance that a public park is NOT the place. Everyone should be allowed to enjoy the use of our parks. The Homeless have every right to enjoy the parks too. However this is NOT the place to bathe, wash clothes, sleep overnight etc.

The city offered the group who is suing over the feeding in the park to help them find an alternate place. There has been little cooperation and compromise. The real issue is, how much does this group really want to help the Homeless? They are fighting over the right to feed in the park. Instead they should be fighting to ensure that the Homeless are provided with the help they need by being willing to work with the city in finding a better location. There is no need to sue the city. There is EVERY need in finding a way to work together.

[hbjon]

A society is judged by how the least fortunate of us are treated. A big chunk of our population lives paycheck to paycheck. If someone gave you a mental handicap, (not God of course) would you want some friendly assistance? If my taxes need to be raised to help you, then raise my taxes. I cannot stand to hear about the maltreatment of the homeless.

[Free Citizen]

HawkSprings: "For every person who is homeless and really wants to get out of that lifestyle, there are 100 others who have no interest or desire to change. They are simply working the system and will take advantage of your sympathy in a heartbeat until you wise up. Then they move on to someone else."

One can't help but wonder if your view could be skewed. Can you cite one reliable statistic to back your claim? Homelessness is not only a problem in the United States, it is an eyesore in Tokyo too. People are more incline to believe the opposite of what you quoted. That is, for every homeless person that elects not to change their position 100 others desire a way out of it. If they are so smart to work the system to their advantage as you say then, why are they not smart enough to work for a warm shelter in winter? Living in a cardbox in winter can't be very comfortable. You see one apple and you assume the whole bushel is bad. But everything isn't what it seem on the surface. In fact. it often does not. I believe the general view is that they are victims of discrimination, of a system that is unsympathetic to their plight. Especially a government that cares more for its image rather than helping the needy. And that is the truth.

[hawksprings]

From many of these posts I've read I can gather that most if not all of you have never had to work with the homeless or extreme poor.
From my experience dealing with many homeless people, many have simply learned to work the system to get freebies, and they have no interest in getting off the street or changing their lives.
In a sense, it's what many do for a living, and they've learned to work the system in a way that shows they have plenty of initiative and drive to get what they want. I've seen people put so much effort into concocting a story or scam it makes you wonder why they can't put that effort in to changing their lives. But the truth is, they don't want to.
For every person who is homeless and really wants to get out of that lifestyle, there are 100 others who have no interest or desire to change. They are simply working the system and will take advantage of your sympathy in a heartbeat until you wise up. Then they move on to someone else.

And that's the cold hard reality of it. If you don't believe me, go volunteer in a shelter for awhile. You'll wise up real quick.

[nothappyatall]

" she has lived on the streets, in parks or under overpasses, since age 16. %u201CIt's a way of saying, 'Your kind isn't wanted in our city.%u2019%u201D

It's not a way of saying it is directly saying it- get out of our WHITE, RICH right wing spotlessly clean manicured lawn city so we don't have to look at dirty people in cardboard boxes in the parkand streets.

We ship off BILLIONS of dollars, container ship loads of FREE food, supplies and all else to Africa, Afghanistan, Iraq and everywhere else- but *OUR* people who live HERE!
We have always pulled that krap, it's time we look after OUR people not some US hating morons in Iraq, Afghanistan, or people who don't have enough food, water and resources yet keep popping babies out by the dozen per South Africa etc

[Free Citizen]

kaliveotin: "The United States is NOT the greatest nation in the world. It's not even close. The way we treat not only the homeless, but the working poor and so many other needy americans is a national disgrace. Our government has been a national disgrace for decades. If the economy is so good, why are the numbers of homeless, poor, uninsured and needy children growing?"

Good question. Perhaps, you might also like to ask why Americans repeatedly vote for the same party knowing full well what their policies are. They give generous tax breaks for the rich and run on borrowed money. With the loaned money, they give away billions to foreign states like Israel that isn't even a third world country. With loaned money, they wage war against foreign states that did NOT invade America let alone threaten it. Don't you think money and time would be better spent if whatever available resources is first directed to solving internal problems?

[grumpas]

Plowhandle knows what he is talking about! A lot of the current homeless problem started with Ronald Reagan! He was one of the greatest "Robber Baron" Republicans! Steal from the poor and give to the rich was his phlosophy. He will no doubt go down in Republican folklore as the greatest right behind George W Bush! Which is why he is so revered by the "let em starve" Republican's! It kind of makes one wonder what all of these Christian's find so intriguing about Republican's! If they are really Christian's or Religious Extremist's bent on imposing their sick sexual belief's upon a nation!