Published: February 04, 2007 03:40 pm      

'Don't feed the homeless'

by Kasey Doyle

So much for being a good Samaritan.

Several major cities across the United States have passed city ordinances banning the feeding of the homeless.

Las Vegas, Orlando, Dallas, Fort Myers, Gainesville, Atlanta and Wilmington, N.C., have enacted laws restricting or outright prohibiting the feeding of the homeless. Miami and Santa Monica, Calif. are also considering similar ordinances.

According to the Associated Press, in Fairfax County, Va., homemade meals and meals made in church kitchens can not be distributed to the homeless unless first approved by the county.

What has happened to human decency?

To deny someone the right to help the poor is heartless.

These city governments are dehumanizing the homeless; treating them like animals.

You expect rules banning the feeding of animals in state and public parks, but to deny the public the right to help out fellow man is ridiculous.

It is a sad day when residents can feed the ducks at the park, but cannot buy a homeless person a meal.

Orlando, Fla. is the most recent metropolitan area to create a ban against feeding the homeless. There are approximately 8,500 homeless people living in the city, and the city’s shelters hold only 2,000, according to reports.

The passing of the ordinance is only going to make the problem worse.

In a recent article released by the Associated Press, one Orlando resident said, “Feeding the homeless only encourages more homelessness … Less Homeless, Less Problems, Better Place to Live.”

But stopping residents from feeding the homeless is not solving the problem.

According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the federal agency in charge of housing issues, some 11 million Americans have “worst case” housing needs, putting them at a high risk of homelessness.

These people are being punished for circumstances beyond their control. Many people are forced into a life of poverty, and without government assistance or help from churches and organizations in their community, these people will also be on the streets.

These cities have gone beyond punishing the homeless, they are now punishing those people who try to help the homeless.

So far, no one in Orlando has been arrested for feeding the homeless, but eventually it will happen.

No one should be arrested for simply trying to do what’s right.

There are thousands of churches and organizations that help feed and care for people living on the streets. Are these cities going to arrest entire church congregations?

Las Vegas, Orlando, Atlanta and other of these cities attract tourists. Clearly the ordinances are aimed at driving the homeless out of the downtown areas. If the homeless are not visible, then the towns will be more attractive to tourists and big corporate developers. This means more money for the cities at the expense of a few thousand vagrants.

But when people have dollar signs in their eyes, they are blind to the real problems going on around them.

If cities like Orlando have shelters for only 2,000 homeless people, then the real solution would be to spend some of those tourists’ dollars to build more shelters and expand the already-existing ones.

After Hurricane Katrina, Americans jumped to the aid of the thousands who lost their homes. People across the U.S. shipped clothes, food and money to the victims, and many people opened up their own houses.

It was a joint effort, and it saved many lives.

Yet, when we see a homeless guy down on his luck, begging for work, food or a few bucks, we look the other direction and pretend he is not there.

There is a preconceived notion that homeless people are just “lazy” and looking for an “easy handout.”

We are not in a position to judge these people. We have no clue what these people have gone through. Unless they are the victims of a natural disaster, we are reluctant to hand out money.

The United States ships tons of food to cities in third world countries every year to help feed the impoverished, but the government is turning its back on the needy people of this country.

We need to start taking care of the homeless on our streets.



Kasey Doyle can be reached at kdoyle@ thetimestribune.com