Florida Couple Fined, Threatened with Jail for Feeding Homeless

[kelroy55]

I'm split on this one. I can understand the city's point of view but it still seems a bit cold and my hats off to this couple for doing a good thing.

Florida Couple Fined, Threatened with Jail for Feeding Homeless - NBC News

[Plutonic Panda]

That's dumb. Something cam be worked out. If the homeless per people are acting fools by getting drunk and excreteing waste, then that is their problem and should be punished accordingly, but for the good ones and to the people feeding them, what is the hell is the problem? Sounds exactly like people just wanting to control others.

[BBatesokc]

I'm a bit split on this too - however, as I read the article I fall more in favor of the city (in general).

If the volunteers were warned not to continue their public feedings then the city should have formally warned them with something in writing that the volunteers signed. Without that I really don't know who to believe.

Regardless, anyone who can't see the problem with letting people form food pantries just anywhere they want is living in a fantasy hippie land. And I say this as someone who volunteered to feed the homeless once or twice a week FOR YEARS in downtown OKC. But this was done on private property and indoors (Downtown Baptist Mission and REST Homeless Day Shelter).

Do I think some cities take their restriction too far? Certainly. But I also think some individuals and groups take their perceived rights too far when it comes to these activities.

I applaud these individuals if they truly want to fight the city on this issue - but they best be prepared to face the consequences that often come with poking the bear.

[Plutonic Panda]

Creating a food pantry wherever they want. How Amy do. You see around? These are one people dog this and I am confident, something could be worked out if needed. If they ha e a yard, why not do it for them in their own backyard? Surely they trust the purple they're feeding, eh?

[BBatesokc]

Creating a food pantry wherever they want. How Amy do. You see around? These are one people dog this and I am confident, something could be worked out if needed. If they ha e a yard, why not do it for them in their own backyard? Surely they trust the purple they're feeding, eh?

Obviously the couple isn't concerned with 'working it out' or they would have checked local ordinances in advance. I volunteer with lots of groups (large and small) and the 1st order of business is finding out what the rules are and deciding if we can play by them.

Just because you have private property doesn't mean you can do whatever you want on it - to include setting up a food pantry.

As for how many are around? Cant speak for that area, but OKC has tons of them! Literally dozens in the metro and surrounding areas. There is ZERO reason for a homeless individual or family to claim they will starve in the OKC area unless they simply choose to. Just the referral list at the Christian Service Center is huge. Not to mention the list utilized by Heartline.

[Dennis Heaton]

Just because you have private property doesn't mean you can do whatever you want on it - to include setting up a food pantry.

As for how many are around? Cant speak for that area, but OKC has tons of them! Literally dozens in the metro and surrounding areas. There is ZERO reason for a homeless individual or family to claim they will starve in the OKC area unless they simply choose to. Just the referral list at the Christian Service Center is huge. Not to mention the list utilized by Heartline.

Hard for me to grasp that a state (where more than 25% of the children are hungry) ranked the 6th most obese in the country, has tons of Food Pantries? It just doesn't make sense with all this food around that anyone should go to bed hungry...especially in Oklahoma (City).

[BBatesokc]

Hard for me to grasp that a state (where more than 25% of the children are hungry) ranked the 6th most obese in the country, has tons of Food Pantries? It just doesn't make sense with all this food around that anyone should go to bed hungry...especially in Oklahoma (City).

I'm sure there are all kinds of reasons, excuses, etc.

The sad fact is we give out food stamp cards and free food at pantries at an alarming rate. If your kid goes to bed hungry on a regular basis then its the parents that are to blame. Free food is in abundance in this city.

[PennyQuilts]

I'm sure there are all kinds of reasons, excuses, etc.

The sad fact is we give out food stamp cards and free food at pantries at an alarming rate. If your kid goes to bed hungry on a regular basis then its the parents that are to blame. Free food is in abundance in this city.

This is the reason I oppose generic welfare absent intelligent reform - we frequently subsidize crappy parenting and trap kids in poverty and awful schools and neighborhoods.

[hoya]

Hard for me to grasp that a state (where more than 25% of the children are hungry) ranked the 6th most obese in the country,

Fat kids are often hungry. That's why they're fat.

[Of Sound Mind]

Creating a food pantry wherever they want. How Amy do. You see around? These are one people dog this and I am confident, something could be worked out if needed. If they ha e a yard, why not do it for them in their own backyard? Surely they trust the purple they're feeding, eh?

Are you speaking/writing a new dialect of English that I'm unfamiliar with?

[Plutonic Panda]

On my phone typing, sorry

[PennyQuilts]

There are signs up all over state and federal parks telling people to not feed the wildlife because they end up suffering when the tourists leave and they've lost their ability to successfully forage as a direct result of being fed. I don't see it as an insult to compare people to wild animals, btw.

A concern I have is that many homeless are mentally ill, often preyed upon by others. Feeding them encourages them to stay on the street making it more likely that they will be victimized by predators, left out in the elements and not receive appropriate medical treatment. They are in far more danger of becoming victims of street crime than they are of starving, and feeding them sets them up. Better to work with organizations with more comprehensive services, IMO.

[kelroy55]

There are signs up all over state and federal parks telling people to not feed the wildlife because they end up suffering when the tourists leave and they've lost their ability to successfully forage as a direct result of being fed. I don't see it as an insult to compare people to wild animals, btw.

A concern I have is that many homeless are mentally ill, often preyed upon by others. Feeding them encourages them to stay on the street making it more likely that they will be victimized by predators, left out in the elements and not receive appropriate medical treatment. They are in far more danger of becoming victims of street crime than they are of starving, and feeding them sets them up. Better to work with organizations with more comprehensive services, IMO.

Are you equating homeless people with wildlife? Many homeless do have mental illness but a great many do not and do you think it would be kinder to let mentally ill homeless starve? Where do you suggest they get all the things you say they need? Are they not going to be homeless anymore if you stop feeding them or will they just be hungry homeless people? Your compassion is astounding.

[Stew]

We have an ordinance that says when people want to perform acts of kindness or charity that they must coordinate with our local social service agencies

You got to love Florida. Kindness is well regulated and guns aren't. A misanthrope's wet dream.