Do Not Feed the Homeless

by Shannon Moriarty · 2009-04-07 17:29:00 UTC
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If you think that it's counterintuitive to place restrictions on feeding homeless people during a recession you're right. Yet, this is exactly what the city of Gainesville, Florida is doing. Restrictions for feeding the homeless include a "no feed zone" around the University of Florida and limits on the number of meals organizations may serve per day. To make matters worse, limiting the supply of food has created a bona fide feeding frenzy.

The restrictions on the books have been in place for years. At first glance, these laws appear to be much crueler than intended. The limits on meals served per soup kitchen are designed to prevent one neighborhood from bearing the brunt of the social service providers. In other words, they're trying to spread the homeless people out around town.

In recent months, the downtown Gainesville streets have seen an influx in visible homeless people. This spike in the city's homeless was the impetus for the decision to enforce the homeless feeding restrictions.

So far, the only effect the enforcement of feeding restrictions has been an almost immediate feeding frenzy. Aware that soup kitchens are serving fewer meals, people are afraid of going without food, writes the Gainesville Sun:

"I noticed last week for the first time that there's been a lot more people lined up," said Cornelia Holbrook-Fitzgerald, owner of the Sweetwater Branch Inn, located next door to the Salvation Army.

Cris Gentilmen, supervisor of operations at the Salvation Army, said the organization went from serving 40 to 50 people in its evening meals to more than 100 when St. Francis House started turning people away.

Rather than worrying about where homeless people get their meals, and how the dispersion of "destitute people" makes the city look, perhaps it's time that Gainesville city officials re-evaluate their priorities.

People are on the Gainesville streets because they are unable to afford a place to live. They are in soup lines because they cannot put food on the table. Why are Gainesville officials wasting time worrying about how to scatter homeless people throughout the city rather than working to address root causes of these issues?

Shannon Moriarty has worked in various homeless shelters and service organizations around the country. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
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