Ft. Lauderdale Officials Want to Stop Public Feedings

by Josie Raymond · 2010-02-13 15:40:00 UTC
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Ft. Lauderdale may be known as a prime spring break destination, but many locals fear that if something isn't done to quell (or at least hide) a swelling homeless population, the beachside city will get a bad reputation.

The consensus among downtown business owners is that meal distribution by non-profit and faith groups in public parks attracts homeless people, who in turn make the parks their home. The City Commission is meeting on Tuesday to discuss creating a one-stop center for homeless service -- further from the public eye. (This is just the city's latest attempt to hide the homeless. Ten years ago, the city tried to prohibit feeding the homeless at a beach but lost a court battle.)

Officials at the Downtown Development Authority want the feedings to stop, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports. The city attorney says there must be one designated place for feeding the homeless before officials can move forward with a parkwide ban. The City Commission is considering creating a "Fort Lauderdale Cares" center, which some members are touting as a one-stop help center. It's not lost on us that the center would also be further from the nightlife meant to attract tourists.

"When you feed them rogue, all over the place, it's attracting folks, and then they're just kind of wandering around downtown, and it affects the experience for the business folks and tourists," developer Alan Hooper brazenly told the Sun Sentinel. A restaurant owner added that he recently walked 10 blocks downtown and was asked for money 17 times. The proposal these men support don't have anything to do with reducing the number of homeless, however; just with moving them to the outskirts of downtown.

A city official said the 2009 count found 800 people on the streets in Ft. Lauderdale's Broward County. But the head of the local non-profit that deals with homelessness said her organization saw more than 4,200 clients in 2009. One recent client is 23-year-old Simon, seen below, who was interviewed on his first night of homelessness and whose fear and anxiety was obvious.

Photo credit: Allie_Caufield

Josie Raymond is a Change.org editor who has reported from the streets of the South Bronx, written for several magazines that folded (not her fault) and fixed thousands of typos.
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