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Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Cities, volunteers clash over feeding homeless in public

When Adele MacLean joined others in an Atlanta park to feed the hungry the Sunday before Thanksgiving, she left with a citation and a summons to appear in court.

The case was dropped when she showed up in court earlier this month, but she and her lawyers say the citation for serving food without a permit was improper and demonstrates callousness toward the homeless. The city and some advocates say feeding people on the streets can hinder long-term solutions and raises sanitation concerns.

“I’m still outraged this is happening,” MacLean said after her court appearance Dec. 14. “I’m concerned that the city, whenever they want to crack down on the homeless, they’re going to go after anyone that tries to help them.”

About 40 cities nationwide had active laws to restrict food sharing as of November 2014, and a few dozen more had attempted such restrictions, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless. Interim Director Megan Hustings said she doesn’t have updated numbers but that she’s heard about more cities considering such regulations.

More here

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Prisons are big business. We should bring back work houses and debtors farms and put these people to honest work and make money whist doing it.

Anonymous said...

So.......It's not OK to feed the homeless in the streets.
But those same people feel it's ok for the homeless to use the public streets as a restroom.

Anonymous said...

If you feed stray animals they never go away, and rely on you to feed them forever. Same goes for welfare families and the homeless.

Anonymous said...

You are rather cold hearted Bud.

Anonymous said...

Stay classy Georgia!

Anonymous said...

No work, no eat! Plain and simple.
Plenty of trash to pick up, mowing, raking, painting.