No "Feeding Permit"? No Help for Homeless

[IronRanger]

It's one thing to promote food safety, it's another to stop someone who could die from malnutrition;  If your body doesn't have the resources (food) to mount a defense against pneumonia, infections, etc. then you're not "protecting" them from anything.  Dumpster diving for food, trapping city critters and eating roadkill is healthy?

I hope this story turns out to be more sensationalism than truth.  Sheesh.


http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7381016.html

Couple must have proper permit to continue feeding dozens each day

Bobby and Amanda Herring spent more than a year providing food to homeless people in downtown Houston every day. They fed them, left behind no trash and doled out warm meals peacefully without a single crime being committed, Bobby Herring said.

That ended two weeks ago when the city shut down their "Feed a Friend" effort for lack of a permit. And city officials say the couple most likely will not be able to obtain one.

"We don't really know what they want, we just think that they don't want us down there feeding people," said Bobby Herring, a Christian rapper who goes by the stage name Tre9.

Anyone serving food for public consumption, whether for the homeless or for sale, must have a permit, said Kathy Barton, a spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Department. To get that permit, the food must be prepared in a certified kitchen with a certified food manager.

The regulations are all the more essential in the case of the homeless, Barton said, because "poor people are the most vulnerable to foodborne illness and also are the least likely to have access to health care."

Bobby Herring said those rules would preclude them from continuing to feed the 60 to 120 people they assisted nightly for more than a year. The food had been donated from area businesses and prepared in various kitchens by volunteers or by his wife.

He and his wife became involved in the effort several years ago, when she would take leftover food from work to the homeless downtown. From there, it expanded into a full-time effort for her working through Eyes on Me, the Herrings' nonprofit organization that focuses on Christian-themed youth outreach efforts.

Nearly every day last year, they distributed food prepared or donated by volunteers or local stores at 6 p.m. at the corner of Commerce and San Jacinto, near the Harris County Jail, Bobby Herring said.
Looking for new solution

On Nov. 8, they were approached by Houston police officers and asked to provide food at another location under an overpass at Commerce and Travis streets adjacent to Buffalo Bayou, he recalled.

They were happy to move to the new location and continued to provide food there until Dec. 30, when a park ranger and two police officers told them they would have to stop until they could obtain a permit.

Because the new area to which they had moved is on city park land, they need permission and permits from both the parks department and health department.

Because city ordinances would prevent them from obtaining the needed permit, Bobby Herring said he is hoping to find a new solution, perhaps working through a church with a permit or finding a downtown location that would allow them to continue to help the homeless.

Amanda Herring said she was frustrated at the city's sudden stance.

"I'm just really sad," she said. "I can't believe for a year we were right out in the open and never had anybody tell us to leave, to stop, to tell us it was wrong. I'm blindsided with it."
'Designed to protect'

Connie Boyd, president and CEO of the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County, applauded the Herrings' efforts but defended the city's stance.

"We absolutely need more people like them who care about this vulnerable population," Boyd said. "Even though their intentions are good, they ran into ordinances that are designed to protect the public. There are good reasons why they're in place."

Boyd said the Herrings, or any like-minded individuals, could use her organization to connect with more than 200 groups and agencies that provide aid to the homeless and possibly stake out a partnership.

Barton said city officials in the past had considered passing a "public feeding" ordinance that would make it easier for people like the Herrings to comply with rules designed to protect people's health and well being. The ordinance could involve easier and cheaper permitting processes, she said, although there had not been discussion of the matter for some time.
Ordinance review?

City Councilwoman Wanda Adams, who has been an advocate for the homeless during her tenure, said she planned to review the ordinance. She reiterated the importance of the city's rules but applauded the efforts of the Herrings.

"I'm very passionate about what they're doing," she said. "Somebody needs to make sure our homeless people are being taken care of. ... We have to look as a city to see if there are other ways we can partner with people like this who are trying to help."

[MountainDon]

It is sensational and it is the truth likely. Various people here have run into the same sort of thing. It is really too bad when you can't do a good deed without getting the government involved in permits.

[muldoon]

Thanks for posting this IronRanger.  I work in downtown Houston and see homeless people everyday.  A few I know by sight and it saddens me what their condition is.  Many are absolutely mentally deficient, and have absolutely no chance of standing on their own feet ever.  I assume others are their by choice of lifestyle or perhaps by bad luck. 

In any event, it is certainly a bad situation, and reflects very poorly on the city of Houston to attack the people trying to help.  Why would you need a permit to help homeless; that's just disgusting. 

[IronRanger]

Why would you need a permit to help homeless; that's just disgusting.

Exactly.  A person needs permission to act like a human being.  What's next?  Empathy permits?

I've been fuming since I read the article. 

[MountainDon]

See also the following. Covers a few years, nothing new, still disgusting...http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=118398

http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2006/Homeless-Las-Vegas28jul06.htm

http://www.suite101.com/content/feed-homeless-face-arrest-a18398


Same sort of thing from a couple years ago. A once a year event though, not ongoing

http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=5662.msg72643#msg72643

[glenn kangiser]

The City of Fresno Homeless Tent City that was reported shut down by the owned media in town a few months back--- Now I would say it has expanded to 5 times it's old size - down lots of side streets and edge of the old freeway.

[IronRanger]

Thanks for the links, MountainDon.  Of all places banning the feeding of homeless- Las Vegas.  I can imagine it wouldn't look good for business if there were homeless people hanging-around the casinos.     I wonder how many people have actually signed their houses over to a casino...

Now I would say it has expanded to 5 times it's old size

Yea, and a sizable percentage of those are "average" Americans. 

But, hey, we've got Sarah Palin tweets and Paris Hilton upskirts to keep us entertained.

[glenn kangiser]

I'm not going to say anything bad about Sarah Palin.  I don't look good with one of those target thingies over me...

[StinkerBell]

Government is out of control.

When did governement officials become social workers instead of representatives? Whole government is a mess and needs a reset.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Amen, Stink.