Feeding Homeless Apparently Illegal in Raleigh, NC (w/MAJOR update at 4:43 PM)
Last edited Sun Aug 25, 2013, 04:44 PM - Edit history (3)
Occupy Raleigh just posted this at 4:43:
"We are happy to report food is being distributed to those in need at Moore Square peacefully and without incident at this time."
They tell how we can help at the end of the blog post, with contact info. NC's demise continues...
What Happened
This morning (8/24/13) we showed up at Moore Square at 9:00 a.m., just like we have done virtually every Saturday and Sunday for the last six years. We provide, without cost or obligation, hot coffee and a breakfast sandwich to anyone who wants one. We keep this promise to our community in cooperation with five different large suburban churches that help us with manpower and funding.
Today officers from Raleigh Police Department prevented us from doing our work, for the first time ever. An officer said, quite bluntly, that if we attempted to distribute food, we would be arrested.
Our partner church brought 100 sausage biscuits and large amounts of coffee. We asked the officers for permission to disperse the biscuits to the over 70 people who had lined up, waiting to eat. They said no. I had to face those who were waiting and tell them that I could not feed them, or I would be arrested.
In the past, we have had a good working relationship with the Raleigh Police Department. We knew that we could not use the park itself, as doing so required a permit, but that it was fine if we wanted to set up on the sidewalk, as long as we did not block the sidewalk and cleaned up after ourselves. We have operated, unmolested, under this assumption for the last six years.
http://lovewins.info/2013/08/feeding-homeless-apparently-illegal-in-raleigh-nc/
EDIT TO ADD UPDATE: This group's FB page shows the local news station interviewing people in Moore Square several hours ago, one would assume about this situation. I personally know a lot of people who contacted the media -- and the recommended contacts noted at the blog -- about this. It does seem to be going viral.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151814044045342&set=a.10150703584175342.448130.345936410341&type=1&theater
3:00 PM Sunday news update:
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=9218431
Raleigh police spokesman Jim Sughrue told ABC11 that no arrests were made Saturday in connection with the feeding activity.
"People were simply informed the ordinance prohibits the kinds of actions some groups have been engaged in at the park. Work is ongoing with those involved, some of whom are developing alternative sites, etc.," Sughrue said.
The group has asked for help from the public in finding a private building or parking lot downtown that they can use to feed the hungry.
A rally is scheduled for Sunday at 4 p.m. in Moore Square.
Another good link with mayor and city council input, thanks to DUer, rubluetoo:
http://www.candidslice.com/city-council-responds-to-lovewins-ministries-viral-blog-feeding-homeless-apparently-illegal-in-raleigh-nc/
= new reply since forum marked as read
to see that. Couldn't post everything due to four-paragraph rule, but thank you for posting it instead!!!
--That statement from your article rings true. And what can we do about it? If compassion is out of style, how about Justice?
I think there's not enough room for all of us Bleeding Heart Liberals in Rhode Island:
"For Joel John Roberts, the reality he sees in cities across America represents a problem for the homeless population “People are tired of compassion,” he says. “Irritation has trumped tolerance for those who are homeless.” He believes it's a failure to think long-term about the problem. “Enforcing anti-homeless ordinances is more politically expedient than actually addressing the root causes and long-term solutions to homelessness,” he says.
But not every state is trending toward an inhospitable response to its street-bound citizens. A few days ago the governor of Rhode Island signed on to the state's Homeless Bill of Rights, a piece of legislation designed to welcome and protect homeless individuals by protecting their rights. "I think we've set the bar high in the U.S. for homeless people, and I'm very proud of that," said one Senate sponsor of the bill, Sen. John Tassoni. The bill protects a homeless individual's “reasonable expectation of privacy,” and prohibits discrimination against those living on the streets.
Neil Donovan is the executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. He applauds the passage of the bill. "It's important as a standalone piece of legislation but also as it's juxtaposed with other communities that are in the process of criminalizing homelessness," he says.
Groups and individuals working on behalf of the homeless might have an easier time of it in Rhode Island than many other states. In Houston, Texas, the act of feeding five or more homeless people in public without written permission from the city is now punishable as a misdemeanor, carrying a fine of $500. But churches, individuals, and faith-based groups are protesting the new restriction. Manual Sanchez, a volunteer with Simple Feast, a church ministry, summed up his group's feelings on the subject. "We have a huge problem asking the city for permission to feed the poor,” he said.
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--We need to really push hard for bills like Rhode Island's....!
"If you're ever confused about who to vote for in a race, just find out who the Chamber of Commerce endorses and vote for the other person"
...and maybe McCrony will bring em some cookies...
feeding the homeless produces? It's staggering. And then it attracts ants. It's a huge mess. It's just not worth it.
Nothing on Google news
As posted on the ministry's FB page from several hours ago:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151814044045342&set=a.10150703584175342.448130.345936410341&type=1&theater
I live in the Raleigh area. Given that this is Ground Zero for Moral Mondays, I'd be shocked if this group -- which I'm vaguely familiar with and never heard anything negative about them -- made this up in any way. The truth would come out big time, really fast.
Granted, if there was a misunderstanding, I'm sure the RPD will issue a statement soon. 
I lean toward skepticism myself whenever there are a gazillion links and only one source. Hopefully WRAL will have a story posted soon, with more back story, as you say.
while reading this post.
Natalie Merchant / Christian Burial Music © 1987
Heaven, is this heaven where we are?
See them walking, if you dare
if you call that walking
stumble, stagger, fall and drag themselves
along the streets of heaven
Where is the blessed table
to feed all who hunger on earth
welcomed and seated each one joyfully served?
see them walking, if you dare
if you call that walking
stumble, stagger, fall and drag themselves
along the streets of heaven
Where is the halo
that should glow 'round your face
and where are the wings that
should grow from your shoulder blades?
These sobering sights I've seen
in the City of Angels
have all been one rude awakening
that was due to me in heaven
There would have been heavenly music
I was convinced before
and a host of the dearly to meet me
with hosannas sung at the door
But these sobering sights I've seen
in the City of Angels
have all been one rude awakening
that was due to me
in this city of fallen angels
I've been to Occupy Raleigh and a couple of Moral Mondays, and the cops were generally "polite." Not all are flaming assholes, they're just enforcing the shitty laws handed down by our fearless leaders.
"Photo of the Day - We are celebrating with Jeanette and Isaiah as they move to their first home after 12 years of homelessness. We sure will miss them, but we couldn't be happier for them.
Pictured with them are Officer Everette and Officer Clark, RPD community officers."
"We are happy to report food is being distributed to those in need at Moore Square peacefully and without incident at this time."
Last year, the City Council decided to purchase the former Salvation Army headquarters for $2.1 million as part of a broader redevelopment effort on the eastern side of Moore Square.
$2 million for gentrification, but no $ for the people
FDR's campaign trip to Pittsburgh, PA, during which he dedicated the Terrace Village housing project on October 11, 1940.
FDR and Housing Legislation
In his State of the Union Message of January 6, 1937, President Roosevelt spoke of the urgent need for the new Congress to address the housing situation:
“There are far-reaching problems still with us for which democracy must find solutions if it is to consider itself successful. For example, many millions of Americans still live in habitations which not only fail to provide the physical benefits of modern civilization but breed disease and impair the health of future generations. The menace exists not only in the slum areas of the very large cities, but in many smaller cities as well. It exists on tens of thousands of farms, in varying degrees, in every part of the country.”
Two weeks later, Roosevelt made the point more succinctly in his Second Inaugural Address:
"I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished. . . . The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”
FDR then worked behind the scenes with lawmakers and administration officials on the housing bill. Issues such as financing of projects, caps on costs per unit, and the staffing and governance of the proposed housing authority were sorted out in conferences held at the White House. With the major concerns of various Congressmen—including Rep. Steagall—resolved, the bill finally went to a vote. President Roosevelt signed the Wagner-Steagall Housing Act into law on September 1, 1937.
The new law established the United States Housing Authority (USHA) that provided $500 million in loans for low-cost housing projects across the country. Under the new law, the USHA acted as a loan granting agency to state and local housing authorities to build low-cost housing in both small and large urban areas. The USHA was empowered to advance loans amounting to 90% of project costs, at low-interest and on 60-year terms. By the end of 1940, over 500 USHA projects were in progress or had been completed, with loan contracts of $691 million. The goal was to make the program self-sustainable through the collection of rents: one-half of rent from the tenants themselves, one-third paid by contributions from the Federal government; and one-sixth paid by annual contributions made by the localities themselves. During World War II, the USHA was instrumental in planning and constructing housing for defense workers.
To Franklin Roosevelt, adequate housing was not just a need, but a right. The Wagner-Steagall Housing Act of 1937, along with other New Deal housing and mortgage initiatives, brought greater economic security to hundreds of thousands of Americans. In his January 11, 1944 State of the Union address, FDR declared a “second Bill of Rights” that included “the right of every family to a decent home.”
I watched these public projects, which in my city were in good shape, and all but one of the city's public hospitals all sold off to developers in the era of Reagan. That reduced health care and housing to the poor. I know that some were in bad conditions in other places, which spurred part of the changes.
It was the beginning of chronic homelessness for many people. And by putting the problems of anyone up for public ridicule as Reagan did with the welfare queen meme, his anti-union, anti-civil rights agenda, add deregulation, and we have this problem continuing to fester.
Where I live, there is a good deal of subsidized housing that does not depend on large projects being built, and it works better than nothing. I'm not sure what's going on in Raleigh, but listening to Reverend Barber, the GOP has cut everything.
With all due respect to private charities, it is the lack of affordable, free or subsidized housing with unemployment payments and other social needs that need to be addressed. There is no lack of housing but there is NIMBYism.
We should not just be having the homeless fed while they are still left homeless as if we didn't know any better. I see communities that have banished those without homes, and others who grant them the right to be homeless without being bothered. What I want to see them not be homeless, period.
It is sad to think we are reduced to cheering a daily hand out to the homeless that equals the price of a cup of coffee and a sandwich. Such nominal efforts show a good heart but do not solve the problem.
Don't get me wrong, I've been homeless. When the big churches would not help me, a small one did give me coupons to get fast food meals. I am grateful for that to this day. Also, my situation was temporary and I was between places to live for a while.
Fortunately I did have a vehicle and people do live out of their vehicles. The church that gave me the coupons also told me where to park, as none would allow me to park overnight since their insurance didn't allow it. The woman pastor told me of a quiet state rest area with a bathroom and highway patrol office there for my safety. I was touched by her heartfelt concern after being dismissed by other churches and scared. It was also in late November and the autumn rain and gales were in full force.
And I was not asked anything by the police at the rest area until my second week. Then a patrol officer came to tell me kindly that they did not allow people to stay there permanently. I said I had found a place to stay and would be moving on as soon as it was available, which was true. The officer said alright and good luck.
Money exists to house people, but this is NOT the America of FDR. The will of Amercans to take care of strangers as a matter of human dignity seems to have left us years ago. Charity is an optional act and people should have rights, not live off the whims of others. We have been taken over by Randians who see nothing wrong with this state of affairs.
JHMOs.
P. S. About half the people in the USA are recieving sufficient services to not be homeless, without meals, or healthcare, all paid by the federal government and the states that are committed to doing so. We need more humane representatives in every state that this is not the case. The purpose of Social Security, Disability, unemployment payments and all the other programs prevent homelessness and chaos in millions of lives everyday of the year. Those stories are not brought up, they are taken for granted. We must extend these, not let the states get away with leaving their citizens without jobs, food, health care and housing.
