90 Year Old Arrested For Feeding The Homeless

[Gromit]

// Two pastors and a 90-year old man have been arrested for feeding the homeless in public.

The pastors, Dwayne Black and Mark Sims along with Arnold Abbott, an advocate for the homeless, face a 60-day jail term and a $500 fine for breaking a new law passed by the city.
"One of police officers came over and said ‘Drop that plate right now,’ as if I was carrying a weapon,” Mr Abbott said.
"These are the poorest of the poor, they have nothing, they don't have a roof over their heads. How do you turn them away?”
It is estimated that there are 10,000 homeless people in Fort Lauderdale.

According to Mr Abbott, who runs a non-profit organisation called “Love Thy Neighbour”, the homeless are drawn to Fort Lauderdale because of the climate.
“The homeless people come here for the weather, they know they won’t freeze to death in Fort Lauderdale,” said Mr Abbott a retired jewellery salesman who won two Purple Hearts as an infantryman in the Second World War.
Fort Lauderdale imposed the new restrictions saying that the move would help tackle homelessness. //

Strange chaps the Yanks.

[237SJ]

Clanad - just out of interest why are there so many homeless in San Francisco and Seattle? Someone told me that it is because the US changed the laws whereby they can`t claim any benefits (do they have benefits in the US?) without a fixed address expect in San Fran and Seattle so the homeless migrated there. Is that true?

[237SJ]

*except*

[kvalidir]

My Dad once brought a homeless man home for Christmas dinner that he'd found- he stayed for a few days Clanad (complete with whatever diseases he might have had and quite a fondness for a drink too as I remember). I personally actually don't have an issue with the homeless in front of my house or anywhere else, I have a issue with the fact they are not properly provided for and are treated as second class citizens by some.

[237SJ]

"I personally don`t have an issue with the homeless in front of my house" You would if you lived on Market St in San Francisco.

[Svejk]

Rather irresponsible of your father, imo, kval.

[kvalidir]

No more irresponsible than allowing any other stranger to stay in your home Svejk- and before you say people don't do that- they do. People couch surf, people invite penfriends over, people have someone they gave a lift to stop, met a festival, who have had a disaster like a fire take place, people run bed and breakfasts, or simply someone they have recently met socially stay sometimes. What make you think a homeless person is any more of a threat than anyone else? We were not all murdered in our beds as you might notice.
I've been to San Francisco 237SJ, and also to San Diego where there is also a large homeless problem but can't recall Market St particularly in SF and might not have seen it- but you're not in a position to second guess what I would or wouldn't mind or how I would or would not react to any given circumstance. If something is truly awful you need to treat the problem at source and find out what bright them to this, not treat homeless people as if they ARE the problem itself.

[237SJ]

I have also been to San Diego but I haven`t been party to homelessness there. As you haven`t been to Market St then I don`t think you are quite in a position to comment on how threatened you would feel if you lived there.

[237SJ]

Further - the homeless there are not just homeless. Many (most) have serious mental health issues which sets them apart from the homeless that one encounters in this country.

[Svejk]

Any stranger, kval. If you live on your own you can invite anyone you like to stay. Personally, and it is only my opinion, one has a duty of care where children are concerned. After all, you had no say in the matter. PS. I'm glad you're still here.

[whirlyhurly]

How unbelievable it's "mans inhumanity to man".

[jno]

the photo appears not to show anyone's front or back yard, though.

[kvalidir]

Blimey so you seriously don't invite people to stay once you have children in case they are mad axe murders? Another reason not to have the little blighters ;-)

[Peter Pedant]

// I'm sure I read somewhere that they are going to do the same thing in Westminster, ban on feeding the homeless//

no surely feeding MPs - the fat bastaards - let them starve !

[kvalidir]

Likewise you'd think they would also have a field day Divebuddy if they sent their child to church and it was then molested by a priest. Life is dangerous and you can't tell the goodies from the baddies just by looking or listening, so stop being so paranoid- a homeless person is just a person without a home.

[Svejk]

I'm not saying it's a bad thing, kval, but when you're young you tend to be more trusting. As you get older you tend to consider the worst case scenario. Life experience, sadly, teaches you that.

[kvalidir]

It's a funny thing actually Svejk- my parents made sure we saw everything possible; the good the bad and the ugly side of humanity, poverty and wealth, sectarianism, and the affects of drink and drug addiction. Don't mistake my Dad for a hippie yogurt knitter who thinks the world is all pretty pink unicorns, he's anything but that, but he feels, and I agree with him on this that you can't be afraid of life, and you can't lose your humanity along the way because of fear or you become a shadow of what you might otherwise be. Anyhoooooo I'm the better for having met this man imho, so again imho the right choice:)

[atalanta]

How many of those who pass laws to say people can't help the homeless will claim to call themselves Christians ?

[Clanad]

It's not the issue of passing laws that say one can't "help the homeless"… just where, when and how.

Look, a number of years ago… maybe 30 or 40 by now, the Government basically ruled that unless a person was criminally insane they couldn't be "housed" in an institution and thousands were released into society and continue to be. The intent of the ruling was supposed to benefit those who soon became the nations homeless because, like a lot well intentioned actions there was no follow up.

Though there may be around 3.5 million people who experience short term homelessness there are usually (latest stats) about 175,000 chronically homeless.

Most of the homeless are helped by charitable institutions since it's difficult to actually find them because lack of a residence… vicious circle so to speak.

Efforts have been under way for along time to eradicate the plight, but, due to the current economic problems, the battle is facing difficulties.

In an attempt to answer 237SJ's question, I think a major contributor to SFO and Seattle being centers of homelessness has to do with the readily available street drugs, at least in SFO. But the fact is, the causes of homelessness aren't clearly understood, since it can be an intermittent condition.

There are "benefits" here in the U.S., however the benefits are usually expressed in food assistance. Overnight housing is usually, as earlier stated, provided by churches and other small charitable organizations.

As bad as any homelessness is, it isn't purely an American malady… every city in the world experiences this condition.

Kvaldir's story isn't unusual… but notice (said without accusations) the charity lasted only for a short period of time. That's usually the case with individuals and completely understandable…

Atalanta… no one was prohibited from helping the homeless...