Fort Lauderdale: Police Cite Clergy and Activists for Feeding The Homeless

Photo: Mike Clary

One of the justifications you hear when public services are cut for the poor is, "That's what the churches are for."

Well, now, it's against the law for even clergy to help the homeless in Fort Lauderdale.

Two members of the clergy and a 90 year old homeless advocate were cited with violating a new city ordinance which makes it a crime to feed the homeless:

Arnold Abbott, who heads the group Love Thy Neighbor, said he had served only three or four of about 300 meals he had prepared when police ordered him to stop.

Abbott, the Rev. Mark Sims, of St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church in Coral Springs, and the Rev. Dwayne Black, pastor of The Sanctuary Church in Fort Lauderdale, were each cited for willfully violating a city ordinance. Police issued them notices to appear in court, where they could be asked to explain their actions.

The ordinance, approved by the city commission Oct. 22, is one of several recent efforts by officials to crack down on the city's burgeoning downtown homeless population.

The latest law, which took effect Friday, limits where outdoor feeding sites can be located, requires the permission of property owners and says the groups have to provide portable toilets.

Abbott, who has won past legal battles with the city over feeding restrictions, has vowed to go to court again.

"We are simply trying to feed people who are hungry," said Sims. "To criminalize that is contrary to everything that I stand for as a priest and as a person of faith."

Read more at the Sun-Sentinel.