Published July 31, 2006 in the Central Florida Future
(campus paper at the University of Central Florida)

Homeless feedings restricted in parks

By Thomas Hoefer

Volunteers have long been feeding Orlando's homeless at Lake Eola. Associated with non-profit organizations such as [Orlando] Food Not Bombs or The Ripple Effect, these helpers, including some UCF students, have handed out free dinners once a week to essentially anyone who was hungry.

They did so again last week [July 26], but this time, police officers, local TV stations and supporters of the feeding tradition showed up. And all because of Section 18A.01 of the city code.

Last Monday, the Orlando City Council approved an ordinance that effectively prohibits organizations from providing food for homeless people in public parks. The ordinance, which passed 5-2, had provoked controversy in the run-up and has caused even more heated arguments since.

The ordinance requires volunteer organizations to obtain a permit when serving food to more than 15 [actually 25] people in a city park, described as a "large group feeding." Each organization is limited to two feedings per year per park.

The city council in its ordinances "encourages the use of city owned-parks by city residents in a safe, sanitary and aesthetically pleasing atmosphere." Downtown residents, however, have continually complained about litter, excrement and begging at Lake Eola. [Actually, several residents of the Lake Eola area spoke against the ordinance at the July 24 City Council meeting.]

"We get the trash. We try to clean up as much as we can," said Ben Rudolph, of [Orlando] Food Not Bombs. He and other volunteers of the organization bypassed the ordinance Wednesday by serving food to the homeless near Central Boulevard and Osceola Avenue, which is a stone's throw away from Lake Eola.

Choosing a sideway for the feeding was a compromise within the group. "We told [the police] we are still going to be here Wednesdays at 5 p.m.," Rudolph said. "We will get arrested if it means having to get arrested, but we'd like to try to get everyone fed."

Despite intermittent rain, the event drew a great number of homeless people to the group's minivan, where meals were served. While his fellow helpers, mostly high school students, handed out food, Rudolph was busy expressing his outrage over the ordinance.

"It's a civil injustice," he said. "You can't just cover up the problem. You have to deal with it. It's about being humane. It's about helping people who need it most. If they [the city government] want to make it happen, they can make it happen."

Those most affected by the ordinance - the homeless - reacted with a mix of indifference and casualness.

"I'm not worried about it," said Eason Settembrino, who has been homeless for years. "Jesus first, man, Jesus first." Settembrino said he was confident that the feeding would continue, even if it meant to move to another location.

Meanwhile, he and other homeless people are trying to raise money for the cause by appearing as a band. Sponsored by local supporters, his group plans to perform as the Tempest Fulgent Project.

"We are not trying to be rock stars," Settembrino said with a smile, but the project might make more people aware of the situation of the homeless.

To Sean Kane, who works for a downtown law firm and joined the opposition against the ordinance, the problem lies just within the specific mentioning of the homeless.

"Take away 'homeless people' and say 'black' or 'women.' Would anybody allow that? No," Kane said. "By this ordinance, they are grouping people together by this nebulous, precarious status

"You can feed birds and dogs out here, but you can't feed [the homeless]. It's an obvious attempt to deny people civil rights."

During the City Council meeting, Mayor Buddy Dyer defended the wording of the ordinance in his introductory speech.

"The feeding ordinance is really designed to fight litter and to fight food-borne diseases and to make sure that we are able to accommodate the needs of the homeless and also the residents that live here," Dyer said.

The council has suggested moving the homeless feeding to another place, specifically Sylvia Lane, which is a fenced site near America Street.

Rudolph, who referred to Sylvia Lane as "the ghetto," said the newly designated site is unsafe for the homeless and for the volunteers. Just recently, a homeless person was beaten there by teenagers. [Actually, in recent months five homeless people have been assaulted by teenagers in that area; one, August Felix, later died as a result of his injuries.]

The dispute has also reached UCF. The Student Senate had passed a resolution, written by Senate member Jason Misner, that was presented at the city council meeting. The resolution states, in part, that the UCF student body "utilizes the areas named in the amendment for events that involve large group feedings."

Misner said that the ultimate goal for writing the resolution was to express that the Senate was offended by the ordinance.

"It's a very, very poor solution," he said. "The ordinance is not going to do the things they [the city governmen] think it will."