comments_image Comments










"To be honest I think Rockford doesn't want to accommodate homeless people. They seem to think that if you accommodate the homeless, they'll come, if you don't accommodate them they'll leave," he says. "Since many have been homeless for years, obviously that's not true."

Attempting to solve homelessness by making life harder for the homeless is common -- and similarly unsuccessful -- around the country. As Adam Peck notes in  Think Progress, shutting down the center is one example of a larger pattern of the criminalization of homelessness and poverty. Instead of investing in resources to aid the needy, authorities restrict the activities of homeless people and groups that offer services. Ironically, when they lead to fines and arrests they cost cities much more than it would cost to provide adequate housing.

Laws that ban sitting or lying down in public, camping, and panhandling enable police to move the homeless out of the nice parts of town.  Going after groups who feed or shelter the homeless can serve a similar function, preventing them from assembling in certain spaces. 

In several cities, authorities have cracked down on groups who give out food to the hungry, as Peck points out. In Raleigh, North Carolina volunteers were threatened with arrest over the summer. No one was led away in cuffs, but that's not unprecedented. In 2011, over 20 Food Not Bombs volunteers were arrested when they refused to comply with an ordinance that limited food-sharing in parks to only twice a year. The Mayor called them "food terrorists." 

More than 30 cities now have or have sought to establish laws that restrict food sharing and penalize groups that feed the needy in public places the New York Times reported, even as more Americans go hungry.

The need for shelter in Rockford is dire, according to Pastor Frederick. He says that Rockford, a city 80 miles west of Chicago which is known for cargo shipping and manufacturing, was hit hard by the recession. Those who sought the comfort of the church warming center included a guy with a PhD, a woman with a degree from DePaul, and a man who once owned a roofing company. He points out that the city is hurting itself by not taking care of people who could be productive members of the community if they got a little help. 

See more stories tagged with: