Posted on 02/26/2004 9:13:16 AM PST by ZULU
Women told not to feed homeless Dover says donors must obtain required permits
By Maria Armental, Daily Record
DOVER -- Joann Tyler and Venetta Davis could not believe it when a town health official told them that they would have to shut down their help-the-homeless operation for lack of necessary permits.
"I've never heard that you have to have a license to feed the homeless," said Tyler. "How can you get in trouble when God said to feed the hungry? How can it be wrong?"
They vowed to continue feeding the needy while they seek the necessary permits.
"They are going to have to throw us in jail," Davis added. "I'm not going to stop."
Tyler and Davis have been feeding the unfortunate on a daily basis since Thanksgiving. They started feeding four people, and now attract about 50 for both dinner and breakfast. They usually prepare the food at their homes and serve it at JFK Commons park on Clinton Street.
Since their effort became known, they have received an outpouring of help, with people calling every day. But it also attracted some unwanted attention, as some neighborhood residents started to question the impact on their quality of life.
"And then, of course, the complaints started. Is it proper? Is it legal?" Alderman Ronald Camacho said.
Alderman John Horan said officials got complaints from area residents about increased garbage around the area.
The two women, though, said they always pick up after themselves.
Tyler said she never heard a complaint until Feb. 19, when town Health Officer Don Costanzo went to her home and told her that she was violating the town health code and would have to stop feeding people.
Town ordinances say food that will be served to the public must be prepared in a specially designated area of a residence, physically separated from living areas, and approved by the health authority. Exceptions are made for occasional events such as bake sales, Costanzo said.
Costanzo, who has been trying to help the two women get in contact with one of the local churches or the Salvation Army so that they can continue their effort, said he does not recall a similar situation.
"It's so rare, and that's why it is uncomfortable, because Tyler is doing something really good," Costanzo said.
If the women continue to feed the people despite the warning, Costanzo said they could be issued a summons. Any possible penalty would be imposed by the municipal judge.
"The dilemma is, she prepares food at home, making it a place that isn't acceptable under the law, with exceptions," Costanzo explained.
Camacho said he doubts that Tyler and Davis' efforts have any impact on the amount of trash generated in the area, noting that he often sees people having lunch at the park and children eating snacks there. The issue, he said, is that the town code must be enforced "because if we do allow this to go on without the proper license, what could happen?" He also wondered whether the town would be liable if someone became sick from the food.
"There has to be a better and safer venue for them to be able to do it, and to do it within the letter of the law," Alderwoman Cindy Romaine said.
Meanwhile, Tyler and Davis said they will continue.
"So, these people have to starve until I get a permit?" Tyler asked. "I don't see no harm in feeding them; and like I told them, I'm going to be there every day."
Mary Gangemi of Randolph said she and 10 of her co-workers from Pfizer Corp.'s product development department will help the women cook and deliver three-course meals and company-donated basic care packages March 6 as originally planned.
"I'm still going to do it. If they give me a fine, I'll pay it," Gangemi said. "I'm not going to stop doing it because of a technicality like that."
A Randolph Girl Scout troop also plans to help this weekend, Tyler said.
Tyler and Davis have founded a group called Missionaries of God, which recently received nonprofit status. They said they are simply trying to help those in need and are trying to work with the town to secure the permits they need.
"You have people hungry all over, but you can't feed them," Tyler said. "They can eat off the ground and everything, it's not a problem.… I cook for them, it's a problem."
John Flatt, a middle-aged homeless man who turns to Tyler and Davis for assistance on a daily basis, said that while growing up he sometimes had to look for food in the garbage.
"I used to eat off the garbage cans just to keep my brother fed," said Flatt. He said he lost his parents and his home in a fire and was left alone to care for his younger brother.
Other than turning to Tyler and Davis' services, those in need often go to the soup kitchen at Trinity Lutheran Church on Blackwell Street for a daily lunch from Monday through Saturday and to the First Baptist Church on Sundays. In addition, the Mental Health Association of Morris County's HOMI van brings dinners to the needy Thursday nights, weather permitting. It delivers meals near the state's unemployment office on Bassett Highway and used to deliver near the JFK park years ago.
"They said it created the undesirable," Flatt said about town officials moving the van's delivery area.
At one point, the Salvation Army also offered dinners at its Route 46 building Sunday nights, but that no longer is the case.
Tyler and Davis also have been providing the needy with clothing, job-search assistance and other help.
Tyler once took Gregory Domingues, one of the many who come to them on a daily basis, to the hospital when his hernia started acting up. Domingues was sitting on a bench at the park early in the morning when he felt sick. He said many people passed by, but only Tyler lent him a hand.
"You could have everything," Tyler said. "And in the blink of an eye, you can be by my van, or your children.
"And what are we teaching children? To walk away?" she continued. "Laws can be changed. It's time for somebody to make a stand."
"It never crossed my mind that any of this would happen. But God will make a way," Davis said. "We are not fighting this battle alone."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Maria Armental can be reached at marmental@gannett.com or (973) 989-0652.
FMCDH
See, just like bears, if you feed them, you only attract more.
Besides, the government doesn't like it when you steal their constituents. If people aren't dependent on the government, what's government to do?
You run up against huge interests who make billions by setting up phony help schemes that appear nice but in actuality harm people in huge numbers. Welfare agencies, mental health, United Way.. the list is endless.
One of the most dangerous things one can do is truly try to help people. (hyperbole off)
We had some group that fed the homeless outside of an el station in suburban Philly. How wonderful.
So, everyday at the evening rush hour, as taxpaying, working, Americans were trying to get home and feed their own kids and pay bills so they wouldn't be homeless, they had to run a gauntlet of filthy, smelly, likely-to-commit-an-assault, homeless people.
You want to feed the homeless, feed them at your house. Let regular people go about their business unmolested. Neighborhoods that had a few homeless 'regulars' became beacons for attracting bums from all over.
I notice that many of these so-called do-gooders often come into neighborhoods where they don't live and don't give a crap about the disruption, crime, dirt, etc. that their efforts bring with them.
Is that John Fizgerald Kennedy Park or John F'n Kerry Park? And is it William Jefferson Clinton Street or Hillary Rodham Clinton Street? We need to be clear about the facts.
So true! Living in a town with a large number of organizations set up to help the poor and homeless, guess what? We attract more of the same who come from out of town to benefit from all the free stuff!
"I don't have the solutions, but I admire the problems."
The ladies' efforts will last until one of those homeless comes down sick and files a lawsuit.
My wife and I worked as volunteers at the Salvation Army food center, weeding out cans that had outdated nutrition labels. The food wasn't old, just the labelling had been recently changed.
When the people there said the cans were going to be tossed, I asked why it wasn't given to SOMEBODY needy as it was still good food. "Lawsuits" was all they had to say.
Only in America.
Keeping the food hot (or cold) enough so that you don't get E. Coli or other stuff growing in it...
Then you responded;
You only read the headline, didn't you? They usually prepare the food at their homes and serve it at JFK Commons park on Clinton Street.
It seems to me Ron did read the entire post as he was referring to the women's ability to keep the food hot on the way to serving it in the park.
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