GardenShare

GardenShare

Monday, November 24, 2014

CITIES CRIMINALIZE FEEDING HOMELESS PEOPLE

This story makes me so sad this Thanksgiving week...

Gloria
 

Since January 2013, 22 cities around the country, from Los Angeles to Atlanta to Philadelphia, have enacted legislation restricting individuals and groups from sharing food with the homeless in public places, according to a new report by the National Coalition for the Homeless. The report found that there has been a 48% increase in cities attempting to pass such laws since 2010. Since 2007, 71 cities, in 27 states or commonwealths, including Puerto Rico, have either attempted or successfully enacted such legislation. At the same time, three states, including Connecticut in 2013, have passed a “Homeless Bill of Rights.” which outlaws discrimination against homeless people and affirms their right to use public spaces, including eating and exchanging food in public.

Source: Stateline, 11/17/14, Feeding the Homeless; Poverty & Policy, 11/17/14, Hunger & Homelessness

No comments:

Post a Comment