Posted on 10/30/2017 7:04:26 PM PDT by Morgana
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Church officials in West Virginia's largest city say violent incidents have led them to temporarily stop offering a weekly meal service to homeless individuals.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail reported Sunday that officials of Christ Church United Methodist say there has been more than one incident in October during Breaking Bread, a dinner program the church hosts each Wednesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at tristateupdate.com ...
Suspect it's drugs.
I donate to the Union Gospel Mission in Seattle. They don’t put up with any nonsense during meals.
They play on your guilt. They have it down. Some are just whako.
I haven’t heard of any problems around here, and I know folks that regularly go down to serve meals.
Yes...and add used needles all around the area, feces in door steps of the local businesses and a growing homeless population in the area.
The hot meals are compassionate but they draw more and more people to be fed to the area and problems.
The pattern with the drugs seems to be they go from nice enough and doped up to very, very aggressive violent.
It progresses to them fighting their own shadow, yelling and swinging at empty air as if they are battling an army coming at them.
Our city officials, however, have requested such helpers to refrain from providing food, clothes, blankets, etc. as it encourages people to stay on the streets, which puts them in a very dangerous position.
We would all live to get them into shelters where they can be cared for and offered a better way of life than doing drugs, alcohol, etc. but most are either mentally impaired or addicted or both.
“We would all live to get them into shelters where they can be cared for and offered a better way of life than doing drugs, alcohol, etc. but most are either mentally impaired or addicted or both. “
Lot of them don’t want to go into the shelters as they are often run by religious group and people complain they are “forced” to attend that religious group’s church even if they are not a member. I could see them being made to attend once service but they require them to attend more than one a week. I would not want someone else’s religion forced onto me. Don’t see how they can do this when they get government money/grants to pay for these shelters.
One place in Huntington was sued because they tried to force a non christian to attend services then tried to kick them out when they would not go. Yea you guessed it, ACLU or one of those alpabet groups. Don’t know the nature of the settlement but that mission can no longer force people.
San Francisco and Oakland have this problem a few times a year. Someone has to spoil it for the others. The majority just want the meal, a little socializing and maybe some dental work if available. Very uncomplicated.
Similar program in our Methodist church in our rural Oklahoma town. My wife leads the church ladies in cooking great meals (AND homemade desserts) for a regular group of about 60-80 guests. If there was even a hint of a problem, our guests would probably take care of it themselves before it escalated.
BTW, we are talking about folks here who have real difficulty navigating the daily chores of living. Partly by training (or lack thereof) and partly because of simple inability to process any sort of task.
Well, the homeless don’t have to go there is they won’t abide by the rules.
Since they are not forced to go to the shelters to get free food and clothing, I have no problem with requiring them to attend services.
But, no, they want the handouts with no strings attached.
It does them no favors to enable them like that.
Hmmm.
If I throw 5lbs of bird seed in front of the mayor’s house every day for a month, will he have a pigeon problem?
Though they do help the addicted with medical assistance for withdrawal and other medically similar problems, they will not allow men (or women) currently under the influence, nor accept them if they attempt to bring alcohol or drugs into their shelters.
Damn, I’m sick of bums.
All the time.
We have structured how we give stuff differently. That was after an altercation in the sanctuary years ago.
But that's always been the case with missions. If you want the bowl of soup you have to listen to the sermon.
“If anyone will not work then neither shall they eat”.
My assoc. pastor asked if Id come and help one day in the parking lot; I opened my door and put my briefcase in and he could see my body armor and M4. I told him, "Only if I get to do perimeter security". Oh, .....and sooner or later one of our church members is going to get a needle prick or an altercation" .
We have one mission that DOES work: we feed the homeless after they check in to the shelter and observed as drug/alcohol free. Do a little work around the shelter? You get to stick around. Help alot? We find a closeby apartment for you.
As a further explanation, this was at my old church in a college town. Had a homeless person assault a Stephen’s minister.
Where I live now we have several mission sites in the cities that handle it.
Like those televangelists - my grand mom has them on all the time, switches back and forth between several of them and it’s all about the money.
“Well, the homeless don’t have to go there is they won’t abide by the rules.”
About a year ago, and believe I posted it here, was a big stink in our town. Our mayor closed a “tent city” down by the river. The homeless living there did not know it was coming and all their worldly things were thrown away, including photo albums and cans of food they had bought with food stamps.
They sued and recently got won a big settlement.
Everyone was pissed off at this. These people were just down and outters. Plus soon after they brought over the ragheads from Syria and gave them houses yet we have this going on?
One of the reasons these people gave was being forced to attend that church when they already had one and it interfeard with their ability to to find/hold a job. Don’t know if you know it but if you live in these places you have a crewfew and holding night job is just next to impossible.
Plus if they are getting any ssi or socal security money these shelters get like 30% of that and some of these people have outstanding bills they need to pay and they pay it over time until they can get a home. The shelter is just a hinderance not a help.
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