Houston Doesn't Care About Homeless People!

For more than a year, Bobby Herring and his wife Amanda have been providing warm meals to Houston homeless population. They fed these people every single day for months -- until their operation was shut down two weeks ago because the Herrings don't have a permit and because of the way the system is set up, they won't qualify.

Anyone serving food for public consumption, whether for the homeless or for sale, must have a permit, said Kathy Barton, a spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Department. To get that permit, the food must be prepared in a certified kitchen with a certified food manager. The regulations are all the more essential in the case of the homeless, Barton said, because "poor people are the most vulnerable to foodborne illness and also are the least likely to have access to health care." Bobby Herring said those rules would preclude them from continuing to feed the 60 to 120 people they assisted nightly for more than a year. The food had been donated from area businesses and prepared in various kitchens by volunteers or by his wife. He and his wife became involved in the effort several years ago, when she would take leftover food from work to the homeless downtown. From there, it expanded into a full-time effort for her working through Eyes on Me, the Herrings' nonprofit organization that focuses on Christian-themed youth outreach efforts. Nearly every day last year, they distributed food prepared or donated by volunteers or local stores at 6 p.m. at the corner of Commerce and San Jacinto, near the Harris County Jail, Bobby Herring said. On Nov. 8, they were approached by Houston police officers and asked to provide food at another location under an overpass at Commerce and Travis streets adjacent to Buffalo Bayou, he recalled. They were happy to move to the new location and continued to provide food there until Dec. 30, when a park ranger and two police officers told them they would have to stop until they could obtain a permit. Because the new area to which they had moved is on city park land, they need permission and permits from both the parks department and health department. Because city ordinances would prevent them from obtaining the needed permit, Bobby Herring said he is hoping to find a new solution, perhaps working through a church with a permit or finding a downtown location that would allow them to continue to help the homeless. Amanda Herring said she was frustrated at the city's sudden stance. "I'm just really sad," she said. "I can't believe for a year we were right out in the open and never had anybody tell us to leave, to stop, to tell us it was wrong. I'm blindsided with it."

Two things: If the Herrings were serving contaminated food, wouldn't the city already about any hypothetical food-borne illnesses?; and, is a lack of food more important than any hypothetical food-borne illnesses? Which leads us to believe that the city would rather see poor people die from starvation than have a warm meal. Look down, Houston!



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