Neighbors Pressure Santa Monica Church To Stop Feeding Homeless

SANTA MONICA, CA – Every Sunday for the last 20 years, Westside Vineyard Church volunteers have handed out free lunches to the homeless in Santa Monica. However, that program is coming to an end due to complaints from nearby residents, according to ABC7.

The pastor apologized to the locals for any harm the program may have caused after neighbors near Reed Park complained on social media and to the police, the news station reported.

A similar situation unfolded in Malibu last year, when Malibu United Methodist Church decided that their twice-weekly dinners for the homeless would stop after Thanksgiving due to pressure the church faced from the city. This decision was made after city officials summoned organizers and suggested they were making the problem worse by attracting more homeless people to the city, according to Los Angeles Times.

At a Malibu public hearing in November 2017, Mayor Skyler Peak denied ordering the meals to end, but he also apologized for the "miscommunication," LA Times reported.

"I just think we need to treat people like our brother and don't look where they came from," Kay Gabbard, one of the meal organizers, said.

Peak said the city wanted to cooperate with volunteers to find a solution.

"I will stand by the fact that everyone up here is compassionate about everyone in the community," he said.

Malibu has a population of 13,000 with roughly 180 homeless residents – but no shelter or housing for poor people, the Times reported.

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