Nonprofit Criticizes Newark's Plan For Homeless Feeding Permits

NEWARK, NJ — A nonprofit that helps to coordinate food deliveries to soup kitchens throughout New Jersey – including Newark – says that the city’s controversial plan to require permits to feed homeless residents is “misguided.”

The co-founders of Soup Kitchen 411/FeedNJ recently released a statement about the city’s proposed ban, citing a report in The New York Times.

According to the Times’ report, officials are planning to roll out a new ordinance that would prohibit agencies and individuals from feeding residents without addresses. "All violators will be ticketed and fined," a city spokesperson wrote in an email. Read the full article.

After the Times posted their report, Newark Mayor Baraka released a statement about the plan, saying that there's more than meets the eye about the proposed ban. Read More: Newark Will Require Permits To Feed Homeless People: Here's Why

The mayor wrote:

“Recent news about the city requiring permits from well-meaning groups to continue feeding the homeless have left the impression that the city is somewhat insensitive to the needs of our fellow residents without addresses. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the permit requirement ensures the safe handling and distribution of food for the protection of the consumers, including those exposed to homelessness. Every city public celebration, street fair and Heritage Day requires food vendors to file for such permits. The only difference is the volunteer groups feeding the homeless get their permit for free.”

After the Times released their report, Ken DeRoberts and Philip Gentile – the co-founders of Soup Kitchen 411 offered another take on the city’s proposal.

They wrote:

“As the founders of an organization focused on bringing healthy, wholesome meals to those who are food insecure, we take issue with policies that leave more people hungry, especially at a time when food insecurity is skyrocketing due to this long pandemic. After sending a letter to houses of worship, soup kitchens and other foodservice providers last month announcing the immediate ban of feeding unhoused individuals, the City of Newark has now discussed some sort of a permit system that would leave more residents hungry. In speaking with the New York Times, proponents of this new measure suggested that feeding people experiencing homeless discourages them from transitioning into permanent housing, and that kind Samaritans bringing food to the unhoused are responsible for excess litter in the city. We take issue with these baseless claims.

“We believe in neighbor feeding neighbor and that calls for us to meet people where they’re at. We know the immense heroic work that soup kitchens, food pantries and others do for unhoused people as well as those struggling to pay their rent and other necessities. In fact, we launched our flagship program FeedNJ last April specifically because we knew they were being tasked with cooking more meals than ever before, often without the aid of volunteers, and since then we’ve purchased over $4,000,000 of restaurant meals to serve at soup kitchens, food pantries and outreach organizations.

“Our soup kitchen partners, including St. John’s of Newark, with whom we’ve partnered for over 18 months, delivering almost 10,000 restaurant-prepared meals, acknowledge that feeding people only when they’re inside soup kitchens and pantries is not enough, because many unhoused people cannot make it there at a given hour, or may not know the schedule.

“People need to be able to receive safe and edible food anywhere they are being offered it. We encourage the proponents of this misguided permit system to think long and hard about the message they are sending to those who are marginalized, and we encourage the kind neighbors feeding their unhoused neighbors to continue their good work.”

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