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Cities, volunteers clash over feeding homeless in public

In this Dec. 14, 2017 photo, Adele MacLean talks to reporters outside Atlanta's municipal court after her ticket for refusing to stop feeding the homeless in an Atlanta park was dropped. Volunteers who feed the homeless in public places say they're providing a needed service. But city governments and some advocates say their well-meaning efforts can hinder long-term solutions and raise sanitation concerns. (AP Photo/Kate Brumback)
In this Dec. 14, 2017 photo, Adele MacLean talks to reporters outside Atlanta's municipal court after her ticket for refusing to stop feeding the homeless in an Atlanta park was dropped. Volunteers who feed the homeless in public places say they're providing a needed service. But city governments and some advocates say their well-meaning efforts can hinder long-term solutions and raise sanitation concerns. (AP Photo/Kate Brumback) In this Dec. 14, 2017 photo, Adele MacLean talks to reporters outside Atlanta's municipal court after her ticket for refusing to stop feeding the homeless in an Atlanta park was dropped. Volunteers who feed the homeless in public places say they're providing a needed service. But city governments and some advocates say their well-meaning efforts can hinder long-term solutions and raise sanitation concerns. (AP Photo/Kate Brumback)

By Associated Press 5 min read

ATLANTA (AP) – When Adele MacLean joined others in an Atlanta park to feed the hungry the Sunday before Thanksgiving, she left with a citation and a summons to appear in court.

The case was dropped when she showed up in court earlier this month, but she and her lawyers say the citation for serving food without a permit was improper and demonstrates callousness toward the homeless. The city and some advocates say feeding people on the streets can hinder long-term solutions and raises sanitation concerns.

“I’m still outraged this is happening,” MacLean said after her court appearance Dec. 14. “I’m concerned that the city, whenever they want to crack down on the homeless, they’re going to go after anyone that tries to help them.”

About 40 cities nationwide had active laws to restrict food sharing as of November 2014, and a few dozen more had attempted such restrictions, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless. Interim Director Megan Hustings said she doesn’t have updated numbers but that she’s heard about more cities considering such regulations.

MacLean, a volunteer with a movement called Food Not Bombs, was cited Nov. 19 by a Georgia State University police officer after her group refused to stop feeding the homeless in a downtown park, and her lawyers say city officers have been distributing a “misleading pamphlet” bearing the city seal that says a permit is required to feed people in public places.