Lots of folks used to do similar things for those without homes here in Nashville. That is, until it suddenly became "illegal" to feed the poor in this city. Sorry, lets clarify; enforcement for outdoor food services was "stepped up." Now just about every single one of the 12 or so different folks who used to provide food in the downtown area have essentially been run off under threat of fines and/or prosecution.
Hamburger Bob is the latest casualty in this war on feeding the poor that I'm aware of. He used to come up on Saturday under the ever-popular Jefferson St Bridge and provide a hot burger with all the trimmings. Bob and his wife had been doing this for years. They received no funding from anyone, paid for everything out of their own pocket, and kept a low profile in order to keep the "buzzards" (those who have homes and food but show up anyway for freebies at the best street food services) from overwhelming his effort.
Bob was chased off a couple of weeks ago, making it damned near impossible for those without homes to find food on the weekend now.
Now I've been "on the job" here in Nashville just about one year and I've defended some of the actions by city officials and local business owners because I recognize that the town belongs to everyone and there is no doubt that a small number of those without homes have acted like asses and have essentially "made their own beds."
But I am growing increasingly concerned and disheartened by the overwhelming amount of persecution occurring to my homeless brothers and sisters here. It is as if the pendulum has shifted but has become stuck on "rights of the business owners and residents." It is becoming absurd, not to mention disgraceful that a city that prides itself on its southern hospitality would treat its poor like so much garbage to be scooped up and taken somewhere out of sight, out of mind.
Now if what I've seen here in just one year has begun to wear thin on my own patience, imagine what it must be doing to the folks who have had to deal with this treatment for years.
The poor are getting ready to push back, and this rebellion is fueled not by the old "skid row" bums that so many people mistakenly believe constitute the majority of the homeless. No, this pushback arises from the righteous indignation of men and women who've been productive, law abiding, middle class citizens their entire lives but have suddenly found themselves broke and homeless due to the rape and pillaging of America by corporate interests and a government of the rich, for the rich.
These folks have discovered that the social safety nets they'd heard so much about when they didn't need them (and were often bitching about having to pay for with their tax dollars) don't actually shower them with free money and benefits. They've endured the rude awakening that being poor means being voiceless, powerless, helpless and insignificant. They've come to understand that without money and a little "employment prestige" their opinions don't mean shit. They've discovered that the doors they used to find open have slammed shut in their poverty-stricken faces. They've realized that the poor are treated much differently by law enforcement than those with enough money to hire a competent attorney. They've found that everywhere they turn, the answer is the same: "we don't have the resources to help you."
But they see "resources" being squandered in amounts so huge its hard to comprehend, their hard earned tax dollars, yet they must go without food, shelter and assistance in finding work - work that, by the way, will now pay them less than what it takes to survive in our society.
Oh yeah, folks are pissed. They are tired. They are disgruntled. Most of all, they are used to being heard and being marginalized doesn't sit too well with them.
They're going to get our attention, believe it.
(Update: 8:08AM - watching CBS morning show and Katie Couric announced a piece to be aired tonight on the CBS national news called "Hitting Home;" a story that addresses why it is that so many middle-class Americans have suddenly found themselves poor and having to use social services, food handouts, etc., to get by...)
(Seattle)
Retired carpenter offers hot soup, warm smile to homeless on Seattle's Capitol Hill
Seattle Times staff reporter
PREV
DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Bill Pond parks his pickup twice a week on Broadway Avenue East near a boarded-up Jack in the Box. There, he offers chicken soup, egg-salad sandwiches and juice to the homeless. The retired carpenter pays for it out of his own pocket, collecting and recycling aluminum cans to help offset some of the cost.
Lining up Sunday for steaming bowls of free chicken soup, Bill Pond's customers sensed this stranger with the flowing beard was more interested in feeding them than stigmatizing them as homeless.
It showed as Pond, a retired carpenter, ladled the hot liquid from a kettle on the tailgate of his green truck parked on Capitol Hill's Broadway Avenue East.
"You're broke?" he repeated to a man who sheepishly confessed he had no money to pay. "Then have some more soup."
Squatting nearby, Eli Kington flashed an appreciative smile as he ate.
" 'If it wasn't for him, people would be hungry,' said Kington, 21, who says he's been on the street since he was about 13. "There aren't many people that nonjudgmental, who show that much kindness."
Indeed, in a county with an estimated 2,600 homeless people, Bill Pond stands out. While there are more than 40 programs to feed the homeless, Pond's is one of the few to be run — and paid for — by an individual rather than a church or social-service agency.
It's also one of the few on Capitol Hill, an area popular with street youth.
"There's always that little niche that needs to be filled," says Fe Arreola, head of emergency food programs for the Seattle Human Services Department. "I think it's wonderful he's doing that."
Ironically, Bill Pond's soup service began about 18 months ago when he rejected an overture from a street person.
Eating a hamburger at Dick's Drive-In on Broadway, Pond was approached for spare change.
He responded with a counter offer. How about a burger instead?
"I decided I'd feed him because I didn't want to give him money; I didn't know what he would do with it," he recalls.
The man gratefully accepted, gobbled down the burger, then another, and Pond's one-man feeding program began.
Only store-bought burgers were out as too expensive. Instead, Pond mulled over issues of quantity and cost and chose homemade soup.
So he made a big pot and returned to Capitol Hill. In an hour it was gone. Then Pond got really serious, buying a 16-quart pot and getting a food-handler's license, just in case anyone asked, and began buying chickens, rice and vegetables for his soup in bulk.
He expanded his menu to add egg-salad sandwiches, small juice drinks and individual bags of chips.
Always, Pond dug deep into his pocket to pay. Soon the initial dozen customers turned into the 50 to 60 who now await him.
He's at the same location, 100 Broadway East in front of a defunct Jack in the Box restaurant, every Wednesday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 6 p.m.
It costs Pond about $35 per night, which he partially funds by collecting and recycling aluminum cans.
Many who feed the homeless do so out of religious obligation, but Pond says that's not him. His motivation, he says, is straightforward
"I'm just really happy inside doing this. It just makes me feel really good. It's my way of giving back. I've never been homeless, but I've been down so I know how these people feel."
Pond's son, Will, helps his dad distribute the food and says he's not surprised by his father's generosity.
"He's always been a real giving guy," the younger Pond says. "He's just generous with everything he has."
Lately Pond senior has been passing out used clothing collected by Pond junior.
Still, the father has his limits. Early on, he located his mobile kitchen in downtown Seattle, only to quickly pull up stakes when customers responded with rudeness.
That doesn't happen on Capitol Hill, he says. The crowd, mostly younger men, "are really friendly, really appreciative. It just breaks your heart."
Nearby shopkeepers have been cordial, too, he says; some have even contributed soup ingredients.
Pond doesn't ask his customers why they're homeless, nor does he try to verify they are. He suspects about 70 percent are living on the street, but it's a respect thing, he says, not to pry.
Pond has never solicited financial donations from the homeless or the public. But concerned that "it's getting really expensive," he says he's open to donations of soup and sandwich ingredients. He can be contacted at 206-244-8521.
Or just look for the guy parked beside a boarded-up Jack in the Box dishing up soup and getting grateful smiles in return.
"Someone willing to give free grub to people in need is a good thing; I think he's a good guy," said Shade Allen yesterday, filling his stomach with warm soup as rain began to fall.
