Religious leaders fight City Hall; defying San Francisco city ordinances, group feeds 1,000 homeless - Religious Witness with Homeless People

National Catholic Reporter, April 1, 1994 by Susan Herbert

SAN FRANCISCO -- Dozens of religious leaders converged on the plaza just across from City Hall March 20, defying city ordinances by feeding more than 1,000 homeless people.

The action was part of a stepped-up campaign by members of more than 40 local congregations demanding that San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan cease his Matrix program police sweeps and arrests of homeless people and, instead, offer them more services.

"The mayor is using a police-force tactic to address a social issue. It's cruel and it has to stop," said Sr. Bernie Galvin of the Sisters of Divine Providence, one of the organizers of the Sunday protest. The demonstration defied a city law prohibiting feeding people without a permit.

Representatives of Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist and Muslim communities arrived at the Civic Center, laden with food, Fifty tables were set up with tablecloths and flowers while a long line of homeless people, many carrying sleeping bags, waited along the plaza.

For more than an hour, volunteers filled plates with hearty servings of chicken, ham, salads and desserts and helped their homeless guests find space at the tables. A 15-minute worship service that prefaced the dinner barely distracted the hungry crowd, mostly men with a few women and children.

The Rev. Robert McAfee Brown, a retired theology professor and author respected of his works on liberation theology and his antiwar activism in the 1960s, began a brief sermon with a quote from Isaiah: "Woe to those who enact unjust laws ... depriving the poor of justice."

Brown continued: "We stand condemned, too, if we don't do something. The poor have a problem but they are not the problem. ... No more Matrix."

|Quality of life' crimes

At issue is the mayor's Matrix program, which began in August and has targeted "quality of life" crimes such as sleeping outdoors, aggressive panhandling, urinating in public and loitering. More than 8,000 people have been arrested by police or cited under the program.

With an estimated homeless population of 8,000 to 12,000, San Francisco has only 2,000 beds in shelters. Hundreds are turned away nightly after the shelters are full.

Although Jordan claims that health care workers, social workers and drug counselors are on the streets with police, critics say fewer than 100 people have been referred to counseling, medical treatment and job services.

In November, after noting the effects of the crackdown on the homeless, a half dozen religious workers decided to unite and speak out in protest against Matrix.

"We drafted a statement and gathered signatures through religious communities, and we had more than 340 signatures, many from prominent leaders, within 10 days," Galvin said.

The signatures were presented to Jordan in November. In February the group, christened "Religious Witness with Homeless People," joined the homeless for a sleep-in on the steps of City Hall.

Despite religious leaders' vigorous protests, the Matrix program has continued. Jordan has been lauded by the local business community for cleaning up the streets and cutting down on crime. Other cities in the country have shown a desire to replicate the program in their efforts to combat growing problems associated with homelessness.

Wide-ranging coaliton

More than 1,000 religious representatives of Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist and Muslim congregations now have joined the Religious Witness protest and have signed the petition asking that Jordan end Matrix, according to Galvin.

Witness members charge that Matrix is "the most blatant example of government-sanctioned bigotry and intolerance set loose on homeless people in any major city."

"This is a concern of all religious groups," said Brown. "We all agree that God makes a preferential option for the poor. The starting point is what must be done for the poor so they can lead lives of dignity."

The Rev. Peter Sammon, pastor of St. Theresa's Parish, argued that if the money spent on police action were spent on services, more help would be available to the poor.

Although the group challenged the city ordinance by preparing the meal in the park, the police, who watched from a balcony, did not confront the protesters.

"This gathering is not a defiance action," said the Rev. Louis Vitale, pastor of St. Boniface Church in the Tenderloin. "We are simply asking the mayor to help people and give them more services."

|A great dinner'

Among the many who enjoyed the hearty fare was Mark Jaso, 37, who found a nearby bench and gulped his food. Jaso said he sleeps on the streets and works during the day at St. Anthony's Dining Room.

"It was a great dinner," Jaso said. "I just wish I had a place to call home but I can never get the first and last month's rent together."

The Witness group not only asks an end to Matrix, but its members also want to see the city build more transitional and affordable housing and to use vacant federal buildings, such as closed military bases, to house the homeless population.

Other demands include the creation of more jobs and job training and support services.