OAKLAND PARK, FLA. (WSVN) - A soup kitchen in Oakland Park is facing a tough legal battle with the city.
Hundreds of families from disadvantaged backgrounds come to the All Saints Catholic Church each day to get their nutrition.
“The homeless is not just a person holding up a sign for extra cash,” said Father Bob Caudill. “This is children and families and elderly and veterans.”
The city argues the feeding program violates an ordinance passed in 2014 banning parish houses.
“There’s only three feeding locations in all of Broward County. We’re one of them, and they want to get rid of one of the three,” said Caudill. “What will that do to the population?”
An attorney representing the church is vowing to put up a fight in court to make sure the soup kitchen remains where it is.
“They’re trying to chase the soup kitchen out of Oakland Park and trying to get rid of the church even though the church has been there since 1990,” said attorney Richard Rosenbaum.
Oakland Park has been fining the church $125 a day for operating a feeding program that isn’t properly zoned.
“The city is seeking to enforce a valid ordinance through its proper procedures, which is a code violation,” said Oakland Park attorney D.J. Doody.
The church, however, believes the pushback from the city has nothing to do with zoning and everything to do with the people being served.
“They think that if no one sees the homeless, then the place looks nice and clean and somehow that causes them some shame,” said Caudill. “I think their shame should be not helping those people.”
The church claims the city is violating their First Amendment right, arguing that serving the poor and homeless is a religious requirement.
“Oakland Park has not been able to show that this significantly burdens the city, and there are no other places for us to go,” said Rosenbaum. “It’s our suggestion to the court that the soup kitchen stay where it is and continue feeding the poor and the homeless.”
A judge will decide in one to two weeks whether or not the soup kitchen will be allowed to remain open.
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